Movies

'Magic: The Gathering' Animated Series Coming From Netflix And The Russo Brothers

magic the gathering animated series
By Chris Evangelista/

Now that the Russo Brothers are done having to worry about Marvel stuff non-stop, they're free to explore other nerdy interests. Their latest project is a Magic: The Gathering animated series coming from Netflix, Wizards of The Coast, and Hasbro's Allspark Animation. The series will tell a whole new story set in the world of the wildly popular collectible and digital collectible card game.

Originally released in 1993, Magic: The Gathering is considered the world's first trading card game, and has amassed billions of players in its long history. It was only a matter of time until someone tried to bring it to the screen. That time is now, with the Russo Brothers helping craft "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."

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 will all play a part in the Magic the Gathering animated series, with Henry Gilroy (Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and Jose Molina (The Tick, Agent Carter) serving lead writers and co-executive producers on the series, and Yoriaki Mochizuki acting supervising director and co-executive producer. Bardel Entertainment will handle the animation.

"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," said Joe and Anthony Russo.

The series is said to "cross the genres of suspenseful thriller, horror, and drama with deeply developed characters the likes of which are not often seen in animation." I have never played any incarnation of Magic, but I'm well-aware of how popular it is, so the news of this series will no doubt excite a lot of people. Embracing it as an animated show, rather than a live-action series that couldn't accurately capture the fantasy world on a modest budget, seems like a smart move overall.

Magic: The Gathering's compelling characters, fantastic worlds, and deep strategic gameplay have entertained and delighted fans for more than 25 years. Fans can experience Magic through 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. With over 38 million fans to date, Magic is a worldwide phenomenon published in eleven languages in over 70 countries.

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