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Superhero stories are all about team-ups. I'd put a 'dynamic duo' joke in here, but that's another company; instead, I'll say Marvel Team-Up. 

For longtime Magic: The Gathering head designer Mark Rosewater, a team-up between Marvel Comics and Wizards of the Coast has been on his wishlist for years - and at the top of his wishlist since before crossover sets were a thing for MTG.

"When we began doing Universes Beyond, the thing I was most excited about was one day maybe doing Marvel," Rosewater said this evening at PAX West 2025. "The fact that we've been able to do Marvel/Magic has been so exciting."

So how far back is that? Universes Beyond debuted in October 2021 with the MTG x Stranger Things Secret Lair drop, but was announced back in February 2021. But they didn't simply dream it up that morning and announce it that day. The idea of bringing characters and scenarios from outside MTG actually started in 2017 with the inclusion of Transformers, Dungeons & Dragons, and Nerf (all owned by Wizards of the Coast's parent company, Hasbro). 

According to Rosewater, crossovers such as this are the gateway to keeping Magic: The Gathering a thriving game, welcoming in new fans and invigorating long-timers such as himself.

"If you want players to emotionally bond with your game, you want to be making components that speak to them. One of the easiest ways to do this is to tap into things they already care about," Rosewater wrote in 2022. "Obviously, fans of the IP will bond with that IP, but even players unfamiliar with the IP will recognize a lot of tropes used in that IP. This tends to make Universes Beyond sets very rich in resonance."

Speaking as someone who was introduced to comics through Transformers comics, and then into Magic: The Gathering through an earlier Universes Beyond set, they're talking about people like me.

"Let's say we find a property that overlaps well with the Magic audience and feel it has the components to make a compelling product. The next obstacle: Are the owners of that property interested in making a Magic set with it?" Rosewater wrote in 2023. 

Wizards of the Coast's parent company, Hasbro, has a looooong relationship with Marvel, going back to 2006 - even though Marvel had its own toy company at the time, Toy Biz. Hasbro has owned Wizards of the Coast since 1999, but WotC didn't do much to play well with others until the late '10s, when incoming president Chris Cocks began to push the brand into working with other divisions of Hasbro, and then outside of Hasbro. In 2022, Cocks was given the heady promotion to CEO of Hasbro, and his intimate knowledge of Magic: The Gathering from his time overseeing it directly seems to have imparted a deeper willingness to collaborate with others.

"Part of making a good Universes Beyond product is having a strong partnership with the licensor. We are the experts on Magic, but they are the experts on the property," Rosewater said in 2023. "A good partnership will result in a product that fans of Magic, fans of the property, and, especially, fans of both will enjoy. That comes from working closely with the licensor."

Given Wizards of the Coast has announced that there are multiple MTG x Marvel sets coming up beyond just the imminent Spider-Man set, and that one of the key cards of this set is the first of six Infinity Stones, I would say WotC is going to be in a long-running Marvel Team-Up.

Whether you are a Commander player, a regular at your local game shop's FNM event, or simply love collecting Magic: The Gathering cards, you've landed in the right place. From Universes Beyond to the furthest reaches of the Magic Multiverse, we've got you covered here at Popverse. 

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