The Marvel Snap Most Wanted September poll has come to an end, and with it, some surprising (and some not so surprising) results.
Before we get to our results, let’s take a look at some points of interest:
- Over 400 of you took the time to vote on the poll! Thank you! I know that voting on such a large cast of characters can be overwhelming, so I appreciate your time. Without your vote, there is no article!
- Every character received at least one vote at every ranking. The lowest ranked character received eight votes of 5, and the highest ranked character received ten votes of 0. It goes to show you that every character is someone’s favorite.
- Only one character averages over 4, but seven other characters averaged over 3.9. That tells me there’s one clear frontrunner, but many other popular characters with fanbase and players excited to see them join Marvel Snap.
- Only four of the top twenty characters have appeared in the MCU. (And that’s a bit of a stretch, because I’m including Donald Glover as Prowler.) The other three characters all have only one appearance at the moment: The Mandarin/Xu Wenwu in Shang-Chi, Pyro in Deadpool & Wolverine, and Franklin Richards, in Fantastic Four: First Steps.
- The average character ranking is 2.97, while the character ranked at the half-way point (Kingo) is ranked 2.84.
The Top Spot
Let’s move on to the list! Your September Most Wanted Character is: Mephisto!
Everyone’s favorite extra-dimensional demon is sitting strong upon his throne in his hell dimension! With an average rating of 4.2 Mephisto is far and away the Most Wanted character in Marvel Snap. One year ago, when this poll was conducted on a smaller scale on social media, Mephisto ranked 2, only below his fellow extra-dimensional peer Dormammu. With Dormammu’s introduction to the game, there doesn’t appear anyone to stand in Mephisto’s way.
But why is Mephisto so popular? There are a few reasons, and when you put them together, the argument for Mephisto’s high rank is strong. Whether you are a fan of Marvel comics, movies, videogames or gameplay ideas, Mephisto has left an impression everywhere.
Mephisto (as we know him) dates back to 1968, with an introduction as a Silver Surfer foe. Since then, Mephisto has gone on to spread his influence in comic runs with every character or team you can think of. Facing off against Avengers, individually and as a group, the Fantastic Four, X-Men and more. Mephisto is everywhere, and accrued fans in all corners of the comic universe. Who doesn’t love a good deal with the devil?
In terms of the MCU, Mephisto stocks are also on the rise. Last summer’s Ironheart included the introduction of Snap favorite The Hood into the MCU, and it was revealed at the end of the series that his powers stem from a deal with Mephisto himself, portrayed with a perfect amount of off-putting charm by Sacha Baron Cohen. The series ends with Riri Williams herself entangled with Mephisto, and it’s exciting to think about where that story will go. It does raise the question though - would Second Dinner wait until a bigger Mephisto story in the MCU to add Mephisto into the game?
Finally, Mephisto deserves this spot because he exists (and has existed since the beginning!) as a datamined card. Mr. Negative players have spent years dreaming for this datamined card to appear in the game. I don’t expect Mephisto to appear in the game in his datamined form, but it does make you wonder if Second Dinner will eventually create cards that care about the amount of cubes wagered. (In a way, this concept was explored in this most recent iteration of Deadpool’s Diner, with locations that cared about number of snaps.)
The Top 20 Most Wanted
With Mephisto sitting atop the leaderboard, let’s take a look at the rest of the Top 20!
When I wrote the introduction to this month’s poll, I pointed out that a common criticism of Marvel Snap is that there are no popular, or well known characters left to put into the game. With that in mind, take a look at the Top 20, and ask yourself - how many are you familiar with?
The Top 20 represent a diverse group of heroes and villains that find their popularity rooted in a healthy mix of comics, movies, TV shows, and even other videogames. The characters with red numbers are datamined, with card text and tentative release dates, to appear in an upcoming season. A character will not be removed from the list, until they are announced in official Second Dinner correspondence. All of the characters will remain on the list next month, but expect quite a few of them to be removed as the year goes on. (Another character on the list, Firestar, is the perfectly example of why I will wait to remove characters. Her card has appeared finished and ready to go since December of 2023, but for some reason she remains unreleased.)
The biggest shock to me on this list is the rise of Franklin Richards, who looks like he may be a powerhouse on the list for quite some time. (Pun intended.) I’m curious where Franklin’s success comes from. Is it the popularity of the Fantastic Four movie, the success of the First Steps season, or Franklin’s connection to Doom? Are there a lot of Franklin Richards fans in general? If you voted strongly for Franklin Richards, let me know why in the comments. I’d love to hear about why you want to see him in the game. (Do you think we would get a variant where he’s just a baby?)
Another pleasant surprise for me on this list is Hyperion, who has had limited, but memorable adaptations off the page, including small arcs in a variety of animated TV shows, and as a playable character in a few videogames. Regardless, I am here for the rise of Hyperion, and hope to see him climb the ranks in future polls. (Squadron Supreme season, anyone?)
The Bottom
We can’t celebrate the Top 20, without also taking a moment to pay our respect to the bottom 10. These characters will not continue on the list next month, and will instead be replaced by some of the most requested characters that were left off September’s poll.
Let us take a moment of silence, to honor our fallen comrades, as they sail off to the Undying Lands. (Wait, I’m being told that’s the wrong fandom? Oops.)
- Dogpool
- Raza
- Wild Thing
- Garokk
- Red Dagger
- Arkon
- Jon Ironfire
- Rikki Barnes
- Hiroim
- Karkas
Here are your lowest ranked characters this month. It would be callous not to talk about them each a bit, as I truly believe every character has the potential to make for an interesting Marvel Snap card. For some of them, they are cursed with the knowledge of pre-existing variants. Others just don’t have the name recognition to make up for how awesome they actually are.
Dogpool - With Headpool tentatively slated to arrive next month, Dogpool’s low ranking might be related to Deadpool overkill. We get it. He’s a popular character, but we don’t need new Deadpool variants (or card spin-offs) every month. That being said, Dogpool has potential as a card that mixes Deadpool's grow-upon-death mechanic, with Sparky’s fetch mechanic.
Raza - This one is particularly upsetting for me. Imagine the Guardians of the Galaxy, but someone voted Drax off the team. That’s essentially what’s going to happen with Raza’s removal from Most Wanted, as the Starjammers will now be missing one of their founding members. The Starjammers (and the Shi’ar Empire) seem like an inevitability in Marvel Snap, and I do believe Raza’s day will come.
Wild Thing - An alternate universe daughter of Wolverine and Elektra, Wild Thing could have made for an interesting mix-up card, similar to how Nocturne represents both Scarlet Witch and Nightcrawler. Perhaps a regenerating card, that itself destroys one cost cards on the opponent’s side when it’s destroyed.
Garokk - The true essence of the Savage Land walks upon the land himself, as the Petrified Man, Garokk. You may also recognize him from the original Savage Land arc in the X-Men Animated Series. Garokk probably would have done something with Rocks. Protecting them? Turning other cards into them? Adding even more to your deck?
Red Dagger - Relative newcomer, but fun Ms. Marvel character. I’m surprised he didn’t place higher, considering he appeared in the Ms. Marvel Disney+ show. I’m thinking he could have made for an elusive low power, 1-cost card that moves, or inflicts some negative power when he’s destroyed.
Arkon - Another favorite of mine, Arkon is the leader of Polemachus, a planet that exists outside of the primary Marvel universes, but often interacts with them. Arkon has most recently spent some time stranded away from his home, trying to get back. Jason Aaron’s Weirdworld comic, during the Secret Wars comic event, is a fun introduction to the character. (He also has a small arc in the X-Men Animated Series, marrying and tricking Storm!) If Arkon ever gets a card, I hope it involves Polemachus as a location.
Jon Ironfire - A newer, sword-wielding character, with ties to X-Men through the X of Swords event. Interesting potential, but I imagine Second Dinner would see his sword and automatically relegate him to discard.
Rikki Barnes - A fun character, hopping through the multiverse, because her own universe was destroyed. She has been the sidekick to a number of multiversal Captain Americas. Could be an interesting twist on the Bucky Barnes card design?
Hiroim - Another member of Hulk’s Warbound, Hiroim is a Shadow Priest that accompanies Hulk on his return to Earth to face the Ilumminati. The Warbound cards that already exist don’t fit a particular theme. If I had to design Hiroim, he would be a high powered card that automatically discards himself when drawn, encouraging you to return him from the discard pile with Ghost Rider or Hela.
And finally, Karkas, ranked all the way at the bottom.
Karkas - A deviant who doesn’t want to deviate. When you look at Karkas, you might think he is a monstrous killing machine, but inside Karkas just wants to live a quiet life. He is an intellect trapped in a grotesque mutated body. Despite his low ranking, he has been around since 1973 and appeared in over 50 comics. Perhaps, years from now, we’ll look back at this article and laugh as we struggle through a Karkas-dominated meta, but for now, it seems like we’re rejecting him for the monster he looks like, and not the thoughtful soul that he is.
Wrap Up
That brings us to the end of the September Most Wanted Poll! You can view the full rankings of all 250 characters by clicking here.
Join me next week for the October Most Wanted Poll, where we’ll talk about which characters are graduating from the list, as well the new characters who are coming in to replace the characters leaving. (You can guess one of them if you use your Brainnss….)
When you look at the Top 20, do you think you can create an entire Season Pass out of any or some of those characters? Which would you group together to make your ideal Season of Marvel Snap? Let me know in the comments, and let me know any other Most Wanted list performances that surprised you with their popularity or lack thereof!