NetEase has quietly pulled Loki from several Marvel Rivals game modes just days before Season 10 launches, and the God of Mischief is currently unavailable in Quick Play, Arcade, Practice vs AI, and the 18 vs 18 mode. He can still be picked in competitive and social hubs, but his sudden absence from casual modes has not gone unnoticed.
No official explanation has been given. But the timing lines up perfectly with what's coming.
Gorr the God Butcher is almost certainly the reason
Gorr the God Butcher is one of two new heroes widely expected to arrive in Season 10, alongside Nightcrawler. If you've seen Thor: Love & Thunder, you already know the setup: Gorr hunts and kills gods. Loki, being one of the most recognizable Asgardian gods in the roster, disappearing right before Gorr shows up is not a coincidence.
Here's the thing: NetEase has done this kind of lore-driven removal before. During the Mystery of Thebes arc in a previous season, Gambit, Psylocke, and Wolverine were killed off by Apocalypse in the story, which translated directly into those characters being temporarily pulled from certain modes. They were later brought back after Jubilee resurrected them. So Loki's absence follows a clear pattern.
The key here is that these removals are almost never permanent. They serve as narrative punctuation for whatever story beat NetEase is building toward.
Thor and Hela could be next
If Gorr's arrival is framed as an active threat to Asgardian gods within the game's fiction, Thor and Hela are obvious candidates to follow Loki out of casual rotation. Both are prominent gods in the roster, and both have direct ties to Gorr's mythology from the comics and the MCU.
Whether those two actually get pulled before or after Season 10 drops on September 11 is still unknown. NetEase hasn't made any announcement about additional removals, but the precedent is there.
What this means for Season 10's story direction
NetEase has been consistent about weaving in-game lore directly into the playable experience rather than keeping it purely in cutscenes or loading screen text. Temporarily disabling characters to reflect story events is one of the more creative ways a live-service game can make its narrative feel consequential without shipping a full single-player campaign.
Gorr arriving as a playable character who has, in the fiction, already taken out one of the roster's gods before you even load into a match? That's a strong way to establish him as a serious threat from day one.
Season 10 kicks off September 11, 2026. For everything confirmed so far, including the rank reset details and what else is expected to drop, the Marvel Rivals Season 10 release date guide has the full breakdown. If you want to catch up on how the current season set the stage, the Season 9 release date and new heroes guide covers the Age of Apocalypse arc that got things rolling.
