OK, I’ll admit it. I’m obsessed with Marvel Battleworld. These collectible little cuties became my sanctuary when Pokemon cards were virtually unobtainable throughout 2020. I love cracking open the Thanostones to reveal the character hidden inside, busting battle balls to hopefully find a rare chase variant, and displaying my collection of unique Marvel mash-up characters. The actual board game isn’t half bad either, and now, with the arrival of Series 2, Marvel Battleworld is better than ever.

Marvel Battleworld Series 2: Treachery at Twilight, isn’t just a new set of What If? characters to collect. Series 2 actually adds a whole host of products that enhance the game, make it more replayable, and perhaps most importantly, make collecting and storing your characters a lot easier. Series 2 just launched last month and already you can pick up two different Mega Packs, a new Battle Ball, The Collector’s Tower add-on, the Talon Fighter add-on, the Premium Pieces pack, the Storage Case, and a new Travel Portal. That’s nearly twice as many products than Series 1, and each one enhances the game in a variety of ways.

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As a collector, the real star of Series 2 is the Storage Case. The handy briefcase-style storage case is a two-layer container that offers display spots for 18 figures and a stack of Battle Cards, as well as additional space for more characters, cards, and game components like dice and tokens. I was able to fit my entire Series 1 collection, 1 set of game pieces, three of the new premium thanostones, and 11 Series 2 characters all in one box. It even comes with a Venomized version of Spider-Ham called Pork Grind. I’m going to end up getting a second case for my growing collection, but this is a must have accessory for Battleworld collectors.

For players, there are a ton of new additions to help keep the game fresh and improve the quality of life. One of my favorite new additions is the Premium Pieces Pack, which comes with an exclusive Spider Island Groot, three reusable Thanos Stones, durable plastic tokens, and a plastic coin. These components replace the flimsy plastic pieces you get in Mega Packs while also providing a way to reseal characters in Thanostones. Opening a stone for surprise reinforcements mid-game is one of the coolest things about playing Battleworld, and I love that Funko has created a way to re-create that experience without having to buy more new stones to open. If you play the game often, those cardboard components are probably getting pretty worn out, so this is another must-have upgrade for fans of the game.

battleworld series 2

Following Series 1’s Thanos Ship Showdown, there are two add-on packs for Series 2 that dramatically change how the game is played. Black Panther’s Talon Fighter is a sleek spaceship that gets added to the board at the beginning of the game. On your turn, you can choose to pilot the Talon Fighter instead of attacking like normal by placing any character in the cockpit of the ship. You then spin two dials on the top of the ship and can choose to attack any Battle Card with matching symbols. After you move the ship to any spot that touches the card, you’ll load a token into a slot on top and press a switch on the bottom to release it into the Talon Fighter’s tray. If it's heads you get the hit, but if it's tails you miss. The Talon Fighter makes it easier to score points, but it does add an element of randomness, so it has a nice balance of risk and reward. Plus, it's just a cool spaceship for your heroes to fly around in.

The Collector’s Tower blows the Talon Fighter out of the water. This eight-inch dice tower stands at the center of your Battleworld at the start of the game. At the top stands The Collector himself wielding the Twilight Sword. Every time your hero attacks, you’ll turn all the knobs on the front of the tower to randomize the path, then drop your die in it with the hope that you can dislodge the powerful Twilight Sword Die within. If you manage to knock the Twilight Die out, your hero gets to take the Twilight Sword from The Collector and use the Twilight Die for the rest of the game. It’s a fantastic mechanic that feels cinematic and I can guarantee that kids will be so excited to wield the Twilight Sword and tinker with this intricate dice tower.

battleworld series 2 tower

Of course, we can’t talk about a new Battleworld series and not discuss the new characters. Series 2 continues the theme of mash-up characters and multiverse variants of Marvel’s most famous heroes, but I think Series 2 digs deeper into Marvel’s extensive character library and manages to deliver an even more impressive selection of figures than the first. There are a handful of reposes of Series 1’s most popular characters, like Spider-Ham, Captain Marvel, Throg, and Iron Man, which I realize serves the story of the animated series to some extent, but I would have preferred to get all new figures in Series 2. What I love about this series is how much it leans into the 2099 franchise and Spider-Verse. You’ll find a good handful of Spider-Man heroes and villains like Lady Octopus, Zombie Rhino, Ghost-Spider, and Hobgoblin, as well as futuristic variants of popular characters like Black Panther 2099, Black Widow 2099, Hulk 2099, and Spider-Man 2099.

The coolest figure I’ve seen so far is definitely Ghost Rider 2099. His face and arms are made of reflective, metallic materials, while the flames on his head have a translucent quality that you can see through the gaps in his skull. It’s a finely detailed figure that tops anything we saw in Series 1, and I’m looking forward to seeing more mixed-material figures in the future.

battleworld series 2 roster

Of course, it’s all about the chase variants for some people, and luckily, Series 2’s rare figures are incredible. Rather than the multi-colored ‘infinity” variants from Series 1, Series 2 variants all have the same yellow-orange twilight theme with a nice warm gradient effect. They may not look that special in photos, but in person they’re pretty impressive. I managed to find Twilight Rocket, who has orange feet and an orange tail that gently transforms into a brilliant yellow towards the top of the figure. He’s got gold accents on his belt, shoulder, and knee pads, and you can see sparkles embedded in the opaque plastic. I love these new variants and I hope I can manage to find all six.

Series 2 is everything I could have asked for and more for Marvel Battleworld. The storage options and reusable Thanostones are exactly what collectors and players needed, and the new characters and expansions are a blast.

The full Series 2 line-up is available on Amazon and several major retailers. You can learn more about Marvel Battleworld on Funko’s official website.