Marvel Superheroes Are Coming To Magic: The Gathering

Oliver Brandt
·2 min read
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Magic the Gathering cards

Magic: The Gathering is one of the oldest and most prolific trading card games on the planet, with some saying it was even the first trading card game. In its 30 years of existence, it’s had a number of crossovers and collaborations, and its newest one is pretty exciting for comic book fans.

Magic: The Gathering owner Hasbro announced last night that it’s teaming up with Marvel to “develop collectible products and tentpole sets” for MTG. If that corporate speak is a little difficult to understand, the basic gist of it is that Magic is making some Marvel-themed trading cards.

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A press release on the Marvel website doesn’t give many details about the collaboration, but given past crossovers, we can probably expect to see a few themed decks that may or may not be tournament legal (but probably won’t be). There might be more to it, though, as president of Marvel comics Dan Buckley hints that this could be a years-long collaboration.

“Trading cards have always been a part of Marvel’s DNA, so this collaboration takes that experience to a whole new level,” Buckley said in the press release, “With the depth that our storytelling and characters bring to the table, we can’t wait for fans to see how the Marvel Universe translates seamlessly into gameplay within these Magic: The Gathering products and sets for years to come.”

Magic The Gathering is no stranger to collaborations, though it’s certainly ramped up the frequency of its crossovers in recent years. Most recently the card game had crossovers with Doctor Who and The Lord of the Rings, with upcoming collaborations planned for Fallout, Final Fantasy, and Assassin’s Creed.

It’s all part of an initiative called Universes Beyond, which was first announced in 2021 during a big restructuring of Wizards of the Coast. Universe Beyond sets are considered “non-canon cards,” meaning they can’t be played in the standard tournament format. Since its inception, the initiative has seen crossovers with franchises like Transformers, Jurassic World, Warhammer, Arcane, and Street Fighter, among many others.

Marvel says that its superhero Magic: The Gathering sets featuring fan-favorite characters will start being released globally from 2025.