If you’re anything like me, you grew up watching the Spider-Man and X-Men cartoons in the 90s. What does the new Magic Universes Beyond Spider-Man set offer to us aging Millenials, after our next hit of nostalgia?
Growing up in the 90s was a time I cherish. The internet remained tethered to the blocky, boxy computer that took up an entire corner of the dining room. You went on the computer to listen to the dial-up tone, visit a website, play some 3D Pinball, and maybe print some stuff to color in. It was hardly the first thing any of us wanted to do on a weekend morning.
Weekend mornings, back then, were dominated by TV.
BEFORE INTERNET & ON DEMAND KILLED THE TV STAR
I was a massive gamer as a kid, it’s true. I was glued to Spyro the Dragon, Crash Team Racing, and Bugs & Taz Timebusters. I was also glued to a demo disc in one of my Dad’s magazines, that had a demo of Spider-Man.
While I now know that these levels were somewhat linear, and that compared to modern games are downright prescriptive in what you have to do and achieve, they felt boundless. You could swing through the skyscrapers, complete side objectives, and even get the easter egg of swinging past the HQ of the Fantastic Four. As someone who grew up on the animated Marvel TV shows, this was catnip, pure and simple. We eventually got the game of course, in its glorious PSX crystal case – and the sequel, Enter Electro.
The thing is, even then, gaming took a back seat to TV. TV wasn’t on-demand – at least until the late 90s and early 2000s, where if you were middle-class enough, you could record a limited number of programs on your TV box. TV came on a set schedule, and when you’d been at school all week, it was Saturday morning that ended up as the pivotal time to catch up on shows. You didn’t have to fight your parents to turn off the news to watch The Simpsons, right? They were asleep.
Saturday mornings weren’t complete without fighting for the toy in the cereal box and settling down to watch some Spider-Man the Animated Series. At least in the UK, this show aired before SMTV Live at 9:25am (seared into my brain, even now) which was the time we could watch Pokemon.
Between the PSX game, the Spider-Man show, and also the X-Men Adventures show – which recently got a remake on Disney+, actually – my sister and I were happy campers. Can the Marvel Spider-man Universes Beyond set capture any of that nostalgia?
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE VILLAINS
When I think about those 90s cartoon, my first thought is always about the villains. Doc Ock, Rhino, Venom, Carnage, Mysterio, and Green Goblin being the most iconic.
It turns out there’s a pretty neat set of those cards in the Spidey’s Spectacular Showdown Scene Box that are legal in Commander, Legacy and Vintage. With the growing number of stun counter technology, this Sensational Spider-Man ends up pretty cool to build around, too.
More on the villains, though, and the main set features plenty of classic throwbacks, too. While some of them are in their more updated guise from more recent entries in the Spider-man canon, alongside other clear callbacks to the 90s, they fit right in. (Also, fun fact – they renamed the Sinister Six to the Insidious Six for the cartoon, because Sinister is a scary word. Satanic Panic’s death-throes, or what?)
The designs remain fresh, interesting, and in many cases, very playable and powerful – which always helps. Still, whether they are powerful or not, any set without Rhino rampaging and Green Goblin dropping Pumpkin bombs would be a miss.
THE SUPPORTING CAST
Spider-Man’s – and Peter Parker’s – greatest nemesis might just be J. Jonah Jameson, if we’re honest. The flavor of this one is naturally on point, and I can’t think of a better way to immortalize this iconic character.
Speaking of the supporting cast, the 90s cartoons were the era of MJ and Black Cat – who we’d later learn was Gwen Stacy. While newer iterations of these characters feature the likes of Spider-Gwen, Gwenom and Zendaya in the excellent recent live-action movies, it’s a great nostalgic throwback to see the iconic 90s versions here. Having MJ able to support any number of Spider-Man decks with such an important card draw ability matches her supportive role perfect, and Black Cat’s ferocity is reflected in a powerful design.
When I think about those Saturday mornings, I remember fondly the episodes with Morbius – now tainted by the “It’s Morbin’ Time” meme, steeped in irony as he is. There was a time before this terrible movie, though, and that’s what Morbius evokes here.
You’ve also, of course, got Madame Web, who heads up one of the more iconic arcs in the cartoon series. Again, I’m voting here for the 90s animated portrayal being leagues ahead of the second-rate recent movie. Her outfit in the cartoon was just better, and we got introduced to the concept of the Spider-verse way before the Miles Morales movies and the MCU were even a glint in the eye of an exec.
END STEP
As someone who dips in an out of Spider-Man where I wish to, it’s great to see the 90s animated series paid so much respect. This set had to be something for everyone, from fans of the comics (check out the MAR cards for some stellar comic arts), to fans of the many movies, to fans of the outstanding Miles Morales series.
They even have the Black Suit, the Six-Armed Suit and the Armor Suit for those of us who grew up on those classic PSX games where collected the various outfits was one of the best parts of the game.
While I don’t categorically love the set like previous sets that are at the top of my ratings, I will say that looking at it through this lens has given me some extra appreciation for what they were trying to achieve.
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer and a member of the Commander Format Panel. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.