Following The Lord of the Rings and Final Fantasy, Universes Beyond is nowhere near as controversial as it once was. It’s still by no means universally beloved, but, for the most part, these sets are enjoyed, or at the very least tolerated, by fans.
That being said, Universes Beyond sets are by no means perfect, and recent sets especially have made that clear. Now, however, it appears that Wizards of the Coast may have learned its lesson. According to Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks, we should finally be taking a break from New York in the near future.
No More New York?
In the past year, Magic: The Gathering has been to New York City on three separate occasions. The first time this happened, in MTG Spider Man, fans were immediately put off by the real-world nature of it all. As much as cards like City Pigeon might look cute, it doesn’t exactly feel like Magic: The Gathering.
Following this, Wizards quickly returned to New York just six months later in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set. While this return visit was a bit more stylized, an overabundance of pizza similarly ended up putting off fans. As if this wasn’t enough New York, it only took three months to return, this time in Marvel Super Heroes.
Thankfully, in this latest set, the setting of New York didn’t play as prominent a role, yet this return still solidified complaints. Thankfully, it appears that all of this complaining hasn’t fallen on deaf ears, as even Hasbro, of all people, has taken notice. Speaking in a new call to investors, Hasbro’s Chris Cocks revealed we shouldn’t be returning to New York City soon.
“I think the one thing I’ll say on the Universes Beyond partners that we have next year is, they’ll probably be a bit more fantasy adjacent. I don’t think any of them will take place in New York City because we definitely have gotten that feedback from some fans.“
Chris Cocks
A Brief Reprieve
Obviously, for anyone who has been upset at the overabundance of New York recently, this is fantastic news from Cocks. That being said, it’s worth noting that Cocks is only talking about the near future of 2027 here, so this isn’t a promise to never return. Realistically, we could easily go back to New York in 2028, especially since we’re likely getting one Marvel set per year.
This detail, however, does raise a question about the Marvel set we’ll presumably be getting next year. Since only the in-universe sets for 2027 have been announced so far, there’s no telling where we might end up. Given the lack of a New York setting, however, some MTG players suspect an X-Men-focused set based on Krakoa.
Beyond this, sadly, “more fantasy adjacent” doesn’t really help narrow down the practically endless possibilities for Universes Beyond set. As such, we’ll just have to wait and see what gets revealed later on this year. In theory, this could happen as early as Gen Con this July, or perhaps at MagicCon: Atlanta in November.
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