It’s safe to say that Universes Beyond has come pretty far from its inception. While a crossover with The Walking Dead was a hell of a place to start, we’ve now got SpongeBob and Sonic MTG cards. As if that wasn’t out there enough, Marvel’s Spider-Man is getting a fully fledged set, which we’ll see this week.
Between the Universes Beyond Secret Lair drops and sets, there’s no question that MTG has jumped the shark already. Judging by recent comments made by Hasbro’s CEO, Chris Cocks, during an investor presentation, it appears Wizards is lining up for another jump. If Cocks’ statements are anything to go by, we might be getting a K-pop-themed MTG release in the future.
MTG x K-Pop?
In Hasbro’s recent investor presentation, the parent company of Wizards of the Coast had a lot to celebrate. Thanks to the Final Fantasy crossover, which made $200,000,000 in one day, revenue is massively up. Even Tarkir: Dragonstorm is apparently on track to become the best-selling premier set of all time.
To say that things are going well in the land of MTG would be putting it lightly. While there was plenty of Hasbro patting itself on the back, there was also plenty of talk about the future. Sadly, Cocks was careful not to ruin Wizards’ future announcement plans; however, a few teases were let slip.
Out of these, there’s no denying that a potential crossover with K-pop bands is the most baffling and exciting. According to Cocks, this potential crossover would be designed to entice more women to play MTG. According to Cocks, only “30% of the playerbase today are women, and we’d like to see that increase over time.”
To accomplish this goal, Cocks stated Hasbro is “looking at IPs that could have some resonance there.” Specifically, Cocks highlighted the “romantasy” genre as well as “looking at K-pop bands. Nothing is off the table.”
Right now, it’s unclear what either of these products could end up looking like, if they ever get made. The most sensible suggestion would be Secret Lair drops, since these are the easiest and smallest product to create. In theory, now is the perfect time to create such a product. If Wizards could create a crossover with Kpop Demon Hunters, that Secret Lair would undoubtedly do numbers.
“Final Fantasy-Like” Sets Coming Soon
For better or worse, there’s no telling whether or not Cocks’ comments will actually come to fruition. If you ask us, they do sound a little bit too much like pandering to be well-received by the MTG audience. That said, we would have said the same about a SpongeBob Squarepants Secret Lair, yet here we are.
Thankfully, regardless of what Secret Lair drops get created in the near future, the 2026 release calendar is looking strong. Not only are there three hugely anticipated in-universe sets being released, but we’re getting three main Universes Beyond sets too. So far, details surrounding these are still under wraps, but Cocks did allude to what’s in store.
“We feel pretty darn good about the Universes Beyond lineup we have set up for 2026 and 2027. […] We feel pretty good about the brand collaborations and first-party sets we have next year in terms of being Final Fantasy-like in terms of the types of players and the size of community, and the adjacency we have.”
Chris Cocks
Unfortunately, this was all Cocks revealed about the 2026 Universes Beyond crossovers, but we should hear more soon. During the investor presentation Cocks noted that Wizards typically reveals future sets in August or September. Looking ahead, MagicCon: Atlanta is taking place on September 26th to 28th, so Wizards could easily announce things then.
While we can probably expect some big announcements at the MagicCon: Atlanta Preview Panel, nothing is set in store. Even if the 2026 crossovers are “Final Fantasy-like” in adjacency to Magic’s brand and vibes, that doesn’t exactly narrow things down. There are tons of games, books, and films that would fit nicely around Magic’s brand of fantasy, after all.
Ultimately, we’re just going to have to wait and see what gets revealed in the next few months. Until then, we can hopefully be optimistic that Wizards isn’t immediately going wild and wacky with full set crossovers.
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