For more than a decade, iconic superheroes such as Spider-Man and Wolverine have swung and slashed their way through many of Upper Deck’s products.
But just as Upper Deck’s run as the key manufacturer for Marvel trading cards ends, the company has positioned itself to start a new era with another beloved comic book universe at the forefront.
Scheduled to debut Nov. 13 through Upper Deck’s ePack platform, a five-week trading card series celebrating Batman’s 85th birthday will officially launch the company's recent expansion into the DC universe. Featuring 10 cards alongside a new theme each week, the series will cover comic covers, villains, vehicles and both the animated and theatrical franchises.
Not originally part of the release calendar, the anniversary set became possible when Warner Bros. made its pitch and delivered a comprehensive style guide Upper Deck could work with. Paired with the ePack platform, Upper Deck will launch its first product just five months after announcing the deal with Warner Bros.
Despite the quick turnaround for Batman’s 85th — many modern products are built over 12 to 15 months — Upper Deck will spend the coming months learning how to collaborate with Warner Bros. After years of rhythm with Disney and Marvel, plenty of concepts might carry over, but no two licenses are the same.
“It’s a bit familiar, but also exciting and new,” Upper Deck entertainment director Travis Rhea told cllct. “It was really important for us to kind of bone up on content experts for DC. The last thing we wanted was to roll out something similar to Marvel, and people think it’s the exact same thing and that [Upper Deck] doesn’t really know the DC content. We are avoiding that altogether.”
As Upper Deck goes through its “discovery” process with DC, it will also have to create sets that feel fresh with new characters without punting on brand equity. Expected to release in the first quarter of 2025, DC Annual takes over for Marvel Annual as a flagship release.
Sets such as Marvel Masterpieces, Fleer Ultra and Metal Universe are expected to get their own DC spins, too, though release timelines aren’t clear. Those sets have gained popularity for beautiful artwork or thoughtful inserts, and Upper Deck brought in a team of experts to avoid any drop-off.
“We flagged that pretty early on, but it’s important on multiple levels,” Rhea said of the subject matter expertise. “As you’re starting a kind of new era or relationship with a big, important partner, the last thing you want to do is seem like you don’t understand the subject.”
According to Rhea, the key to a great comic book product is the authenticity, and that’s something the new group of subject experts already has provided — among the new staff members is an art judge who also teaches writing for comic books.
In one example, text provided by Upper Deck was initially rejected for the set. When Warner Bros. wanted the text to sound as though it was spoken by the character featured, a staff member didn’t even need to research before delivering a rewrite.
Warner Bros. loved the results.
For the immediate future, Upper Deck will likely focus on comic book products, though it understands that live-action sets will play an important part. According to Rhea, there was a 10-year stretch when it wasn’t clear whether comic book sets would keep up with live-action releases as Marvel consistently flooded the market with movies and Disney Plus series.
Years later, Rhea believes the live-action products could be the most exciting part of securing the DC license with filmmaker James Gunn set to produce movies and TV shows for DC Studios after a successful run directing three "Guardians of the Galaxy" films for Marvel.
Upcoming movies and shows are expected to feature Superman and Batman — undeniably two of the most important superheroes to exist — as well as villains such as The Joker and Bane.
There’s even a chance the DCEU gets a sequel to 2005’s "Constantine" with Keanu Reeves.
Along with helping fill the massive void left by Marvel, the extended pursuit of an expanded deal with Warner Bros. could be arriving at just the right time for Upper Deck, but with a healthier product calendar. The flood of movies and shows from Disney required significant bandwidth from Upper Deck, and live-action sets aren’t easy to make.
While comic book sets can be driven by fantastic artwork, live-action releases typically require a robust lineup of autographs from the stars. Even if Upper Deck secures a strong list of signers, sets can be held back by long production times or the simple fact a film or show could flop.
“It’s very much like walking a minefield sometimes, and it’s just gotten harder and harder as CGI has become so important to the movies,” Rhea said. “They’re working on computer-generated stuff almost up to the release sometimes, so you really don’t have access to the lion’s share of images until right around game time. That makes it really tough.”
Fortunately for Upper Deck, it appears DC will have fewer films and shows to produce sets for, and the product team can “breathe a little bit,” Rhea says. Feedback from collectors and retailers said there were too many live-action sets with not enough interest, and the current roadmap might offer the required course correction.
Upper Deck also plans to wait for new heroes and villains to emerge with increased popularity under Gunn. Rhea says live-action media brings in a more casual fan who can change the sentiment around a character, and Gunn’s success with "Guardians of the Galaxy," a group that wasn’t as popular with comic book fans, is a prime example.
“We’re going to try to remain flexible as much as possible as we see how that develops,” Rhea said. “But for starters, DC has two of the top three superhero characters, so we have a lot to play with right out of the gate.”
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct.