Streaming giant Netflix has announced that it is joining forces with Marvel greats Joe and Anthony Russo, Wizards of the Coast, and Hasbro’s Allspark Animation to bring the fantasy game, Magic: The Gathering to the screen for the first time in franchise history with a new animated series of the same name.
The Russos will oversee the creation of an all new storyline and expand on the stories of the Planeswalkers, which are Magic’s magic-wielding heroes and villains.
According to the Russos, “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 brothers, who are coming off back-to-back Marvel film hits, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, will executive produce the series. Henry Gilroy and Jose Molina will serve as lead writers and co-executive producers, and Yoriaki Mochizuki will serve as supervising director and co-executive producer. Octopie will oversee production of the series, with Todd Makurath, Eric Calderon, and Dave Newberg serving as producers, and Mike Larocca and Isaac Krauss serving as executive producers.
Production will be handled by Bardel Entertainment.
Created in 1993, the Magic franchise, which includes the tabletop trading card game, the new digital game Magic: The Gathering Arena, a New York Times bestselling novel, critically acclaimed comic book series, and professional eSports league, 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.
“Magic is a beloved global franchise with a massively engaged fan base that has only continued to grow over the last 25 years,” said Netflix anime programming head John Derderian. “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.”