Netflix announced that it has partnered with Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro's Allspark Animation to bring a Magic: The Gathering animated series to the streaming platform. This is the first time that the iconic game comes to the screen. As if to sweeten the deal, Netflix is bringing in the Russo Brothers to serve as executive producers. Joe and Anthony Russo are the directing team responsible for the year's biggest movie so far, Avengers: Endgame.
Production of the series will be courtesy of Octopie with Todd Makurath, Eric Calderon, and Dave Newberg serving as producers, and Mike Larocca and Isaac Krauss serving as executive producers.
Henry Gilroy and Jose Molina are also being brought in as lead writers, as well as co-executive producers. For those not familiar, Gilroy's credits include Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars ,while Molina in known for The Tick and Agent Carter.
Animation is expected to be done by Bardel Entertainment, known for shows like The Dragon Prince, Teen Titans Go!, and Rick and Morty.
Talking about the upcoming show, the Russo Brothers said that they have been long-time fans of the game "so being able to help bring these stories to life through animation is a true passion project for us.”
Wizards of the Coast President Chris Cocks said that they are more than happy to collaborate with the Russo Brothers in bringing this rich world to Netflix in a way that is sure to delight the fans and even those new to the franchise. He went on to say that the combination of the continued success of tabletop games, the success of its Magic: The Gathering Arena digital game, and the War of the Spark expansion, has resulted in more fans enjoying Magic that at any time in its 25 years of existence.
For Octopie CEO Isaac Krauss, the highlight for them is being able to work with the likes of Netflix, WotC, and of course, the Russo Brothers. He said that the "goal is to not only tell a compelling story leveraging Magic: The Gathering’s incredible body of work, but to also push the medium and perception of storytelling through animation." He added that the "series will cross the genres of suspenseful thriller, horror, and drama with deeply developed characters the likes of which are not often seen in animation.”
Aside from the announcement by Netflix, no other details of this upcoming series has been revealed.
