Can you smell it in the air? The sweet smell of freshly revealed Magic cards? Well, maybe it’s just me. Regardless, at NYCC 2026, Wizards of the Coast showed fans the third Marvel Universes Beyond set, following Marvel: Superheroes and Marvel: Zombies. Let us introduce you to Marvel: Darkhold Destiny. This dark, magic-fueled set was made to feel like Magic cards first, and Marvel cards second. Even from just the sneak peek, that design philosophy is definitely shining. Marvel let the Magic design team truly fly as they created their own story and reworked existing characters to fit a narrative that feels like Magic: the Gathering through and through.
During the panel, a picture was painted of Darkhold Destiny as a darker-toned set that leans heavily into the arcane side of Marvel. We’ve seen the “arcane” subtype sprinkled on cards here and there, but it’s coming to the forefront in this set, as well as the “Book” subtype. Grimoires, magical tomes, and cursed books will all be crucial in Darkhold Destiny. After all, the set’s namesake is the Marvel universe’s own Necronomicon, the Darkhold. The Universes Beyond crew plunged the depths of Marvel comics to find every scrap of mystical magic they could, all to put it together into one sweeping set, taking place in a single narrative across two-dozen dimensions.
Bizarrely enough, the two heroes this set is based around are Thor and Doctor Strange. While not known for teaming up, the Magic: the Gathering team thought there was potential to be had when initially pitching the story to Marvel. I can’t deny that gods and planes-walking sorcerers do fit neatly into Magic: the Gathering. As is to be expected, the main villains of the set are Hela and Dormammu. Land cards will show the idyllic version of certain planes, while others will show what they look like after the villains are done with them, furthering the dark/light contrast of the set.
Besides those four, however, there are many more characters on-deck, some for the first time. Darkhold Destiny is a multi-dimensional story—we might even get several different versions of some characters. Moon Knight, Night Rider, Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, Magik, Blade, and the oft forgotten Captain Britain (and his nemesis Morgan le Fay) were all name-dropped at the panel, along with fan-favorites like Scarlet Witch and Agatha. There will be character re-designs galore as Wizards of the Coast creates their own take on Marvel characters, lore, and settings.
With a set so magic-intensive, it’s no surprise that there’s a lot of focus on Instant and Sorcery cards, which also can have the Arcane subtype, unusual for non-permanent cards. There’s also the new Vengeance key-word mechanic, as you can see on Hela’s card above, where one can pay a price (in this case, three life) for some kind of benefit to push you towards victory. Very thematic, considering the Darkhold can give one untold evil powers, but also slowly drains your life-force. There’s layers, people, layers!
“We’re going to show you what Marvel is through our eyes.” -Merideth Mulroney, Art Director for Universes Beyond
New York Comic Con has yielded plenty of news from all sides of the entertainment industry, but to me, this is the most exciting reveal of all. Which surprises me to say! To be clear, I’m not immune to Universes Beyond. My knees crumpled when Fallout was announced, I am salivating for Star Trek cards, I yip-yipped and even hooray’d over Avatar: the Last Airbender. But I fell in love with Magic and its lore and planes before Universes Beyond, and I do miss getting to have that in each set. Maybe Darkhold Destiny doesn’t solve that problem, but it brings the spirit of Magic: the Gathering to other worlds, and that’s what many fans want most of all.