There are over 50 characters in Marvel Rivals as of its Season 9 update, with sweeping changes impacting how every character plays through the overhauled Team-Up system. However, this long-standing feature of the hero shooter isn’t the only thing getting reworked, as one character is having their whole tool kit changed from the ground up. Regarded in every Season as one of the weaker heroes players could pick, the new abilities of this character easily make them far better than they were before.
The new characters in Marvel Rivals for Season 9 include Jubilee and The Hood, both representing a new Strategist and Vanguard for the game respectively. Many players expect these heroes to be somewhat strong on their release, as many other newcomers to the hero shooter have been in the past. That being said, the Season 9 balance patch is likely the biggest in the game since its launch, greatly changing which characters are considered the “strongest” and “weakest” in its meta.
The Season 9 Dev Vision video for Marvel Rivals showed off all the planned changes for the July 10, 2026, update, including major reworks to the character Black Widow. This Duelist has consistently one of the weaker characters in that role, despite her sniper rifle ability being able to take down enemy characters quickly with precise skill and timing. As new heroes arrived, Black Widow’s strengths decreased, seeing her with less and less play as more updates changed the game. Even now, competitive players view Black Widow as a “throw” pick, or someone you choose if you plan on losing.
Black Widow’s changes are extensive, starting with her primary fire attack. Her Red Room Rifle no longer zooms in like a sniper, instead firing a single shot laser rapidly for much faster attacks. This allows Black Widow to fire multiple shots in the time it would have took for her to fire one concentrated sniper round before, drastically improving her DPS. Since these Red Room Rifle shots can still deal critical hits with a headshot, the core of her gameplay hasn’t really changed, but is rather sped up to deal with faster heroes who’ve changed Marvel Rivals in earlier Seasons.
There are several new abilities Black Widow can use now too, in addition to some remaining the same. Returning skills like her alternate fire Electric Batons provide Black Widow with melee strikes, along with her Edge Dancer ability that launches enemies with a spin kick before an optional grapple strike delivers a secondary blow. Yet, these abilities are paired with fresh ones to diversify Black Widow’s kit, with skills like:
Even Black Widow’s Ultimate ability has been changed, as some players might be able to tell with Electro-Plasma Blast mimicking her old Ultimate’s effect on a smaller scale. Black Widow’s new Ultimate is called Assassin’s Focus, which switches the Red Room Rifle back to its classic sniper mode. Shots fired from the sniper now pierce through targets, delivering increased damage with every shot. Much like before, critical hits are devastating, but now they can pass through targets and hit additional opponents with a single blast. Players can keep this state going for several seconds, in which the Ultimate eventually ends.
With Season 9 having started as of this time of writing, the Black Widow changes have been getting mixed reactions from players. Veterans of the characters miss the skill expression of sniper shots with the character that came with her design by default, and are complaining about that tool being restricted to her Ultimate now. On the other hand, most players are reacting to Black Widow’s changes positively, saying it “fixes” a character that simply couldn’t compete with the rest of the game’s cast.
The constant changes to Marvel Rivals are understandably frustrating at times, but this Black Widow rework was one many players were requesting before Season 9. Turning Black Widow into a faster DPS with greater mobility makes sense for her character, especially with her tactical abilities to Slow opponents too. Although many will feel nostalgic to the character she was before, Black Widow’s new spread of abilities make her far more accessible than before, even if she now has some similarities to other characters like Hela and Phoenix.
Only time will tell if this version of Black Widow is undeniably “better” than her first edition, but at the very least, this fresh take on the character is interesting. In fact, many players are using Black Widow as a template to call for other character reworks. Regardless, Black Widow is a special case in Marvel Rivals, showing that developers are willing to go back to the drawing board to transform a character based on reception to wide sweeping player feedback.
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