With Game Of Thrones finished, plenty of TV channels and streaming services are looking for their own fantasy series to lure fans in and potentially replace the HBO behemoth. While the most high-profile of these is the Lord Of The Rings series in development at Amazon, Netflix have now thrown their hat in the ring.
Well, sort of. It’s not quite the same. THR reports that a Magic: The Gathering anime series is in the works at the streaming giant. Netflix are teaming up with Hasbro and publisher Wizards of the Coast to bring an adaptation of the popular card game to our screens.
While it’s not Game Of Thrones, Magic: The Gathering does have a large, enthusiastic following. Plus, Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo are executive producing the series. Admittedly, that means next to nothing; they essentially just approve the series and have zero creative input. However, Henry Gilroy (Star Wars: The Rebels) and Jose Molina (The Tick) will be lead writers.
The aim is to build a fantasy franchise around the long-running game. It’s unclear right now how many episodes are expected. Those will reportedly be dictated “by the storytelling”, however Netflix will likely have the final say.
Netflix also confirmed the announcement on Twitter:
HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT TIME: Netflix and Wizards of the Coast are teaming up with Joe and Anthony Russo to make a Magic: The Gathering anime series and this teaser of Chandra has me asking QUESTIONS. pic.twitter.com/vljlEtl0Mq
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) June 3, 2019
The series will reportedly “be a creation of an all new storyline that expands on the history, lore, and adventures of the magic-wielding Planeswalkers”. It’ll be interesting to see how this turns out. Netflix’s track record with shows they put a large amount of marketing effort into is very good. Considering its reach, Magic: The Gathering is likely to be one of those shows.
#Peace.Love.MagicTheGathering
