Magic: The Gathering, the cult fantasy card game, will soon be the focus of an animated series bound for Netflix. The Russo Brothers, who helmed Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, will oversee the series, with the duo crafting a new storyline revolving around the game’s stocked roster of wizards, monsters, “Plainswalkers” and more.
“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 statement to Variety.
The Russos will executive produce the series, which marks Magic: The Gathering’s first foray into the visual medium.
“Magic is a beloved global franchise with a massively engaged fan base that has only continued to grow over the last 25 years,” Netflix’s head of anime programming John Derderian added. “There’s no one better suited to bring this story to audiences around the world than Joe and Anthony Russo, whose talent for genre storytelling is unmatched, as is demonstrated by their central role in creating some of the biggest box office hits of all time.”
Following the success of Game of Thrones, networks and streaming services have continued to mine the fantasy genre for content: HBO has Game of Thrones spinoffs in the works, while Amazon paid a hefty price in order to bring a series based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings to its streaming service. Netflix’s own Stranger Things also borrows heavily from the Dungeons & Dragons mythology.
