Cyclops is arriving in Marvel Rivals Season 8.5.
NetEase Games has officially announced everything new that is coming in Marvel Rivals Season 8.5. This midseason update is headlined by the arrival of an all-new playable Duelist in Cyclops, who joins Devil Dinosaur as this season’s two new roster additions. Additionally, Season 8.5 will add summer swimsuit skins and a new social hub–but there’s some bad news for those looking forward to another Path to Doomsday event.
Here’s the newly-released Dev Vision Vol. 18:
Marvel Rivals Season 8.5 storyline explained
Alchemax’s “corporate raiders” have been defeated and Cyclops has been freed from his prison! Jean Grey led the X-Men on a raid against Alchemax to rescue their team leader, only to find that prolonged exposure to Chronovium had left his eyes permanently open. Jean Grey’s Phoenix Force, starved of power following an encounter with Knull, managed to absorb the infinite power of Cyclops’ optic blasts to resolve the issue.
Ah, romance. It’s almost sweet enough to make you forget the whole Madelyn Pryor debacle.
Marvel Rivals Season 8.5: Cyclops’ abilities explained
Cyclops joins Marvel Rivals as a Duelist, which should be expected considering his kit is practically built for the role. The X-Men’s leader unleashes optic blasts as his main attacks, which can also ricochet off environments and enemies to hit those behind cover. He can also use the recoil of his attacks to move around the battlefield quickly and reposition himself.
For his ultimate ability, Cyclops removes all power inhibitors and unleashes a mighty optic blast that obliterates everything in his path, fired in a sweeping wide vertical line.
Marvel Rivals Season 8.5: Rivals Summer Festival event and swimsuit skins
Following an 18 June update, Marvel Rivals is kicking off a Rivals Summer Festival event. 2,500 units are up for grabs via login rewards and other events. A new social hub set in Krakoa, called Hellfire Bay Beach, is also coming to the game in this update.
Additionally, even more swimsuit skins are coming to the game for Lady Loki (who is a skin herself), Black Widow, Spider-Man, and more. Here are all the Rivals Summer Festival skins:
Marvel Rivals Season 8.5: Returning events and Path to Doomsday delay
Here’s some good news: for those who missed earlier Marvel Rivals events, the Season 1 616 Day Vault running from 12–26 June, 2026, is bringing back limited-time cosmetics and events from the game’s July–September 2025 period (roughly the entirety of Season 3).
Here’s some bad news: the earlier-announced second phase of the Path to Doomsday event has officially been delayed. Phase two will now launch in late July, and phase three will launch in mid-October.
Marvel Rivals Season 8.5 team-up changes
Marvel Rivals Season 8.5 is only adding two team-up changes. Wolverine is being removed from Primal Flame (Jean Grey-Black Widow) and getting added to an all-new team-up: Blast Slash (Cyclops-Wolverine). For the latter team-up, Wolverine will get a massive boost to his damage, and spin around while splashing at enemies.
Marvel Rivals Season 8.5 new game mode Bounty Annihilation
Marvel Rivals is also adding a big new 18v18 game mode called Bounty Annihilation in Season 8.5. This mode will also feature its own dedicated map, called K’un-Lun Shenloong Arena.
Marvel Rivals Season 8.5 launches on 12 June, 2026. The midseason update’s official patch notes, including balance changes, will be released later this week.
