Netflix announced this morning that it’s producing an animated series based on the popular card game Magic: the Gathering.
Anthony and Joe Russo, the brothers who directed “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame,” have signed on as executive producers, while Henry Gilroy (a writer on “Star Wars Rebels”) and Jose Molina (“The Tick”) will serve as lead writers.
While many Magic players care less about the plot and more about using the various spells and creatures to defeat their friends, the 26-year-old game features an elaborate fantasy world and ongoing storylines about wizards known as Planeswalkers — in fact, a Magic novel recently hit The New York Times bestseller list.
Netflix has not announced an episode count or release date. Series production will be overseen by the studio Octopie.
“Our 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,” said Octopie CEO Isaac Krauss in a statement. “This 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.”
20th Century Fox previously attempted to turn Magic into a feature film, with “Game of Thrones” writer Bryan Cogman working on the script.