Marvel Rivals Season 8 release time and patch notes

Season 8 of Marvel Rivals is almost upon us with it set to bring in two new hero, as well as a host of balancing updates to the game.

This season is very much dinosaur themed with the Devil Dinosaur joining the roster. They’re capable of teaming up with The Punisher, leading to some spicy-looking combos, and will be playable as soon as the season starts.

As part of the mid-season update, Cyclops is joining the fight. The iconic member of the X-Men was announced for the game just a couple of days ago, and is expected to arrive around June.

If you want to jump into Marvel Rivals Season 8 as soon as it starts, here’s its start time as well as the patch notes you need to be aware of.

Marvel Rivals Season 8 release time

Marvel Rivals Season 8 will begin at 10am BST on May 15, 2026. This is across all platforms, including PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

There’s currently no word on whether players will be able to preload Marvel Rivals, so it’s worth factoring in a bit of download time if you’re not blessed with fast internet.

Marvel Rivals Season 8 patch notes

Lots is changing for Season 8, most of which is to do with balancing to make the game a little more fair. Here are the patch notes in full:

Deadpool

• Reduce The Ban Hammer (Gun Form Ultimate Ability) healing provided while active from 50/s to 25/s.
• Reduce Dual Desert Eagles - Vanguard single-shot damage from 36 to 34 (standard) and from 42 to 39 (upgraded).

Emma Frost

• Telepathic Pulse falloff now begins 4s (was 3s) after not hitting an enemy.
• Reduce Mind's Aegis reposition cooldown from 3s to 1s.
• Increase Damage Reduction gained during Diamond Form and Psionic Seduction (Ultimate Ability) from 20% to 25%.

The Thing

• Increase base health from 700 to 750.

Iron Fist

• Jeet Kune Do hits now reduce the cooldown of Dragon's Defense by 1.2s (up from 1s).
• Increase K'un-Lun Kick's first strike damage from 35 to 40.

Mister Fantastic

• Increase Stretch Punch damage from 65 to 70.
• Remove Flexible Elongation's Movement Speed reduction effect. However, the charge time for each use has been reduced from 8s to 6s.
• Reduce the energy cost of Brainiac Bounce (Ultimate Ability) from 3400 to 3100.

Moon Knight

• Reduce Moonlight Hook cooldown from 15s to 12s.

Phoenix

• Increase Cosmic Flames' direct hit damage from 50 to 55. Reduce explosion damage when detonating Spark marks from 40 to 35. (Dev Note: Without damage buffs, Phoenix can no longer one-shot a 250 Health hero with a single mark + direct hit from her Endsong Inferno (Ultimate). However, the increase to her primary attack damage makes her far more threatening in baseline combat.)

Spider-Man

• Increase Spectacular Spin damage per single spherical Spell Field from 13.6 to 15. (Total damage over the 2.4s duration increased from 408 to 450).

Squirrel Girl

• Reduce the cooldown of Mammal Bond from 15s to 12s.

Star-Lord

• Increase the ammo capacity of Element Guns from 40 to 50.

Wolverine

• Reduce the trigger cooldown of Regenerative Healing Factor from 105s to 90s.

Invisible Woman

• Reduce Force Physics push distance from 12m to 10m and damage from 55 to 50.

Loki

• Increase illusion's Mystical Missile Healing ratio from 90% to 100%. Reduce illusion's Mystical Missile damage ratio from 90% to 80%.
• Increase the energy cost of God of Mischief (Ultimate Ability) from 4300 to 4500.

Mantis

• Reduce Allied Inspiration Damage Boost provided to allies from 12% to 8%.
• New Effect: Now provides a flat 100 Movement Speed Boost to allies. (Dev Note: With Ultron now having access to conventional damage buff capabilities, Mantis needs to carve out a more unique functional niche. By adding a movement speed buff, Mantis can better aid her team with positioning and kiting!)

Rocket Raccoon

• Increase Bombard Mode hit damage per projectile from 16 to 17.
• Increase Repair Mode charges from 8 to 10.
• Reduce the energy cost of C.Y.A. (Ultimate Ability) from 4300 to 4000.

White Fox

• Increase Healing Amount provided by the surrounding aura during Fox Form Awakening from 25/s to 35/s; Reduce the burst healing generated by each successful attack during Fox Form Awakening from 35 to 25. (Dev Note: We observed that White Fox's healing output in Fox Form Awakening state was too high when continuously attacking enemies, but too low when unable to maintain targets. This slightly lowers her intense burst healing when spamming attacks (from 100/s to 90/s), but significantly boosts her passive healing aura when no targets are available (from 25/s to 35/s).)
• Increase Blessed by the Nine healing to allies during Kumiho Unleashed (Ultimate Ability) from 40/s to 60/s.

Chilling Assault (Luna Snow - Iron Fist/Emma Frost)

• Increase Iced Out Diamond Spell Field from 9m to 12m; Increase barrier placement distance to match the 12m radius.

NEW - Primal Punishment (Devil Dinosaur - The Punisher)

• As the Team-Up Anchor, Devil Dinosaur gains 100 Bonus Health.
• The Punisher unlocks the Ancient Judgement ability through his Team-Up with Devil Dinosaur.

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