MtG Spider-Man Set: Mark Rosewater’s Teasers Hint at Morbius and other Surprises

In classic Mark Rosewater fashion, Magic: The Gathering’s head designer dropped a batch of tantalizing clues ahead of the Marvel’s Spider-Man set debuting on August 29. While not full card reveals, the teaser post provides just enough flavor and rules text for fans to begin piecing together what the set might hold.

This MtG blog unpacks some of the most intriguing hints from Maro’s list—not just by naming them, but by decoding what they likely mean for gameplay and lore. Let’s dive in to the teases for the MtG Spider-Man set.

A Five-Color Spider-Man

The biggest mechanical standout from the MtG Spider-Man set is a five-color Spider-Man—and that’s not just a novelty. A five-color identity in Commander often signals a central “team leader” figure, and this version of Spidey could be designed to represent the entire Spider-Verse. That would mean support for Spider-themed creatures across red, blue, green, black, and white.

This card might also tie into the “legend rule exception for Spiders” teaser, letting you field multiple legendary Spider variants in play without conflict—a nod to the multiverse storytelling fans know and love. 

“Legend Rule Doesn’t Apply to Spiders”

This rules-bending effect is both flavorful and powerful. In gameplay, it would let you control more than one copy of a legendary Spider (think Gwen Stacy, Spider-Ham, or Spider-Punk) simultaneously.

In lore terms, it’s a nod to the Spider-Verse where dozens of Spider-people from alternate realities can exist together. In gameplay terms, it’s a combo enabler and tribal synergy engine.

“Legendary Creature – Vampire Scientist Villain”

This one feels almost certain: it has to be Morbius.

Morbius is both a scientist and a vampire in Marvel lore, and his story lines up perfectly with MTG’s mechanical identity for Vampires—lifelink, blood tokens, and life-manipulating effects. Morbius could bring a graveyard-reanimator twist to the set, or even act as a “tragic villain” with abilities tied to sacrifice or transformation.

Given Morbius’s cult status (and meme legacy), this could be one of the more hyped cards of the set.

New Counters: Ingenuity and Film

These new counters offer fascinating mechanical and thematic design space.

Ingenuity likely ties to Spider-Man’s intellect. Expect it to track inventions—maybe tied to artifacts like Web-Shooters or other tech cards. It could function like energy or oil counters, storing value for activated abilities.

Film counters are more meta. They might represent moments in Spider-Man’s cinematic journey or even reference comic panels. A card like Web of Life and Destiny (a teased card name) might accumulate film counters and trigger story-themed events based on the number you have—a uniquely flavorful execution.

A Spider-Man Meme Turned Into a Card

The most likely candidate? The Spider-Man pointing meme—which could easily become an enchantment or sorcery that creates identical token copies of target creatures or causes confusion among creatures with the same name or type.

Imagine a mechanic like: “Choose a creature. Each player creates a token that’s a copy of that creature.” It’s chaotic, hilarious, and perfect for both casual tables and meme collectors.

“Whenever a creature you control with menace attacks, create a Treasure token”

This rules text confirms menace as a supported keyword in the set, likely used to represent villains in the MtG Spider-Man set—many of whom are aggressive, slippery, and threatening.

A menace-matters archetype suggests black-red or Rakdos colors, with aggressive creatures like Scorpion, Kraven, or Venom possibly appearing in this slice of the color pie. Generating Treasure aligns with criminal themes, adding synergy with sacrifice or ramp mechanics.

“Loses all abilities and becomes a green Lizard”

This one screams Dr. Curt Connors, aka The Lizard.

A spell or ability that transforms a creature into a powerless Lizard is both flavorful and disruptive. Mechanically, it sounds like a green-based “Pacifism” effect—stripping a creature of abilities and shrinking it into a vanilla Lizard token. It’s also one of the most on-brand references to classic Spider-Man villains we’ve seen teased so far.

“Legendary Creature – Human Shapeshifter Villain”

There’s a strong chance this is Mysterio in the MtG Spider-Man set.

Mysterio’s entire identity is built on deception, illusion, and identity manipulation—all perfect for MTG’s shapeshifter archetypes. Rosewater even teased rules text related to this: “Exile those tokens when Mysterio leaves the battlefield,” suggesting that the character creates illusory tokens or copies that vanish when he does.

Expect tricky board states, clone mechanics, or token spam strategies designed to confuse or overload your opponent.

“Look at the top nine cards of target opponent’s library”

This line hints at a deep-deck search effect, possibly tied to espionage or villainy. Nine cards is a large chunk, suggesting this might be a signature move for a villain like the Kingpin, Green Goblin, or even a high-cost Spider-Man variant representing foresight or tech-powered surveillance.

This could be a blue-based control spell that steals, copies, or manipulates your opponent’s upcoming draws.