Having directed Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and the last two Captain America films, the Russo brothers are looking to bring a new lore to life: Magic: The Gathering.
The Russo brothers–Joe and Anthony–will be creating a new series that focuses on a new Planeswalker, the legendary spellcasters that form the basis of Magic: The Gathering‘s lore.
Netflix aren’t messing around with the writing team, either: along with the Russo brothers, Henry Gilroy (Star Wars: Rebels, The Clone Wars) and Jose Molina (The Tick) will be heading up the writing, while Isaac Krauss and Mike Larocca will serve as executive producers.
More than any card/set spoiler, this is the secret thing I’ve had the hardest time keeping a secret: ‘Avengers: Endgame’ directors developing animated ‘Magic: The Gathering’ series at Netflix https://t.co/Mksyortp2I via @ew
— Aaron Forsythe (@mtgaaron) June 3, 2019
Not much else is known at this stage, beyond the fact that Chandra Nalaar, a human planeswalker who specialises with fire (and, in the world of M:TG, represents the Red playstyle and mages). Being an anime and not a live-action affair should make it easier to bring M:TG to life, irrespective of what plane the animated series takes place in. (The official lore has over 30 natural and artificial planes, ranging from Shandalar, the setting of MicroProse’s M:TG adaptation, to Ravnica, the focus of the recently released War of the Spark set.)
“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 Russo brothers said in a release.
Does it HAVE to be an anime, though? I get that every other popular card game has one, but imo going with “western” animation would have seemed like a better choice, as it would keep with the established art style of the cards. It’d distinguish it from the other card games with animated shows too i guess.
Just to be “That guy” and light a fire and watch everything burn. It’s an “animation”, not an “anime” until such time that they show us the style and execution. In the same way not every console is a “Nintendo”, not everything animated is an “anime”.
Other self: Yes it is. “Anime” is the Japanese word for “Animation” so technically from the viewpoint of a Japanese person this is an anime.
Myself: And “aeni” is the Korean term for animation but we don’t see people calling them that, not even when they’re drawn by a predominantly Korean artist team. Using “Anime” in an English society is really just our way of categorising a set of tropes, themes, aesthetics and visual design so you don’t go in expecting something that follows Western culture.
Other Self: You’re such a weeb.
Myself: Can’t really argue with that.
Barry, that you?