Marvel Rivals Blood Hunt Adds Vampires, Bosses, and Gear

Marvel Rivals is getting its first PvE mode follow-up, and NetEase Games is calling it Blood Hunt. The new co-op mode arrives on April 23, and it brings vampires, boss fights, and a much busier screen than Marvel Zombies ever did. For players who already spent time in Marvel Zombies, this looks like the clearest sign yet that co-op in Rivals isn’t a one-off experiment.

Blood Hunt goes live this week as part of a season storyline set in Manhattan, and NetEase Games is leaning hard into the chaos. That matters because Marvel Zombies was hugely popular, and the studio kept it around longer than planned after players latched onto the mode. If Blood Hunt lands the way this trailer suggests, co-op fans may have a new reason to keep logging in between competitive matches.

About Blood Hunt

NetEase Games has positioned Blood Hunt as Marvel Rivals’ next co-op PvE mode, and it builds directly on the success of Marvel Zombies. The source says this is the game’s first PvE mode, which gives Blood Hunt a lot to live up to, even before the screen fills with enemies. That context matters for players because it frames Blood Hunt less as a side mode and more as a test of whether Rivals can keep co-op alive beyond a novelty window.

The article also points to Marvel Zombies as the benchmark here. NetEase kept that mode around longer than originally planned because it became so popular, and Blood Hunt appears designed to keep that momentum going. In practical terms, that means players who enjoyed Marvel Zombies’ horde-heavy combat should expect more of the same kind of fast, chaotic rhythm, only with vampires folded into the mix.

Blood Hunt’s Heroes, Gear, and Bosses

Playable heroes in Blood Hunt include The Punisher, Squirrel Girl, Thor, Moon Knight, Jeff the Land Shark, and Blade. The mode also gives players four slots to equip gear, which lets them customize builds with different effects. That should matter in play because it suggests loadouts won’t just change numbers on a menu; they’ll shape how each hero handles crowd control, survivability, and damage output during the mode’s longer fights.

• Playable heroes: The Punisher, Squirrel Girl, Thor, Moon Knight, Jeff the Land Shark, and Blade
• Gear system: four slots to equip gear
• Builds: customize your builds with different effects
• Power-ups: an extension of the round-to-round power-ups available in Marvel Zombies

Blood Hunt also adds new boss fights, with the trailer teasing Werewolf Captain America, Ratatoskr, Dracula, and Wilson Fisk, also known as Kingpin. That gives the mode a much stronger sense of structure than simple wave clearing, because boss encounters can force players to change pace instead of mindlessly farming enemies. NetEase seems to understand that a good co-op mode needs spikes in tension, not just endless fodder.

Kingpin looks especially important here, since the source says he’s teased as the final boss. The season storyline also plays out in Manhattan, with the mayor of New York apparently trying to exert his will over the heroes. That gives Blood Hunt a little more narrative weight than Marvel Zombies had, and it should help the mode feel connected to the wider season instead of sitting off to the side.

Why Blood Hunt Looks Busier Than Marvel Zombies

The enemy density is the real hook. Blood Hunt loads the screen with large amounts of both vampires and zombies, plus bats, and it pushes bigger damage numbers across the display while new boss fights keep the action moving. That means the mode is built for spectacle, but it also changes the feel moment to moment: spacing, target priority, and ability timing all become more important when the screen is packed.

Marvel Zombies already proved that this style works, especially when Blade could chain attacks and drain HP through huge groups of enemies. Blood Hunt seems to be taking that idea further rather than reinventing it, and that’s probably the smart move. Players who liked the feedback loop of mowing down hordes should get more of what made that mode click, just with a heavier emphasis on vampire-themed chaos and loot-driven build tinkering.

What This Means for Players

Blood Hunt looks like a measured follow-up rather than a radical reboot, and that’s probably the right call. NetEase already learned that Marvel Zombies can pull a crowd, so pushing harder on enemy density, build variety, and boss fights makes sense for the players who want co-op without the pressure of ranked play. The addition of four gear slots also gives the mode a little more texture, which should help repeat runs feel less samey.

Still, the success of Blood Hunt will hinge on execution. If the vampire and zombie swarms stay readable and the boss fights land cleanly, this could become the mode players point to when they talk about Marvel Rivals beyond its competitive side. If not, it risks feeling like Marvel Zombies with a fresh coat of blood and a louder screen, which sounds fun for a trailer and less convincing over a long grind.

Either way, April 23 is the date to watch. NetEase has already shown that co-op can stick around in Marvel Rivals when players bite, and Blood Hunt gives the studio another shot at turning a limited event into a lasting part of the game’s seasonal rhythm. If you liked Marvel Zombies, this one looks like the obvious next stop.