Friday June 26, 2009
The Upper Deck Company and Marvel Entertainment today announced an agreement granting Upper Deck the rights to produce a variety of products based on the Marvel Universe. The multi-year agreement covers trading-card games, miniatures games, and trading cards, with the first products scheduled to arrive in stores in January 2010.

�We are extremely excited about the possibilities that this newest partnership opens up for us,� said Upper Deck Director of New Business Development Scott Gaeta. �Gamers and trading-card enthusiasts alike will benefit greatly as a result of the collaborative efforts by both companies.�
The long-term deal includes the rights to create products based on Marvel�s comic-book titles, as well as Marvel Studios� upcoming films, including Iron Man 2, Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America, and The Avengers.

The agreement comes less than five months after Upper Deck announced it would be discontinuing its Marvel and DC-based Vs. Trading Card Game; any new trading-card game would likely use different mechanics.

As the agreement covers miniatures games, the likelihood of a revival of the Marvel incarnation of HeroClix, dormant since the shuttering of WizKids in November, and rumored several times since then seems unlikely, with the unreleased Hammer of Thor set a possible casualty.

The collapse of the previous HeroClix deal, in April may have been a precursor to new talks between Marvel and Upper Deck which resulted in today�s agreement.