Marvel Rivals Season 9.5 Brings The Hood to the Roster and Cuts the PC Install Size

Marvel Rivals launched Season 9.5, The Mystery of Thebes, on August 7, adding The Hood as the game's 53rd playable hero and shrinking the PC install size by roughly 40GB. NetEase has kept the momentum going since then with weekly balance patches on August 13, 20, and 27, all deployed without server downtime.

The Hood joins as a Vanguard

The headline addition is Parker Robbins, better known as The Hood, who arrives as a Vanguard rather than the damage dealer many players expected from a character built around twin pistols. His kit leans into that contradiction: he fights as a gun-wielding mobster who can shift into a demon form, and his cloak channels the energy of Oblivion to project shields for teammates and launch dark energy orbs that weaken incoming enemy attacks.

His ultimate pushes the transformation further, sending him into a Full Demon State. The character is voiced by WWE wrestler Damian Priest, a casting choice that fits the character's imposing frame.

For a role that has long had a smaller pool of picks than Duelist, another Vanguard option matters. The Hood gives tank players a more aggressive, dueling-oriented alternative to the roster's shield anchors.

A lighter install and returning events

The other significant change in Season 9.5 is technical. NetEase optimized the game's storage footprint on PC, cutting around 40GB from the install size. For a live service title that has grown steadily with every season, that is a meaningful quality-of-life win, especially for players on smaller SSDs.

On the content side, the Summer Festival event returned alongside the new season, and Lady Loki received customizable animations. The August patches have layered in a steady stream of cosmetics, including:

• Storm's Sacred Skies bundle and a returning Lady Loki outfit in the August 13 update
• Summer-themed costumes such as Black Cat's Coastal Cat, Winter Soldier's Summer Soldier, and Star-Lord's Star Swimmer as part of the Krakoan Reels Vol. 2 event
• A new Infinity Saga tab in the store following the late August update, tied to Marvel Studios' Avengers: Endgame Encore

Balance tuning through August

The mid-season patches have also adjusted several heroes. Wolverine's Rage now builds more aggressive momentum, Moon Knight's projectile bounces have been refined, and Peni Parker's area control has been toned down slightly. None of these are reworks, but they signal that the balance team is willing to make small, frequent corrections rather than saving everything for season boundaries.

Attention now turns to Season 10, which the community expects in mid-September based on the usual season cadence, though NetEase has not detailed its contents yet.

For players, the takeaway is straightforward: a new Vanguard worth learning, a substantially smaller install, and a game that continues to ship meaningful updates on a weekly rhythm.