The Hood Arrives in Marvel Rivals Season 9.5 on August 7
Marvel Rivals Season 9.5, The Mystery of Thebes, launches August 7 with Parker Robbins, better known as The Hood, joining the roster as a new Vanguard hero. Marvel Games and NetEase also confirmed a second round of summer cosmetics, new Lady Loki animation options, the return of the Krakoan Reels event, and a sizable storage reduction across PC, PS5, and Xbox.
The Hood is built around swapping between his human and demon forms. In human form, he fights with twin pistols and can use his mystical cloak to help protect allies, including barriers that weaken incoming fire. His ultimate pushes him into a Full Demon State, turning him into a Gun Demon with piercing shots that can punch through shields and enemies while giving nearby teammates bonus health. He’s voiced by WWE SmackDown’s Damian Priest, real name Luis Berrios.
Summer Festival Vol. 2 begins after the update on August 13. That rollout adds another batch of swimsuit special costumes and cosmetics, plus toggleable movement and ability animations for Lady Loki that can be changed from the costume menu.
The Krakoan Reels event is also coming back for Volume 2, though NetEase didn’t go deep on the event’s returning structure in this announcement.
One of the more practical changes is a texture compression overhaul. NetEase says the update will cut the game’s install size by roughly 40GB on PC and about 15GB on PS5 and Xbox, without reducing texture quality. Full patch notes and hero balance changes are available on the game update page.
