Celebrating Four Years of Variants - Part IV: Let's Get Weird!

Missed the previous installments? Click here for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Welcome to this fourth and final installment of my retrospective! Today, we wrap things up on a slightly more… casual note!

Before diving in, here's a few things you should know:

• Alphabetical Order: Pieces are listed alphabetically by character name.
• Artwork Quality: Full artwork is used throughout this installment. While some images are unedited, others display card outlines or minor structural edits. There is no way around it unfortunately!
• Rarity & Popularity (# of owners and % of owners having the variant as favorite): Sourced directly from SnapComplete, this data acts as a quantitative metric for the community's favorite variants. Keep in mind that a variant's scarcity is tied to its type and acquisition method (whether it was a free event reward, purchased with game currency, or bought with real money). The same goes for the age of the variant itself.
• Release Rate (RR): Represents the total number of an artist's available variants divided by the total number of days since their very first artwork was released. In this context, a higher RR serves as an additional metric for creator demand and community popularity. The average Release Rate is .020. (Art studios, artists without original material, or creators with only a single variant do not have an RR assigned for this retrospective.)

I. Agent Coulson's Dating Profile

Art by Eduardo Mello [ variants | ArtStation profile ]
Medium: traditional ink, graphite, and digital coloring
Part of a bundle released in February 2024
Rarity: 2nd | Popularity: 7th out of 9 variants

Never mind the other variants in this series – this one is funny because it's true. It perfectly captures that specific brand of middle-aged, suburban bachelor who genuinely believes it's a good idea to attract women on dating apps by posing next to a dead fish. That censored gaze is just a cherry on top!

II. Tacocat Deadpool

Art by William Sliney [ variants | Instagram ]
Medium: digital ink and digital painting
Super Rare variant released in May 2022
Rarity: 11th | Popularity: 14th out of 29 variants

This variant is an obvious homage to the 2011 Nyan Cat internet sensation, where an animated cartoon cat with a Pop-Tart torso flies through space leaving a rainbow trail. But why? Deadpool isn't a taco guy – he’s a chimichanga fan! It is no less awesome, though.

III. Legion

Art by Tradd Moore [ 0.004 RR | variants | official website ]
Medium: traditional ink, graphite, and digital coloring
Spotlight variant released in November 2024
Rarity: 9th | Popularity: 5th out of 10 variants

You knew there had to be one of Moore's trippy variants in this section! This Legion piece marks his first solo release for the game, following the debut of his repurposed Vote Loki artwork. The artist was subsequently commissioned to create four X-Men variants – Cyclops, Gambit, Cannonball, and Angel – the last of which has yet to be released. 

Considering the massive community praise this variant received upon release – which is confirmed by its enduring popularity, by the way – its low RR is just unexplainable. Give us more, Second Dinner!

(I'm curious as to why such trippyness has the community's favor while Javier Garrón's Doctor Strange featured in this retrospective's second installment doesn't!)

Who is Legion?

David Charles Haller is an Omega-level mutant and the biological son of Charles Xavier. Instead of having a single superpower, he has… many; because of a severe form of dissociative identity disorder his mutant brain continuously generates hundreds of completely distinct split personalities, each controlling a unique, Omega-level superpower. To use any of those abilities, Haller must mentally fight his internal alters to give that specific persona control of his physical body. With over 200 Omega-level personalities residing within his mind, he lives in a constant state of internal chaos.

IV. Mister Negative, Zombified

Art by Pandart Studio [ variants | official website ]
Medium: digital ink and digital painting
Part of the Deathly Pale bundle released in October 2025
Rarity: 1st | Popularity: 4th out of 9 variants

It didn't take long for Zombie Mister Positive to pop up online! According to commentators, Martin now looks like a normal, sleep-deprived person with bad teeth. Accurate enough!

Who is Mister Negative?

The man who would become Mister Negative was originally a nameless Chinese human trafficker. After his slave ship ran aground near New York, he stole the identification papers of a deceased passenger named Martin Li to forge a fake identity. He was subsequently captured by the Maggia crime syndicate and used as a test subject for a highly volatile synthetic drug. The chemical reaction permanently fractured his soul into two distinct, alternating personas: the beloved public philanthropist Martin Li, and the ruthless crime lord Mister Negative. Channeling supernatural Darkforce energy, his negative persona can corrupt the morality of anyone he touches and charge weapons with destructive energy.

V. Nocturne

Art by Kai Lun Qu [ 0.012 RR | variants | official website ]
Medium: traditional oil paint and graphite
Spotlight variant released in January 2025
Rarity: 6th | Popularity: 7th out of 7 variants

I usually enjoy the paintings KLQ did exclusively for the game – especially Namora, Sasquatch, and Zabu – but this is an uncomfortable image. It has a distinct Twilight feel to it, doesn't it? Beyond that, there's the odd choice of colors, that awkward ear, and a mismatched textured background that I can only describe as an abstract sewer.

Who is Nocturne?

Talia Josephine Wagner is a reality-hopping mutant from an alternate universe (Earth-2182) whose entire superhero career is defined by constantly jumping across the Marvel Multiverse. As the biological daughter of Nightcrawler and the Scarlet Witch, she inherited a baseline of her father's physical traits while developing her own unique power suite. Her primary ability allows her to phase into another sentient being to completely control their body and mind for up to a full day. Additionally, she can channel magical energy to fire destructive concussive blasts and possesses an incredibly flexible skeletal structure that allows her to perform incredible acrobatic feats.

VI. Sunstoy

Art by Hasbro
Rare variant released in October 2025
Rarity: 5th | Popularity: 12th out of 13 variant

OK, who came up with that idea? The figurines are alright as niche collectors' items, I guess, but they look absolutely ridiculous when adapted as alternate art! 

Who is Sunspot?

Roberto "Bobby" da Costa is an Afro-Brazilian mutant born in Rio de Janeiro. His powers are centered around solar energy: his cells can absorb, metabolize, and convert it into superhuman strength, flight, and durability. He can also unleash concussive thermal blasts and dark plasma energy. When using his powers, his body and clothing turn entirely black as he drains all surrounding ambient light, making his eyes glow brightly.

VII. The Dinothing

Art by Eduardo Mello
Rare variant released in March 2025
Rarity: 11th | Popularity: 14th out of 15 variant

This is actually an Earth-66755 Ben Grimm variant, depicting him as a rocky Pachycephalosaurus. The game's dino variants are genuine Marvel history, pulled directly from a series of Fantastic Four issues published between 2022 and 2025. So, for once, this incredible weirdness comes straight from Marvel itself!

VIII. Vision

Art by Michal Ivan [ 0.047 RR | variants | ArtStation profile ]
Medium: traditional ink, mixed media, and digital painting | Process: hybrid
Super Rare variant released in April 2026
Rarity: 1st | Popularity: 2nd* out of 11 variants

The framing of the art into a card variant makes it easy to miss, but this is one trippy background! Was Ivan inspired by the vaporwave aesthetic for this one? It certainly looks like it. The posture makes Vision look like he's pole-vaulting through space, and the shape of that cape is also pretty wild. Vision always looks so serious, so it's a lot of fun to see him depicted this way! I'm glad to see such a recent variant fare so well.

* ADIA's Fantasy variant ranks 1st and Brandon Peterson's (repurposed cover art) 2nd.

IX. Werewolf By Night: Red Band's First Issue Published in 2024

Art by Jeremy Wilson [ variants | official website ]
Medium: traditional oil paint and graphite
Rare variant released in May 2025
Rarity: 10th | Popularity: 12th out of 13 variants

Every Disco variant in the game originates from the funky Disco Dazzler variant cover series, but it's easy to see why this specific card deserves a spot in this installment. It's just absolute bonkers. I love it! It feels even more absurd when you realize this flamboyant piece originally adorned a Red Band issue, Marvel's mature, blood-and-gore content line.

Who is Werewolf by Night?

Werewolf by Night is a title used by supernatural antiheroes in Marvel Comics, most famously by a man named Jack Russell. He inherited a family curse of lycanthropy passed down through his bloodline. Over time, Russell gained the ability to shift voluntarily outside of full moons while retaining his human intellect. In his werewolf form, he possesses superhuman strength, speed, agility, and highly enhanced senses, utilizing razor-sharp claws and fangs that can rip through metals. While he easily shrugs off conventional bullet wounds by regenerating ten times faster than an ordinary human, he remains highly vulnerable to silver.

X. Wooly Wolfsbane

Art by Eduardo Mello
Part of the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing bundle released in October 2023
Rarity: 1st | Popularity: 6th out of 8 variants

Mello for a third and final time, because he's got the cringiest variant in the game. 

It hurts my eyes every time. What a fantastic way to end this retrospective, right?

Conclusion

Best original artwork, best catalog picks, most promising artist, and the silliest, most bizarre commissions – this celebratory 54-piece retrospective managed to cover a lot of ground efficiently. This showcase successfully captured Marvel Snap's imposing, deliciously motley visual library, where repurposed cover art from decades ago mixes seamlessly with slick digital pieces, thematic series, daring commissions, watercolors, and meme-centric material. This diversity highlights contributions from Marvel's legendary illustrators alongside newcomers and specialized art studios, all with distinct visions and processes. It is a fantastic, eclectic, colorful melting pot that keeps surprising us even after four years and 4,000+ alternate art pieces. By steadily adding fresh blood to its roster and mining Marvel's deep catalog, Snap keeps collectors like you and me completely hooked.

There are very few games that place Art with a capital A at the absolute core of their identity. This retrospective is an homage to this game's uniqueness and enduring dedication to the fantastic world of painting and drawing, be it with physical tools, digital mediums, or both!

I hope you had a good time browsing through these four chapters during this celebratory month. For more artistic discovery or critique, follow my seasonal Collector's Reports right here at Fourth Location!