Now that Marvel Rivals is on a monthly cycle of adding heroes to the game, while the flames of the Phoenix are still burning, we’re just about ready for the game’s next character to step into the spotlight in the form of Blade. And in true style, Eric is bringing some killer tunes with his debut.

Ahead of next week’s mid-season update for Marvel Rivals, NetEase has dropped a new gameplay trailer to debut Blade’s abilities. Arriving as another duelist, Blade is bringing a mix of melee and ranged skills to the battlefield (including what looks like not just a vampiric lifesteal form for Blade, but also a hint of Rivals‘ first healing-suppressing ability, presumably to try and counter the game’s powerful supporting strategists).

But aside from the slicing and dicing, it’s also fun to see Rivals nod to Blade’s cinematic history here too: it’s not quite the exact track, but opening with a riff on the infamous soundtrack of Blade‘s opening sequence in the vampire dance club is a perfectly knowing nod. Who knows, maybe we’ll see a Wesley Snipes-inspired costume for Blade when he arrives next week?

Blade’s been a long time coming for Rivals—he was first teased in the game’s mishmash of Marvel lore way back at the start of the year during Rivals‘ first season as having been imprisoned by Dracula. A sneaky map appearance the season after only had fans even more eager for him to enter the battle, so there’s a lot for the character to live up to when he joins Rivals in its season 3.5 update next week on August 8. Alongside Blade, the new updates will also include tweaks and improvements to Rivals moderation and chat filter tools in an attempt to quell toxic behavior in-game. Fingers crossed they work better than trying to ice-skate uphill in front of Blade.

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