Marvel Rivals Summer Festival 2026: Free Units, New Skins & More

It has only been a week since Cyclops arrived in Marvel Rivals with all his optic glory, but NetEase is already preparing the next major content drop. The Marvel Rivals Summer Festival 2026 event begins on June 18, bringing a new beach-themed social hub, limited-time activities, free rewards, Units, and summer cosmetics to the hero shooter.

At the centre of the update is Hellfire Bay Beach, a new Krakoan social hub where players can fish, take snapshots, check in at Cyclops’ X-Press Juice, join the Tandem Tides event, and unlock festival rewards. There is also a free Mister Fantastic skin to earn through Krakoan Reels, so here’s everything you need to know about today’s major content drop.

New Social Hub: Hellfire Bay Beach

The Marvel Rivals Summer Festival update adds a brand-new social hub called Hellfire Bay Beach. You can access it through the Krakoan flower portal in Times Square or directly from the Rivals Summer Festival interface.

Like the Times Square Social Hub, Hellfire Bay Beach is designed as a chill space where players can hang out with friends, explore event activities, use emotes, and take part in limited-time festival content. At the Hellfire Bay Beach, you can:

• Visit Cyclops’ X-Press Juice
• Go fishing
• Join the Tandem Tides event
• Take Summer Snapshot photos with friends
• Grab a Pym-ini Sandwich
• Browse or purchase Swimsuit Special costumes
• Use new water traversal emotes in the ocean

The Summer Vibes Emote Combo Bundle also adds new beach-themed traversal emotes, letting players move around the ocean more playfully during the event.

Out of all the activities, Cyclops’ X-Press Juice and Tandem Tides are the most important ones to prioritize because they reward free Units. X-Press Juice gives up to 1,500 limited-time Units, while Tandem Tides offers 600 Permanent Units and other milestone rewards.

Cyclops’ X-Press Juice: Free 1,500 Limited-Time Units

During the Marvel Rivals Summer Festival event, you can visit Cyclops’ X-Press Juice at Hellfire Bay Beach to claim free login rewards. Through the X-Press Juice Grand Opening Login Calendar, players can receive a total of 1,500 limited-time Units by logging in every day, with each day offering up to 300 Units.

This event runs from June 18 to July 10, giving players enough time to check in and claim all seven days of rewards. You do not need to log in for seven consecutive days, but you should complete the check-ins before the event ends.

Remember, these are limited-time Units that will expire if you do not spend them within the given period. After claiming them, check the in-game expiration details and use them on available cosmetics, Swimsuit Special items, Emotes, or other Store cosmetics before they disappear.

The good news is that X-Press Juice is not the only way to earn Units during the Summer Festival. Other event activities, such as Tandem Tides and Summer Snapshot, also give players more chances to collect free Units.

Tandem Tides Event: Free 600 Units

The Tandem Tides event is a co-op-focused Summer Festival activity where you team up with friends to earn shared progress and milestone rewards. Once you form or join a Tandem Tides squad, event missions will reward Tandem Tides Points. When one connected player completes a mission, their co-op partner gains the same number of Tandem Tides Points.

These missions can include regular event objectives such as logging in, playing matches, or completing combat-related tasks such as inflicting/taking damage. As you reach Event Milestones, you can claim several rewards, including:

• 600 Units
• Nameplates
• Sprays
• Titles
• Other Summer-themed rewards

Unfortunately, you cannot complete Tandem Tides solo, since it’s built around the idea of recruiting friends and completing Event Milestones for each other, similar to Rivals Assemble! in Season 5. So, we encourage you to hang around the Social Hubs, make new friends, and invite them to join your Tandem Tides team. Similarly, you can join another team and complete tasks for them.

The Tandem Tides event runs from June 18 to July 30, giving players plenty of time to earn points and unlock every Milestone reward.

Unlike the 1,500 limited-time Units from Cyclops’ X-Press Juice, the Units you’ll obtain from the Tandem Tides Event are permanent, so you don’t need to spend them in a rush. Use them on an Outfit you want to purchase, or save them if you’re waiting for better Bundles in the Store.

Summer Snapshot Event: Free Units

The Summer Snapshot event is another limited-time activity available at Hellfire Bay Beach. During the event, several fixed photo spots will appear around the beach, letting players complete photo check-ins and share them to earn Unit rewards.

You can take these photos solo or pose with friends while wearing your favorite skins and summer cosmetics. It is a simple social event, but it is still worth completing if you want to collect more free Units during the Summer Festival.

The Summer Snapshot event runs from June 18 to July 30, so you have plenty of time to visit the photo spots, complete the check-ins, and claim the rewards.

Krakoan Reels Event Pass: Free Mister Fantastic Beach Bod Costume

The Krakoan Reels Event Pass is one of the biggest highlights of the Marvel Rivals Summer Festival 2026 update. During this event, players can head to the pier at Hellfire Bay Beach, take part in fishing activities, and exchange their catches for Coins to claim free rewards from the Event Pass.

The free Outfit for the Pass is Mister Fantastic: Fantastic Beach Bod, an Epic summer-themed costume that can be earned by completing limited-time missions and exchanging Coins. Along with the costume, players can also claim Cloak & Dagger: Coastal Couple (Legendary) and Spider-Man: Coastal Wall-Crawler (Epic) by upgrading to the Premium Tier.

Krakoan Reels runs from June 18 to July 30, giving players plenty of time to fish, collect Coins, and unlock the free Mister Fantastic outfit before the event ends. The update also adds related Summer Festival customization items for all three Outfits, available for purchase with Unstable Molecules.

It’s worth noting that the Fishery Club Premium path includes the Outfits for Cloak & Dagger and Spider-Man, so if you want to go that route, you need to upgrade the Event Pass with 990 Lattice. Thankfully, the pricing remains similar to the previous Event Passes, but it’s still a bit steep for new players. Don’t miss out on the free Mister Fantastic Outfit, though.

Pop & Win Lucky Draws: Emma Frost and Doctor Strange Legendary Outfits

The Marvel Rivals Summer Festival 2026 update also introduces two new Pop & Win Lucky Draws featuring summer-themed Legendary outfits for Emma Frost and Doctor Strange. The featured costume bundles are:

• Emma Frost: White Wave Queen Bundle
• Doctor Strange: Nautical Mystic Bundle

These Lucky Draws use a balloon-popping system. According to the official patch notes, players can secure each Bundle for as little as 100 Units or as much as 2,400 Units, which is the standard price for a Legendary skin in Marvel Rivals. The event runs from June 18 to July 16, so players have a limited window to try for these outfits.

Marvel Rivals is also adding a new Cross-Pool Promo for these two Lucky Draws. If you pop balloons in one prize pool, the equivalent number of attempts in the other prize pool will receive a 50% discount. That means players going after both Emma Frost and Doctor Strange’s costume bundles may get better value by using both pools together.

If luck is on your side, it is completely possible to get both costume bundles for as little as 150 Units. However, since this is still a Lucky Draw system, your results can vary. The update also adds customizable items for both outfits, including Chromas, Ultimate Ability VFX, and Customizable Parts, purchasable with Unstable Molecules.

New Store Emotes: Head Over Heels & Summer Combo Emote Bundles

The Marvel Rivals Summer Festival update also adds two new Emote Bundles to the in-game store. The first is the Black Panther & Storm: Head Over Heels Emote Combo Bundle. This bundle gives both heroes a new paired Emote option that you can equip and use from their Emote Wheels. If you main Black Panther or Storm, this is one of the main Store Emotes you should check out when the update goes live.

The second is the Summer Combo Emote Bundle, which adds new summer-themed water traversal emotes for the Hellfire Bay Beach Social Hub. Even though you can use these Emotes in any mode, they are specifically designed around Krakoa Beach and let you roam around the ocean more playfully during the event. Here’s the list of heroes getting the Summer Emote treatment:

• Loki
• Luna Snow
• Human Torch
• Psylocke
• Mantis
• Invisible Woman
• The Punisher
• Thor

Both bundles will be available in the store from June 18, but the official patch notes do not list their prices. Check the in-game store after the update goes live before spending Units or Lattice.

New Costume Changes & Additions

Previous cosmetic items are also getting incredible new changes with the Marvel Rivals Summer Festival 2026 Event update, so here’s everything you need to know:

• New Invisible Woman Azure Shade Customization Option: Marvel Rivals will add a brand-new Customize option for Invisible Woman’s Azure Shade costume,  allowing players to adjust her glasses, similar to her MVP. Players who already own this Outfit will automatically receive this new option for free.
• Iron Fist’s Shenloong Champion Costume Updates: Iron Fist’s Shenloong Champion Outfit will now have its own MVP animation, and players who already own this outfit will receive it for free. You’ll also have the option to purchase the new Shou-Lao’s Champion Chroma for this Outfit from the Marvel Rivals Store once this update drops.
• Seeds of the Gardener Rerun: The Season 5.5 Event Pass, Seeds of the Gardener, will also return for a limited-time sale until July 2. The Premium Tier for this Pass will cost 690 Lattice. If you aren’t aware of what this Pass offers, check it out:
  • Captain America: Capwolf (Legendary Outfit)
    • Legendary MVP
    • Legendary Nameplate
    • Emote, Spray & Emoji
  • Iron Fist: Shenloong Champion (Epic Outfit)
  • Free Iron Man: Mark-I (Epic Outfit)
  • Emotes, Sprays & Emojis
  • Iron Man & Iron Fist Moods
  • Chronovium Cabinet of the Collector Collectible
  • Gallery Cards

All you have to do is earn 1800 XP for each level of the Pass. Each level provides 1 reward, and if you purchase the Premium Tier, you’ll have access to Captain America’s Capwolf Outfit and Iron Fist’s Shenloong Champion Outfit. If you choose to remain free, you can get your hands on Iron Man’s Mark-I Outfit.

What’s Next For Marvel Rivals Season 8.5?

The Marvel Rivals Summer Festival 2026 update is just the beginning of the summer-themed festivities being added to the hero-shooter. Several activities will run beyond June 18, giving players until late July to claim rewards from Krakoan Reels, Tandem Tides, Summer Snapshot, and other Festival Events.

The confirmed Summer Festival event windows are:

• X-Press Juice: June 18 to July 10
• Pop & Win Lucky Draws: June 18 to July 16
• Krakoan Reels: June 18 to July 30
• Summer Snapshot: June 18 to July 30
• Tandem Tides: June 18 to July 30
• Seeds of the Gardener Event Pass Rerun: June 18 to July 2

By completing the Summer Festival events, players can earn up to 2,500 Units, unlock the free Mister Fantastic: Fantastic Beach Bod Outfit, and collect several other rewards, including Titles, Sprays, Nameplates, and more.

NetEase has teased that more surprises and updates are on the horizon with their Season 8.5 roadmap, starting with the second wave of Summer-themed skins coming to the game on June 26. This update will include Black Widow and Daredevil’s Swimsuit Special Skin, as well as a new Uplifting Welcome Event.

On July 3, the third wave of Swimsuit Special skins will be added to Marvel Rivals, bringing Lady Loki, Captain America, and White Fox’s Summer-themed skins to the roster. Lastly, Marvel Rivals Season 9 will commence on July 10. While the next set of heroes is not officially confirmed, there have been whispers about Jubilee and The Hood joining the battlefield, thanks to the Apocalypse Gallery Card from Season 8.5.

Until then, we recommend completing the Summer Festival Events on time, spending any limited-time Units before they expire, and keeping an eye on Marvel Rivals’ official channels for the next update.