Why Marvel Rivals' Ultron Being a Strategist Actually Makes…

After Season 1 saw the heroes prevent Dracula's takeover of New York City, Marvel Rivals has delved even deeper into comic lore with a Season 2 that revolves around the Hellfire Gala. Marvel Rivals' second season has everything that one would expect from such a theme: a Krakoa map, flashy outfits for the game's various characters, and a new playable mutant in the form of Emma Frost.

What is surprising for the season is that the second character being added isn't one of the many X-Men team members that have either been leaked or rumored to appear in Marvel Rivals. Instead, it will be Ultron — a rogue AI created by the Avengers who believes the only way to maintain peace in the world is to eradicate humanity. Given his predisposition to destruction, it seems odd that Ultron would decide to aid the rest of the game's roster, but Marvel Rivals already has an in-universe explanation for this change of heart.

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By Matthew O’Dwyer

How Marvel Rivals Justifies Ultron's Heroic Turn

Ultron's inclusion as a playable character was first leaked all the way back in December 2024. Fans were excited to see that another villain would be joining the roster, but they were caught by surprise when it came out that Ultron wouldn't be a Duelist or even a Vanguard. Instead, he would supposedly be a Strategist — a character primarily focused on healing and buffing other teammates. Players were increasingly befuddled when it was officially revealed that Ultron would be the primary antagonist of Season 2. Considering that Season 1's villain, Dracula, was seemingly too evil to be recruited to join the fight to save the multiverse, it didn't make sense that a character as dogmatic and oppressive as Ultron would not only be teaming up with the Avengers but would be healing them from the backlines.

The Lore Implications of New Marvel Rivals Art

However, it seems that Marvel Rivals' writers have already come up with a canonical reason as to why Ultron is appearing as a Strategist this season. Last month on r/marvelrivals, user Storm_Slayer417 shared a piece of upcoming artwork from the game that showed Iron Man reprogramming a headless Ultron, seemingly performing a factory reset on the murder bot. While this seems like a convenient way to literally rewrite this character, it actually makes sense within the context of the current season.

On Season 2's Krakoa map, both victory animations result in Ultron's original body being decapitated. Ultron is then reborn — either digitally or in a Krakoan egg, depending on which team wins — with a completely new, Cerebro-inspired body. With Ultron now operating out of an even more powerful vessel, his previous body was seemingly discarded without a second thought. This has presented Tony Stark with the perfect opportunity to reclaim and reprogram the older Ultron. Considering that Ultron's initial mission was to aid humanity, it then makes perfect sense that a rebooted version of the AI would slot into the Strategist role and function as more of a team player.

This now opens an interesting door for Marvel Rivals' Season 2, where Ultron could be both the villain and the hero of the story, assisting the rest of the roster in a fight against an evolved version of himself. Such a twist would make for an intriguing narrative and lead to some tense dialogue between Ultron and his newfound allies. Ultron and the rest of his lore will likely be dropped with the Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 update on May 30.

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