Heroes Explained#

Marvel Rivals did not ship with its hero list finished in one piece — the roster grew from 18 heroes in the testing phase to more than 50 today. This page traces that line by “join date”: who arrived at each milestone, how the expansion rhythm changed, and how the roster’s structure shifted as a result. For per-hero playstyles and difficulty grouped by role, see the full hero guide; this page answers only one question — how the roster came together step by step.

The roster keeps growing with each season. All counts on this page are stamped with their cutoff date, and the latest lineup and hero names should follow what the game actually displays.

Roster Size Timeline#

Adding up this table: as of March 2026 (Season 7, Season 7.0) the roster stood at 48 heroes, after which Black Cat and Devil Dinosaur pushed the total to 50. Later season expansions fall outside this table; defer to the game itself.

Testing Phase: From 18 to 22#

On May 10, 2024, the Alpha test began, and the first batch of 18 heroes formed the backbone of the launch lineup. The Beta phase started on July 23, adding Venom and Adam Warlock; four days later on July 27, Jeff the Land Shark and Thor followed. By the end of testing the roster stood at 22.

Although the testing roster is less than half of today’s total, the skeletons of all three roles were already in place. Looking at what came after, all 22 heroes from the test phases carried over into the release version — nothing test-exclusive was ever cut.

Launch: A 33-Hero Opening Roster#

When the game officially launched on December 6, 2024, the roster gained Winter Soldier, Captain America, Psylocke, Moon Knight, Hawkeye, Squirrel Girl, Iron Fist, Black Widow, Cloak & Dagger, and Wolverine in one go, bringing the opening lineup to 33 heroes. All three roles already had a full cast of options at launch, so players could field balanced comps from day one.

After launch, expansion switched to a seasonal model: every season (plus some mid-season half updates) delivers new heroes on a fixed schedule, and that rhythm has continued unbroken to this day.

Three Phases of Seasonal Expansion#

Looking back at the timeline, post-launch expansion falls roughly into three stages:

1. Two-hero batches (early 2025): The January and February updates each added two heroes — Mister Fantastic with Invisible Woman, Human Torch with The Thing — delivered in pairs; the early seasons clearly pushed reinforcements much harder
2. Single-hero cadence (from April 2025): Starting with Emma Frost, releases switched to one hero at a time, mostly every 4 to 8 weeks, with only one two-month gap (May to July 2025)
3. Role exceptions (from 2026): Deadpool became the first multi-role hero in January, able to switch among all three roles in a match; Devil Dinosaur joined in May as a Vanguard — long-awaited fresh blood for the front line

How the Role Distribution Was Rewritten#

Among the 48 heroes as of Season 7, there are 12 Vanguards, 24 Duelists, and 11 Strategists, plus Deadpool as a multi-role. Of the 17 heroes added after launch (through May 2026), 7 are Duelists — the overwhelming majority of the expansion — while Vanguards and Strategists received only sporadic additions.

That means the pool of damage options keeps swelling while the scarcity of front-liners and healers has never fundamentally changed. The roles most likely to leave a gap in your comp — and the ones worth locking in first — remain Vanguard and Strategist; this trade-off is covered more fully on the Roles and Team Comps page.

How Returning Players Can Catch Up by Timeline#

For lapsed players, rather than combing through the entire roster from scratch, it is better to compute your “missed volume” from when you left. The table below slices the 17 post-launch heroes by year for easy reference:

When catching up, pick heroes by role: players missing six or more should first check who joined their main role, then note Deadpool’s special multi-role rules — the rest you can identify as you meet them in matches.

Why Joining Dates Matter#

• No panic when you meet an unfamiliar hero: The roster changes monthly; when an unknown kit shows up in a match, judge by join date whether it is “new” — the newer the hero, the more likely the opponent is just as unfamiliar with it, so there is no crushing mastery gap
• Filter out stale tier lists: Community power rankings often omit their version; checking join dates tells you whether a ranking was written when a hero just launched or after things settled
• Understand comp gaps: Comparing the role distribution changes above explains why the fight over front-liners and healers in Ranked never ends — the expansion rhythm made scarcity the norm

What to Do When a New Hero Launches#

• Free to try: Every hero is free from the moment of release, with no unlock barrier; test the kit in the Practice Range before taking it into real matches
• Check the role before the power level: Day-one verdicts on new heroes are often inflated; first confirm which role it fills and what gap it patches, then decide whether to invest practice time
• Do not rush to switch mains: A new hero’s true strength only becomes clear after one or two balance patches; for shifts in the meta, see Version Meta

FAQ#