Hey guys, Billy Z. is back again delivering the goods on our latest Marvel release, Marvel Team-Up! When it came time to hammer down the preview schedule for Marvel Team-Up, the fine editors at Metagame.com had a really great and goofy idea. I imagine the conversation in which this idea was hatched went something like this:

Mr. Wachter: “Hey, you know what stinks about Vs. previews?”

The Voice Inside Mr. Wachter’s Head: “They’re always the same?”

MW: “Yeah!”

TVIMWH: “We’re so smart.”

So this time around, we’re altering the pattern. We’re going to talk about the teams and rosters before we preview any of the actual cards. Call it a “Sneaky Sneak Preview.” Sounds great, right? Now, I bet you’re thinking that we’re just going to toss out a complete list of all the characters in the set, including the mechanics and play patterns. I’m psychic.

For Those of You Just Joining Us

A little history lesson courtesy of Marvel.com:

Academically gifted, Peter displayed an uncanny affinity for science that was nothing short of genius. Socially, however, he was painfully shy and the target of much cruelty by his peers at Midtown High School. Attending a public science exhibit when Peter was fifteen years old, he was bitten on the hand by a radioactive spider accidentally irradiated by a particle beam, empowering Peter with the arachnid’s proportional strength and agility and the ability to cling to almost any surface. Most incredibly, he had gained a sixth sense that provided him with an early warning of impending danger.

Disguised, Peter tested his newfound abilities and earned some cash by defeating professional wrestler Crusher Hogan in the ring. Using his scientific prowess, he constructed a pair of artificial web-shooters that attached to his wrists. With an agent, a costume, and a new name, Spider-Man became an overnight sensation on television. Unconcerned with the rest of the world, he vowed to use his powers only to take care of himself and his aunt and uncle. After his first TV special ended, he allowed a burglar that he could easily have restrained to run past him and escape. A few days later, Peter returned home to find that his beloved Uncle Ben had been shot and killed. When Spider-Man confronted the killer hiding in the old Acme Warehouse at the waterfront, he discovered to his horror that his uncle’s murderer was the burglar he had apathetically allowed to pass. Consumed with guilt, he became aware at last that with great power comes great responsibility, just as his beloved uncle had once said.

 

From this inauspicious start, Spider-Man went on to make countless enemies and team up with almost every single hero in the Marvel universe. He also managed to get caught up in a ton of misadventures. From the mundane to the cosmic, from the real to the surreal, Spider-Man has done it all. So, how do we capture more than forty years of continuity in a single expansion? Do we include the time he turned into the Hulk? Or that time he was bitten by Morbius and grew an extra four arms? Or maybe that time he was forced to wear a bag over his head when his costume was completely trashed?

Spider-Man “found” the symbiote suit on Battleworld (set continuity!) and wore it as a replacement when his original threads got wasted. Later on, once he returned to Earth, he discovered that the suit was actually alive and that it was trying to bond with him permanently. Displaying unparalleled xenophobia, Spider-Man ripped the suit off with the help of church bells and those silly Vulturians. But the suit soon found a new home with Eddie Brock, a man who hated Spider-Man almost as much as it did.

Now that we’re all caught up, let’s dive back into spoiler territory.

Along Came a Spider-Man . . .

Everyone is always ragging on the Spider-Friends. I’m not here to defend them as a team in Vs. System, but to be fair, the old Spider-Friends have a ton of powerful and splashy cards. Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man is still arguably the best 7-drop in the game, and if you happen to argue with me, he just flat out is the best. Madame Web gains you 2 endurance every time you use an activated ability, and who doesn’t love endurance gain? In Mattie Franklin ◊ Spider-Woman, we find the powerful origins of the reservist mechanic. Even the Daily Bugle screamed, “Break me!” for so long, yet no one was ever able to do anything substantial with it. Now, we have a card like Mobilize that has the potential to catapult the old Spider-Friends team to the next level.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You still can’t play them in a tournament.” – Angry Fanboy

Enter the magic of the re-feature. A year ago, right around the time that we were finishing up with Heralds of Galactus, a series of meetings were held to determine the fate of the next couple of years of Vs. System. One of the key issues being debated was whether or not the Spider-Friends would get a re-feature. One of the most popular proposals included the integration of the Spider-Friends team into the Marvel Knights. This plan was gaining steam until Andrew Yip jumped in there with the “negatory.” That’s how close they came to being skipped. I think the next time you guys see Andrew, you should give him hug and a handshake.

So, how did we successfully lobby for a Spider-Friends re-feature?

1) The fans would kill us if we skipped them.

2) Because the characters are so darn cool, obviously!

Theoretically, pretty much anyone in the Marvel Universe can be on this team. Spider-Man and his buddies are so popular (recognizable) that we could put a Spider-Friends team in every set. Using that fundamental truth as the basis for creating a Spider-Friends roster, as well as tapping fan-favorite storylines, we came up with the following list of characters:

The Heart of the Team

In a perfect world, we’d like to base our character selection on current storylines, not just who is the most popular (and therefore marketable) at the time. That’s the ideal. Unfortunately, it doesn’t actually work like that. We don’t always have access to enough spoiler information to synch up with our projected release dates. Take Heralds of Galactus, for example. If we had designed that set six months later than we actually did, it would be almost unrecognizably different. The press mechanic might not even exist.

So, what was actually going on with Spider-Man a year ago? We had “The Other” storyline, where Spider-Man’s origin was reinvented for the billionth time and we had the beginnings of a Marvel civil war.

“Whose side are you on?”

Although I’m a fan of the entire Spider-Man mythos, we decided that it would be best to focus mostly on popular characters from the last ten years. We figured that it would be easier to get the younger Vs. players into the IP if the storylines and characters we were referencing were readily available in trade paperback form at most big chain bookstores. So, if a character has appeared in a TPB-worthy title in the last ten years, then there’s a good chance they will show up in Marvel Team-Up. That’s not to say that we ignored the early stories from the ’60s and ’70s and ’80s, because we didn’t. There are a few plot twists in Marvel Team-Up that do reference some of the more beloved storylines from that time, including one featuring the Commuter.

The New Spider-Buddies

So, who’s on the team? It’s a pretty safe bet we tossed a symbiote Spider-Man in there. It would be kind of silly and irresponsible to pass up the golden opportunity that Spider-Man 3 represents. Captain America is also guaranteed. Bottom line: Captain America will be in every set I contract for. DC sets could pose a problem (mental note: speak to TBS about this). Finally, expect to see the coolest characters from the above list making the cut. Are Darkhawk and Sleepwalker cool? I think so. Again, the set is called Marvel Team-Up. If a character has ever appeared anywhere in the comics universe teaming up with Spider-Man, we consider them fair game. Okay, think about that for a second. Let it marinate.

Hah, you’re so predictable. I totally know what you’re thinking. No, Invincible is not in the set. We have not designed an Invincible character card for Vs. System. Not yet, anyway. So far, I haven’t really told you anything, have I? Stop your whining. Dr. Yip has authorized me to toss one more guaranteed name out there. How does this taste?

ZABU!

 

A Mechanical Tease

Technically, the Spider-Friends do not have a new mechanic, but they do have a new theme. Am I allowed to tell you anything about it? Honestly, I don’t know. I could try to slip some sPoilers in between the lines and see if the editors cAtch it, or I could just saY nothing at all. WhAt do you ThinK? Nah, I’ll just keep my trap shut. I like this job.

“New theme, huh? So you just abandoned the old themes?” – Fragile Vs. Player

Fear not, Fragile Vs. Player! There’ll be plenty of Spidey-style exhausting, evading, and cloning. Technically, I could be lying about that last one. I promise you this: there are multiple Spider-Men in the set. TBZ Guaranteed!

Okay! Another Taste

Just so you don’t think I’m a total jerk for teasing you so much, I will leave you with this little beauty. Something we like to call:

“Target Practice”

(Heh, Skrulls.)

Additional Reading:

1. Amazing Spider-Man: Coming Home TPB
2. Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 6: Happy Birthday TPB
3. Daredevil Vol. 7: Hardcore TPB
4. Peter Parker: Spider-Man One Small Break TPB
5. Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage TPB
6. Spider-Man: Savage Land TPB
7. Spider-Man: The Other Volume 1 TPB
8. The New Warriors: Beginnings TPB