Magic's head designers tell Polygon that their new Marvel crossover set, Darkhold Destiny, is their most ambitious and "complex" crossover yet

Universes Beyond has always sat in direct opposition to Magic: The Gathering’s homegrown multiverse sets in several key ways. While crossover expansions with Final Fantasy, Spider-Man, and Lord of the Rings all sold like hot lembas bread and helped bring new players into the fold, they lacked the intricate storytelling, original character design, and complex gameplay mechanics that the core game regularly delivers. In 2027, that’s finally going to change.

Magic’s first Universes Beyond set of 2027, Darkhold Destiny, looks to finally bridge that gap by uniting the best of both worlds in what feels like the most ambitious UB set yet. Polygon spoke to the Darkhold Destiny team ahead of the set's big reveal at New York Comic Con 2026 to get a behind-the-scenes look. Here’s what we learned and why it has us so excited for Marvel’s third crossover set.

Here’s the biggest difference between Darkhold Destiny and previous Universes Beyond sets: Magic publisher Wizards of the Coast is using this one to tell an original story set within the Marvel sandbox. In this case, the story centers on the supervillains Hela and Dormammu getting their hands on the Darkhold and using it to unleash chaos and destruction across the Marvel multiverse. To save their worlds, a team of heroes including Thor, Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch and other magic-focused characters will rise up and fight back against the forces of evil.

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