Marvel Rivals has quietly unveiled the theme for its second full season and it’s taking plenty of inspiration from a popular modern X-Men comic run.
Every Marvel Rivals season comes with a unique theme. Season 0 was focused on Doctor Doom, while Season 1 has been about Dracula’s hostile takeover of New York and the Fantastic Four’s mission to stop them.
Now that the 1.5 update is live and The Thing and Human Torch are officially part of the roster, all attention is turning to Season 2. While details have been scarce so far, the season’s theme has subtly been revealed by an in-game teaser that’s easy to miss.
Marvel Rivals Season 2 will be about the Hellfire Gala
It appears that next season will focus on the Hellfire Gala. This is based on the final lore page released in Season 1, which states: “Now if you’ll excuse me, Doom has a gala to attend.”
At first glance, this may seem like a throwaway line, but it’s actually a huge indicator of where the hero shooter will go next.
The Hellfire Gala is a popular X-Men comic run from 2021, where Kroakoa opens its doors to non-mutants for the first time in a celebration of mutant culture. It’s also where the newest lineup of the X-Men was revealed, featuring the likes of Cyclops, Jean Gray, Laura Kinney as Wolverine, and Rogue.
What’s most exciting about this theme in terms of Marvel Rivals is the opportunities it presents for creative skins. At the gala in the comics, each character wore a special gown or outfit based on their usual supersuit, which could explain what the next Battle Pass will look like.
It could also give us an indication of who the new characters will be. Blade is expected to be released at the start of Season 2 after he was teased by the devs, but the mid-season slot is still up for grabs and the Hellfire Gala could pave the way for a new X-Men character to arrive.
The likes of Gambit, Rogue, and Jubilee have all leaked previously, as well as Cyclops and Emma Frost, so we’ll have to wait and see if the devs doubled down on the theme by releasing one of these heroes.