Deadpool in Marvel Rivals: What role will he take?

On December 11, 2025, a new trailer for the upcoming sixth Season of Marvel Rivals was revealed. The trailer was heavily focused on a particular character, who is, at the time of writing, the next hero coming to Marvel Rivals: Deadpool. 

The trailer shows Deadpool fighting off Werewolf Captain America, Frog Thor, and Devil Dinosaur in a museum (though he does comment that he is the one who released them in the first place). This is not only a fun concept for the games next season, but it also showed some of Deadpool’s classic fourth-wall-breaking humour and his Marvel Rivals design. 

After the trailer dropped, Deadpool was added to the hero roster in the game. However, in true Deadpool style, this move wasn’t done with serious intent. Instead, his position in the roster is a trolling tease, as his role in-game kept switching between Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist. As of right now (January 7, 2026), this remains up in the air, leaving players to guess what role he will land. We’re going to speculate on this a little further on Deadpool’s Marvel Rivals debut to see what role is the most likely for him, and if there were any notable clues included in the Season 6 trailer. 

Deadpool will be joining the Marvel Rivals roster when Season 6 is released on January 16, 2026. Monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone will also be coming to the game, though she is more likely to make her debut in Season 6.5. Deadpool’s Marvel Rivals release date has been confirmed in the game; if you scroll over his hero tab, it states that he is locked until January 16. 

Deadpool’s Marvel Rivals role has been the subject of much speculation due to the aforementioned switching between roles on his hero tab. When Deadpool first received his own hero tab, he had the Vanguard icon next to his name. This later became the Duelist icon, and then the Strategist icon. As we edge closer to the Season 6 release, the icon has now become a question mark, making it clear that this was one of Deadpool’s fourth-wall-breaking pranks on us as the players. This is pretty in line with his character, but it does mean that we haven’t got any official confirmation as to what his actual role will be.

Many players believe that Deadpool will be a Duelist due to his primary weapons being swords and guns, similar to those of Blade. He also possesses powers that align well with the DPS-style Duelist role, including super strength, durability, speed, agility, marksmanship, and martial arts prowess. He is known as an expert assassin as well, which lends itself to a Duelist hero, too. That being said, certain elements of his powers would also suit the tank-like Vanguard role. 

Deadpool can be a bit of a bruiser thanks to his hand-to-hand combat skills, which would translate well to the Vanguard role. His most notable ability that would be well-suited to a Vanguard is his regenerative healing, as it could allow him to absorb a lot more damage than most heroes. It’s unclear where his katana swords and dual pistols would fit into a Vanguard role though, as – at the time of writing – all the Vanguards in the game are either melee based or have specific powers that they use as their primary fire, such as Emma Frost’s Telepathic Pulse, which is a beam, and Peni Parker’s Cyber-Web Cluster, a missile like projectile fired from her mech’s arm cannon. 

There is a chance that Deadpool could be a Strategist, as he could share his regenerative healing with the rest of his team. However, if this is the case, he will be a damage-based Strategist, similar to Ultron or Adam Warlock. It seems likely that Deadpool will be a Duelist, but NetEase Games could easily pull out a surprise move and make him a Strategist or even a hybrid hero. 

There is no official confirmation as to what Deadpool’s abilities will be in Marvel Rivals, but we can offer some speculation based on what was shown in the trailer. Deadpool is shown using his trademark dual-wielded pistols for most of the battle, but he pulls off an epic finishing move against the escaped monsters with his katanas. This could be a hint at how Deadpool will use his weapons in the game. If this is the case, he could have a similar design to Blade in that he primarily uses his guns but has special abilities and/or an ultimate ability that utilises his katanas. 

At the end of the trailer, Deadpool takes a shot between the eyes from Elsa Bloodstone’s rifle. While we don’t see what the exact outcome is, it is suggested that he isn’t actually dead (at least not straight away), as we are given a POV shot from the bullet wound. A resurrection or rapid healing feature from an attack that would have caused certain death could also be a special and/or ultimate ability that would make Deadpool feel more unique while keeping in line with his traditional regen healing powers. 

During the fight, Deadpool pulls a few ridiculous poses, including a Sailor Moon-style victory pose. These could also be incorporated into his abilities, which would be very accurate to his fourth-wall breaking and his wise-guy, joke-cracking attitude. However, it might be that these will be emotes instead, as unless they have specific reasons to be part of Deadpool’s Marvel Rivals kit, then they would only be a hindrance during gameplay. 

At the time of writing, NetEase Games has not yet confirmed what role Deadpool will be or what his skill kit will look like. What we do know is that players don’t have to wait too long to find out, as the debut of Deadpool in Marvel Rivals Season 6 is only a little over a week away. Hopefully, no matter what role he is, Deadpool will be a fun new addition to the Marvel Rivals roster as well as a unique hero in his own right.