Marvel RivalsNetEaseWe just got the first official trailer for Marvel Rivals first season, the blockbuster hit getting out of season zero and moving into its first official one with a boatload of new characters arriving, namely the entire Fantastic Four.Along with the trailer, we also got perhaps the most important thing, confirmation of the season 1 release date and time. And so:The official Marvel Rivals season 1 release date is Friday, January 10, 2025 at 1 AM PST, 4 AM EST. In other words, in the Americas youll be able to wake up that Friday morning and begin playing the new season. Heres the new trailer:The season is called Eternal Night Falls and features Dracula turning on a blood moon over the streets of New York City, which will be the new map. Facing off against him is the Fantastic Four, Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Thing and Human Torch. We still dont know their confirmed roles nor do we have confirmation they are doing a two-at-launch and two-in-midseason release the way leaks have indicated. But between today and Friday we will no doubt get a lot more information. Heres the official synopsis for the story of the season in a game where story islets say, not exactly the focus:Darkness engulfs New York as the Timestream Entanglement leaves Doctor Strange trapped in the Entangled Astral Plane, scattering the Darkhold pages. Dracula and Doctor Doom disrupt the moons orbit, plunging the city into eternal night and unleashing an army of vampiric creatures. With the world on the brink, the Fantastic Four join forces with iconic Marvel heroes, standing together in the epic battle to break the mystical darkness with science. Ignite the battle against Dracula with the Fantastic Four in Marvel Rivals!MORE FOR YOUMarvel RivalsNetEaseThe appearance of Dracula of course strongly indicates that vampire hunter Blade, already a datamined character, is going to be showing up. This season, for five characters in one season? That seems unlikely, but maybe he shows up in the finale to cut Dracula down and arrive for the season 2 launch. I just dont get how wed be doing a Dracula plot here and not have Blade show up sooner rather than later.Over the next few days I would expect featurettes for the Fantastic Four and blog posts about other additions and changes that are coming. Leaks indicate nerfs to characters like Hela and Hawkeye, and buffs to Captain America, Venom and others. More to talk about soon.Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.