Throughout recent years, Magic: The Gathering has been going from strength to strength. While there have been some controversies, the game’s popularity has boomed, especially thanks to Universes Beyond. Despite this unprecedented success, there are a few nuts that Wizards hasn’t been able to crack for MTG.
Media surrounding Magic: The Gathering, in particular, has always been rather lackluster. The books and supplementary games of the past are nowhere to be found today, and existing comics are noncanonical at best. There was one glimmer of hope that players were clinging onto, but that was seemingly extinguished last week.
That was, at least, until today! Following a recent announcement, it appears the MTG Netflix show is alive and well once more! Despite being reportedly canceled and forgotten about in the past, the show has now actually entered production! We may finally be getting the MTG animated series that we’ve all long been wanting!
It Lives! It Actually Lives!
Last week, we finally got closure that the MTG Netflix show was dead and buried. This came from actor Brandon Routh, who stated “Apparently it’s not happening” in an interview with Collider. Supposedly, this was “kind of old news,” which isn’t too surprising considering how little we’ve heard about the show.
Nine days later, Netflix made a shocking announcement during Geeked Week that the Magic: The Gathering animated series actually lives. This confirmation arrived alongside a new teaser image for the show, which can be seen above. Sadly, this silhouetted image tells us diddly squat about the actual show, outside the fact it includes Ajani and Chandra.
While there’s little telling what the MTG Netflix show will actually look like, we have been told it’s now in production. This is a huge step forward for the project that has otherwise been in development hell for half a decade. To lead this new development charge, there’s a new Showrunner, Terry Matalas, and a new Supervising Director, Patrick Osborne.
Considering Osborne won an Oscar for the animated short Feast, hopefully, the MTG series should be in good hands. This will be very important since it appears the show may be starting from square one again. What little we knew about the original project appeared to be focused on Gideon Jura, played by Routh. Now, however, Ajani and Chandra are center stage for the time being.
That said, there’s no telling how much this new image actually means for the show’s development. It’s entirely possible the original plan is still being followed to expedite production. Ultimately we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens in the future. Hopefully, we’ll actually hear some details about the show every so often, rather than being left totally in the dark.
Seeing Is Believing
While the show obviously isn’t out yet, production starting once more is great news for MTG fans. Following the success of Netflix’s Arcane, this show could do wonders for worldbuilding and the game’s popularity. On top of that, the show should also just be a great watch, since MTG has no end of rich lore and interesting characters.
Sadly, while there is a lot of potential in the MTG Netflix show, that has yet to be realized. Production is only just starting back up and we’re bound to be a long way from any release date. Hell, it could be another few years before we see a teaser, and that’s if the show’s development goes well until then.
Given what’s happened in the past, many MTG players aren’t expecting this new wave of production to last long. On social media, players like GoSuckOnACactus were quick to joke about how this revival would be inevitably canceled. Similarly, Like17Badgers remarked about the obscene Commander Tax that must be being paid, given how many times the show has died.
“Alright guys, see you in 3 years for the cancellation announcement!”
GoSuckOnACactus
Sadly, there’s really no telling what will happen behind the scenes and to the MTG Netflix series overall. Should development be troubled again, it could easily end up being shelved or outright canceled as tastes change. We just have to hope that Netflix will keep us in the loop this time, but that is rare for shows.
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