Wildly popular card battler Marvel Snap is under fire due to many similarities between a piece of fan art from 2018 and its card depicting Black Panther character M' Baku. Snap's version first appeared in 2022.
Today i found out that a fanart of Black Panther's M'baku i did wayy back in 2018 was plagiarized in Marvel Snap.
— Jason(Jay) Kiantoro - C0mms open! (@thatjaykart) March 17, 2025
What's funny, is for the past few months ive been repeatedly emailing Marvel Snap asking if i can work for them with no response ever lol pic.twitter.com/FXmEDbXar1
While the art on the Snap card is pixelated, almost everything else is identical to artist Jay Kiantaro's version. The character's stance, his staff, the outstretched hand.. this doesn't look great for developer Second Dinner. It's apparently not the only accusation of theft facing them either. On Discord, the developer posted they are aware of the reports and are looking into it - no doubt with the help of a few well-paid lawyers.
Art is an important part of every video game, but even more so in Snap. As cards upgrade, you unlock new versions of them with various changes to their artwork. I've heard it described as a card game whose primary reward system is prettier cards, and that's not inaccurate.
It's starting to feel like time for Second Dinner's summer comic book crossover in which all the heroes' enemies attack and their universe is in peril. Earlier this year, through no fault of Second Dinner Snap, went dark as the US government and ByteDance battled over TikTok's right to operate in America.
That wasn't anything Second Dinner had control over, and the developer has found a new publisher so it doesn't happen again. This latest controversy, if the allegations turn out to be true, is sadly self-inflicted. We'll keep you posted on this bizarre development in the world of Marvel Snap.