Avengers directors are making a Magic: The Gathering show for Netflix
The race is on to find the “next” Game of Thrones, and Netflix is doubling down by bringing Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo on board to executive produce an animated series based on Magic: The Gathering.
If you’re unfamiliar, Magic is a trading card game that was released by Wizards of the Coast in 1993. Each game represents a battle between wizards, or planeswalkers; players fight by summoning creatures, using artifacts and casting spells depicted on cards. It’s as dorky as it sounds, and now it’s coming to a TV near you.
According to the press release from Netflix, “the Magic franchise has connected with over 38 million fans over the last 25 years and has been published in eleven languages and played in over 70 countries.” There are a lot of fans out there.
"The Russos will oversee the creation of an all-new storyline and expand on the stories of the Planeswalkers, which are Magic’s unique magic-wielding heroes and villains as they contend with stakes larger than any one world can hold."
Henry Gilroy (Star Wars Rebels) is being brought on as one of the lead writers. He’s joined by Jose Molina (The Tick, Agent Carter) in the writer’s room, with animation by Bardel Entertainment. “We have been huge fans and players of Magic: The Gathering for as long as it has been around, so being able to help bring these stories to life through animation is a true passion project for us,” the Russos said in a joint statement.
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The show will feature creative talent from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Batman: The Animated Series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Firefly, Agent Carter, Ultimate Spider-Man, and The Lego Movies. It’s a animation celebration.
John Derderian, head of Anime programming for Netflix, also chimed in:
"Magic is a beloved global franchise with a massively engaged fan base that has only continued to grow over the last 25 years. There’s no one better suited to bring this story to audiences around the world than Joe and Anthony Russo, whose talent for genre storytelling is unmatched, as demonstrated by their central role in creating some of the biggest box office hits of all time."
Netflix is going pretty hard on the anime front lately, so this fits right in with their plans. I’m excited to see how the Russo Brothers bring their box office-smashing talents to an animated project. What I’m really hoping for is something to top Netflix’s other forays into original animation like Castlevania, The Dragon Prince and Disenchantment.
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