Variant Forecast
We’re inaugurating the first full season under the Snap Packs regime! And for all the changes we’ve seen, variants still come and go, and forecasts will be here to give you the lowdown. This season’s in an interesting place! We’re technically done with Spotlight variants, but Spotlight variants have been set aside for this season in datamines… a curious mystery that will hopefully be solved as this week plays out. But I’m getting ahead of myself— let’s take a closer look!
05/06
New Season, New Pass!
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: Season Pass/Super Premium Season Pass
It’s a new season, which means, of course, all-new content themed on the theme of the season— those wacky kids at the Xavier Institute! It’s Creative House Pocket as another studio as the featured artist this season, and however I feel about studio work overall, I’ll admit that there’s fun to be had converting Marvel’s premier high school super-team to shonen-anime style academia protagonists. We’re getting love for Rockslide and Wolfsbane in this anime treatment, alongside Esme and her adoptive mother Emma Frost heading up the Super Premium pass.
The anime style is strong in these, which is going to be like catnip for fans, and it’s really sweet that a lot of these more forgotten cards from classic-era SNAP are getting revisited for the theme.
Possibly Missing: Former Spotlight Variants!
Artists (in order): Creative House Pocket, Envar Studio, Patrick Gleason
Source: Unknown
Alright, full-stop, we don’t know when these are launching, or how. This season was in a weird Schrodinger’s cat situation regarding the recently-defunct Spotlight system— Second Dinner was unsure if the transition to Snap Packs would happen in April or later, and so had infrastructure built out for this season to function on Spotlights OR on Snap Packs. The result? Scheduled Spotlight variant releases scheduled with no clear idea when we might actually see them. For what it’s worth, these were set to be hotly anticipated: I know plenty of people that were especially excited to see Surge translated to a high-fidelity anime character, lit with some great lighting from her trademark white-blue electricity.
An Envar take on Hope Summers makes her similarly animated, if not as overtly anime, and Patrick Gleason’s cover for Lords of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling (2020) #1 brings us back to the artistic roots of good old modern American comics. It’s a cool trifecta to see, and while I doubt they actually release this week, I’m eager to see where all these ‘planned’ Spotlights end up springing out.
Derrick Chew’s Ultimate Moon Knight Cover
Artist: Derrick Chew
Source: Token Shop
Speaking of comic covers, we’ve got another variant cover coming to the game as an Ultimate variant: Derrick Chew’s cover for Phases of the Moon Knight (2024) #1.
(I know, I know, some of these titles really do go the extra mile. Comics!)
It’s a cool cover that actually features lesser-known character Shroud taking over the Moon Knight mantle without permission after Marc dies. (He gets better). And while it’s a short-lived period, it is cool to see the normally stark-white Moon Knight palette cast in Darkforce shadow. I like Derrick Chew’s work markedly more when he’s not tackling the lowest common denominator of pin-up, and his rendering really helps the texture on the dark Moon Knight armor shine.
Julian Del Ray’s Young Agatha
Artist: Julan Del Ray
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Julian Del Ray’s got a fun take on a younger Agatha (a concept that’s become more prominent around ever since Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha hit the screen), and that this piece actually takes things a step further and actually brings some interesting features and character design beyond ‘Agatha but young and attractive.’ Those more devious features and the dramatic white streak in her hair becoming its own witchy accessory really brings a lot of personality out of the character. Del Ray’s take on a young Agatha might be my favorite out of all I’ve seen so far!
Conquest Reward: Ben Harvey’s Shadowkat Cover!
Artist: Ben Harvey
Source: Conquest Shop
Ben Harvey, I cannot sing enough of your praises! We’re getting another variant cover from him for the Conquest reward, and this time it’s the Shadowkat cover from Fall of the House of X (2024) #2, from when she was in ninja clothes infiltrating Orchis bases. There’s so much life and personality that makes Kitty/Kate/Kat shine through the convoluted layers of context needed to understand why she’s dressed like a ninja, and that’s the key to making such a successful piece in the midst of such a complicated storyline. I love the composition and pose bringing some life and motion to the whole thing, and the whole of the cover slots beautifully into SNAP’s character-focused variant format. And… for free!
A Returning Miles Morales Promo
Artists: Tyler Kirkham/Arif Prianto
Source: Token Shop
It’s an Ultimate heavy Monday in a couple of ways, bringing out this Miles Morales variant repping his criminally underrated 10th anniversary suit in a variant cover originally by Tyler Kirkham and Arif Prianto, for Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2018) #30. I love the Spider-Man cover homage, and the colors on the suit are so striking and pair so well with that yellow background! It was, I believe, originally a promo variant available through web-shop purchases, and seeing it return as an Ultimate variant might give a sliver of hope to anyone looking for other web-shop exclusive pieces to re-enter circulation. It’s certainly a variant that might tempt me out of 5000 tokens, and for that price this is a steal.
Promo Fantasy Hope Summers
Artist: ADIA
Source: Promo
Out with a Promo, in with a Promo! It’s suspected that this Hope variant will be a new whale track reward for spending in the web-shop. ADIA’s Fantasy series reprises as a go-to ‘prestige’ line for spending incentives like Ultimates and Bundles, and it has both the strengths and weaknesses of many ADIA Fantasy variants like it. It has competent rendering that gives it that ‘gloss’ that communicates quality and a fun fantasy alternate-universe conceit; it also takes a weirdly conservative approach to that conceit, giving her a leathery overcoat and chains but somehow still keeping a very superhero-styled bodysuit underneath. These variants consistently stop short of really taking liberties with these characters, which admittedly could go either way on whether you like it or not. If you do, keep an eye out for announcements about how this variant releases, and make sure you make purchases on the webshop if it’s through there.
05/07
Chris Bachalo’s Surge!
Artist: Chris Bachalo
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Chris Bachalo is a one-of-a-kind comic artist, with a special kind of stylish, teen-gothic broodiness that lent itself so, so well to characters like the X-Men or Spider-Man. There’s so much personality in his work, and he’s got a great sense for extracting as much visual weight and drama out of heavy inks as possible. This Surge plays to all his strengths above, with menacing purple and dark shadows turning Noriko’s teen angst into something genuinely menacing. It’s a great piece and a great throwback to the era of comics that had so many of these kids in their prime.
In-Hyuk Lee’s Esme Cuckoo… Sort Of!
Artist: In-Hyuk Lee
Source: General Pool (Rare)
This 700 gold variant is terrific and a steal, let’s get it out of the way: I love how much personality In-Hyuk Lee brings out when he chooses to, and this certainly lets loose, hitting that pose and rocking those shades with absolute aplomb. The only issue is that this isn’t Esme— it’s Sophie, one of the other members of the Five-In-One Stepford Cuckoos! You can tell because this is (yet another) variant cover from NYX (2024) #4, a comic that heavily features Sophie as one of the main characters. This time, I imagine the swap isn’t a mistake so much as it is a concession: all of the Cuckoos are identical, and moreover there’s not a large amount of covers that feature individual sisters, let alone specific ones like Esme. I wouldn’t begrudge them for necessarily deciding that for the purposes of the game, this piece could absolutely be featuring Esme as much as it would feature any of her other sisters; furthermore, it really, really is a terrific piece. (Her best mined one, currently, in my opinion!)
05/08
Penny Arcade Takeover and Album
Artist: Mike Krahulik
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)/Album Reward
I feel bad that these variants aren’t for me; I generally do like the Penny Arcade webcomic style, and I enjoyed the strip itself as a pillar of the gamer internet people would often reference. But these variants often feel like they’re reaching for things that they don’t quite achieve! Krahulik’s got a good grasp on the compositions he wants each character to be landing, but the execution doesn’t quite get there, between colors that feel a bit muddy and linework that doesn’t approach the same level of polish other variants may have.
Still, I really like the ambition of a lot of them, and I think there’s a charm that will win over lots of people anyway; I’m glad for that! Folks in that boat will be able to fill out this reward to get some fun rewards from the album, to boot.
Winking Studios Ares
Artist: Winking Studios
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Winking Studios we haven’t seen in a little, and they’re back with a triumphantly stock-standard Ares in an action pose! There’s not a ton to say that, besides adhering pretty strictly to Ares’ base design as outlined in the game’s base art, this variant simply provides players with another possible alternate art for the Marvel God of War. He’s leaping forth, scowling… there’s some purple lightning in there, too, because it looks cool. What else does a variant have to do?
05/09
Leo Chiola’s Bruce Banner
Artist: Leo Chiola
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Leo Chiola’s back, and he’s bringing his hyper-stylized work to none other than Bruce and Hulk, who both get to be represented in this Bruce Banner variant. Like his other work, there’s some really great dark shadows to complement this green palette, and the Bruce (who is certainly based off the Marvel Rivals design) feels actionized in a way that only makes sense in Chiola’s incredibly energetic style and composition. (You’ve never seen Bruce so ready to shoot a gun!)
I like the looming Hulk in the background, adding some variety to the type of art that can be in SNAP for variant work.
05/10
Peach Momoko’s Armor Cover!
Artist: Peach Momoko
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Peach Momoko’s brilliant Ultimate X-Men ongoing comic going on right now has no shortage of terrific covers to pull from for art, and it’s a jaw-dropping pleasure to see some of it finally hitting SNAP. The Susanoo armor-inspired Armor design is… well, inspired,and the transparent warrior’s body holding a girl curled up inside is straightforward but effective storytelling told in a single image. I love Peach’s work especially when it tells stories like that, and that her haunting style fits perfectly with the darker mold of X-Men to come out of the Ultimate universe. It’s a terrific piece, and I’m really hoping to see more covers from this series soon.
05/11
Nao Fuji’s Frigga
Artist: Nao Fuji
Source: General Pool (Rare)
We’ll be wrapping up with this neat Frigga from Nao Fuji, who’s interpreted the Asgardian matriarch as a younger warrior woman, with white hair and a dark stripe. It’s a much more punk look for the queen of the gods than you might be used to, but players that enjoy a more distinct variant that steps further away from the base character might especially be drawn to this Frigga. It veers a little possibly generic— after all, a goth-looking character nocking a bow really could be anyone, and there feels like there’s a more Asgardian touch that might be missing. But overall? Fuji’s sophomore SNAP variant is a neat one, and I’m interested in seeing more from them.
Wrapping Up
There’s some really, really great variants in this batch, and for the first time in a while my Gold wallet’s hurting! But I do these forecasts to help inform you and your Gold wallets, and so, truly, I’m curious what y’all think. What are you guys interested in? What do y’all feel less hyped about? Let me know— I’m peer pressurable! And until next time, I’ll see you in the comments next week.