Although co-creation of artefacts is a common practice in virtual exchange (VE), there are still few studies that explore the connection between collaboration on multimodal texts and student teachers' development of intercultural and pedagogical awareness. Based on a trinational VE, coincidentally developed during the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, this case-study explores how COVID-19, as the impromptu context for VE, fostered preservice teachers' intercultural and pedagogical perspectives. Through a multiliteracies approach, findings indicate that co-creation both generated and scaffolded intercultural dialogue and that, the disruption caused by the pandemic was experienced by students as an expansive learning opportunity.