Updated.  The Upper Deck Company and Marvel Entertainment today announced an agreement granting Upper Deck the rights to produce a variety of products based on the Marvel Universe. The multi-year agreement covers trading-card games, miniatures games, and trading cards, with the first products scheduled to arrive in stores in January 2010.

“We are extremely excited about the possibilities that this newest partnership opens up for us,” said Upper Deck Director of New Business Development Scott Gaeta. “Gamers and trading-card enthusiasts alike will benefit greatly as a result of the collaborative efforts by both companies.” The long-term deal includes the rights to create products based on Marvel’s comic-book titles, as well as Marvel Studios’ upcoming films, including Iron Man 2 (see “’Iron Man 2’ Starts Production”), Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America, and The Avengers.

The agreement comes less than five months after Upper Deck announced it would be discontinuing its Marvel and DC-based Vs. Trading Card Game (see “Upper Deck Ends ‘Vs. System’”).

Sources close to the situation are telling us that chances for the release of HeroClix Hammer of Thor, which Topps planned to release this summer if a buyer could not be found in time (see “’Hammer of Thor’ from Topps?”), have not changed as a result of the Upper Deck-Marvel deal.   

The long term impact on efforts to save the Marvel incarnation of WizKids' HeroClix CMG is unclear.  The most recent efforts to sell the HeroClix brand collapsed in April, and were resumed with the remaining bidders (see “HeroClix Deal Collapses”).