Back in March we got to reveal Magic: The Gathering’s very first Spider-man cards as part of a special Scene Box outside of the main set. Well today, as part of San Diego Comic-Con 2025, we’re back with an exclusive look at some of the first cards that will actually be a part of that Standard-legal set – and this cast of five spideys will surely look familiar to any Spider-Verse fans out there.
Flip through the slideshow below to see all five Spider-Man cards, as well as an alternate comic book art style for the titular webslinger himself.
Magic: The Gathering developer Wizards of the Coast previously told IGN that it wasn’t limiting this set to a single comic run, and that’s made quite clear with this early look. All five cards are different versions of Spider-Man depicted as legendary creatures: at Uncommon you have Spider-Man Noir and the robotic SP//dr piloted by Peni Parker, at Rare are Spider-Man 2099 and the delightfully goofy Spider-Ham, and finally at Mythic Rare is the man himself, Peter Parker, who flips over to become the Amazing Spider-Man.
That last card is especially interesting as it is double-sided. The front is simply Peter Parker, while the back is his Amazing Spider-Man alter ego, and you have some flexibility in how to cast him. Magic has had what are called “modal double-faced cards” before that allow you to cast either side from your hand, but this is the first I know of that also allows you to pay a cost to flip it while the front side is already in play – in this case, you can play Peter Parker for two mana, and then pay four more on a later turn to have him transform.
If you do, you get access to his very flavorful ability called web-slinging, which allows you to pay just three mana to cast Legendary spells if you also return a tapped creature to your hand. This card is sure to be a popular leader in Magic’s most popular format, Commander, as it will let you cheat all sorts of big and expensive legendary creatures into play far earlier than expected. And because this card will also be legal across Magic’s regular competitive formats, giant dinosaurs and terrifying demons alike could be swinging onto the table.
The rest of the cast here is a clear nod to Sony’s excellent Into the Spider-Verse animated films, only missing a take on Peter B. Parker and Spider-Gwen to complete the first movie’s main cast (though there’s plenty of time for those to potentially be revealed themselves before the set launches in September). But before you get too excited, this was almost definitely just a nod to their reveal as part of this year’s Comic-Con, as these cards and this set in general are not actually tied to that series in any direct way.
And while we may not have a second version of Peter to show here, we do have an alternate art treatment for this one – one that is sure to excite any comic book fans out there. This secondary version shows off what’s called the “Iconic Moments” Booster Fun treatment for this set, and all of the cards that use it will feature art from the pages of Spider-Man’s adventures. This first one is taken straight from the cover of 1963’s The Amazing Spider-Man #1, complete with artist credits for Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.
If you happen to be in the San Diego area yourself, Wizards of the Coast is hosting a Spider-Man event at the Hard Rock Hotel where fans will be able to go hands-on with the set’s Welcome Decks – smaller preconstructed decks themed around Spider-man that are meant to be an intro point for new players as they learn the ropes. WOTC has previously stated that its Universes Beyond crossovers have brought a huge amount of new players through the door, and just today Hasbro revealed that the recent Final Fantasy set made a whopping $200 million on its first day.
Tom Marks is IGN’s Executive Reviews Editor. He loves card games, puzzles, platformers, puzzle-platformers, and lots more.
