Current Events > Avengers: Endgame directors are adapting Magic: The Gathering for Netflix

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.polygon.com/2019/6/3/18648018/magic-the-gathering-netflix-series-joe-anthony-russo

Youll want to put down your cards, Planeswalkers.

After directing the hyper-successful, Infinity-Saga-ending Avengers: Endgame, directors Anthony and Joe Russo have a new project: adapting the 26-year-old collectible card game Magic: The Gathering for the small screen.

Netflix announced Monday that the Russos would team with Wizards of The Coast and Hasbro for an animated series based on the mythology of the fantasy game. The Russos will oversee the creation of an all new storyline and expand on the stories of the Planeswalkers (sorry, Urzas saga hopefuls) and will see the heroes and villains of the universe contend with stakes larger than any one world can hold.

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.

The Russos are set to executive produce the series, with writers Henry Gilroy (Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and Jose Molina (The Tick, Jordan Peeles Weird City) serving as showrunners. Yoriaki Mochizuki (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) is on board as supervising director and co-executive producer.

Bardel Entertainment (Rick and Morty, Teen Titans Go!, and Netflixs The Dragon Prince) is set to run point on the shows animation. Octopie Network (Neo Fighter Dream Crisis) will oversee production on the series, with Todd Makurath (How to Be a Serial Killer), Eric Calderon (Afro Samurai), and Dave Newberg (Brad Neelys Harg Nallin Sclopio Peepio) serving as producers, and Mike Larocca (Deadly Class) and Octopie CEO Isaac Krauss serving as executive producers.

Working with Joe and Anthony, Wizards of the Coast, and Netflix on such a universally cherished brand is a real highlight for our studio. said Krauss in a statement. Our goal is to not only tell a compelling story leveraging Magic: The Gatherings incredible body of work, but to also push the medium and perception of storytelling through animation. 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.

The Magic: The Gathering series joins a growing roster of adult-themed animation at Netflix, with traditional anime like Devilman Crybaby, Aggretsuko, and Ultraman living alongside Castlevania and the upcoming Pacific Rim and Altered Carbon series.

For Wizards of the Coast, the announcement is a coup for a property long trapped in Hollywood development cycles most recently, in 2014, Fox hired Game of Thrones writer Bryan Cogman to write a feature adaptation of the game and now fostered by one of the leading media companies on the planet.

More fans are enjoying Magic now than at any time in its 25-year history thanks to the enduring popularity of the tabletop game and our latest release War of the Spark, said Chris Cocks, president of Wizards of the Coast, in a press release. Were thrilled to collaborate with Joe and Anthony Russo to bring Magic: The Gatherings rich and diverse cast of characters and worlds to Netflix in a way that will delight our many fans and those new to the franchise.

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Id probably watch it tbh
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This is not better than cable.
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is the mtg lore even good?
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Ok. How.
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hype, this could be really cool
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Uh, my response:

https://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?printed=true&multiverseid=3332
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Alucard188 posted...

Ok. How.

Idk. I dont follow the lore. But its the Russo brothers, so they can probably make it good.

Musourenka posted...

Uh, my response:

https://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?printed=true&multiverseid=3332

why?
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My response:

https://img.scryfall.com/cards/large/front/d/5/d529d230-89b0-453b-987b-a47e15bc3830.jpg?1543675535

I MUST have this.

There is a reason why the fans call the main cast of characters the Jacetice league. Superhero writers can probably give us a good story from it.
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BuckVanHammer posted...

is the mtg lore even good?

Its pretty intense.
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BuckVanHammer posted...

is the mtg lore even good?

I can't tell you if in the grand scheme of things it is good, but there is so much at this point that a good writer could create all sorts of interesting stories just by adapting the universe.
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BuckVanHammer posted...

is the mtg lore even good?

I only really paid attention to the Amonkhet blocks story, but I thought it was pretty damn good.

They basically had the big bad guy (Nicol Bolas) kill off the Gatewatch, which theyd been building up since Origins. Bolas invaded an Egyptian-themed plane and set himself up as a god, gathering up souls of the dead to reawaken and destroy the Planeswalkers (along with the whole plane) when they came to stop him.

Who even cares about the plot in mtg?
What plot?
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I was really into the story around the time of Invasion. Haven't really cared about anything after that.
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The lore is terrible. The recent War of the Spark novel was one of the worst books I've ever read.

This is the kind of treatment the lore really needs.
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It's time to d d d d d d d d duel
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Alpha218 posted...

Alucard188 posted...

Ok. How.

Idk. I dont follow the lore. But its the Russo brothers, so they can probably make it good.

Musourenka posted...

Uh, my response:

https://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?printed=true&multiverseid=3332

why?

Generally speaking, I don't like anything gaming related going to movies or shows because it's almost always going to be terrible.

Though this team might make it work.
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This is just like DC getting Joss Whedon to direct JL, it's not gonna go well.
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Bluharvest posted...

Who even cares about the plot in mtg?
What plot?

There's been consistent (and consistently bad) attempts at injecting "plot" since roughly The Dark.

Instant watch for me. Dont care if it has 0% on RT and is unwatchable. I will be there.
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Mister_Spyker posted...

This is just like DC getting Joss Whedon to direct JL, it's not gonna go well.

He didnt direct JL. He just helped finish it when Snyder had to step down.
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Id be interested in the Gatewatch vs Eldrazi plot line then leading into the Nicol Bolas stuff

It's about time.
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Was going to post this later

WTF?
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Is that mtg mmo still happening
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Yea, the lore is pretty good for the most part, they just can't decide how they want to tell it and usually end up fumbling the exposition.

I've heard from multiple people that the War of the Spark ebook (Most recent big plot release) is one of the worst things they've done in terms of writing quality. I skipped it already because they release these story elements too late now and all the plot points are given away on cards.
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Megaman50100 posted...

I've heard from multiple people that the War of the Spark ebook (Most recent big plot release) is one of the worst things they've done in terms of writing quality. I skipped it already because they release these story elements too late now and all the plot points are given away on cards.

Is it sad that I'm nostalgic for Mercadian Masques?
The set was terrible, but the "plot" wasn't exactly awful. The novel was a few years early, if I remember right.

I mean the Karona arc and the Memnarch arcs were both really bad too but they had their redeeming factors.

The War of the Spark novel was just.... Worse. The plot was boring, the dialogue was unconvincing, the characters didn't have any, etc. This was supposed to be their Endgame event that Mtg was building to for nearly a decade. And it fell flat.

I know most mtg players don't care about the lore, but God the game deserved better. Let's see where this anime takes it.
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Questionmarktarius posted...

Megaman50100 posted...

I've heard from multiple people that the War of the Spark ebook (Most recent big plot release) is one of the worst things they've done in terms of writing quality. I skipped it already because they release these story elements too late now and all the plot points are given away on cards.

Is it sad that I'm nostalgic for Mercadian Masques?
The set was terrible, but the "plot" wasn't exactly awful. The novel was a few years early, if I remember right.

I also heard the book sucks on most levels. Pretty sure there's a breakdown of its stupidity on the main MTG subreddit (you may have to go back a month or two to find it). I still can't forgive War of the Spark -- set or book -- for killing Dack Fayden off like a nobody.
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Baseless hypothetical pitch:
"Hey, let's make a MTG cartoon. It's been around for like 25 years with lots of fans from a couple or three generations."
"It has to be about Jace."
"But... look at all cool lore like Urza, Tourach, the Sengirs, and even that Gerrard guy."
"No! It has to be about Jace!"

End result:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHq_O5FFTec" data-time="

Jace is kinda lame overall, but I do think he's gotten a good showing in the last year, especially on Ixalan. Even Kaladesh had some sweet moments. Hopefully he gets some sweet memory-erasing mind destruction action and not just "look, I made an illusion of a dog lol" stuff.
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wat
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It's gonna be about jace
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Sounds like a lot of fun. I'm hoping the art style is more like an Avatar:TLA half-anime-ish art style rather than just a traditional western style, but either way, the story and idea behind it will likely make me watch anyways.
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https://thehardtimes.net/harddrive/magic-the-gathering-anime-to-be-12-episodes-of-nobody-having-enough-lands-to-do-anything/


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