Netflix’s Magic: The Gathering Series Gets Proof of Life With First Look Footage
Netflix's Magic: The Gathering animated series is real and now has the early footage to prove it.
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
So reads one of the many replies to the Netflix Geeked X account’s 2024 post announcing a Magic: The Gathering animated series for the streamer. That commenter’s skepticism (and many others like them) may have been curt, but it was certainly warranted. Despite being one of the most successful games ever made and having decades of compelling built in lore, Magic: The Gathering has had a surprisingly tough time making it off of card stock and into other visual media.
Sure, the legendary trading card game’s stewards at Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast have produced some interesting promotional animation, but M:TG has still not yet broken into the world of scripted television or film like comparable gaming title (and WotC cousin) Dungeons & Dragons.
That is all set to change soon. As not only is director Matt Johnson’s Magic: The Gathering movie forging full steam ahead with the announced casting of Maya Hawke, but Netflix has also now finally revealed details from its own M:TG animated series, including a title, release window, synopsis, some early art, and more! With such a major download of new information, Netflix can be forgiven for some playful chastising of the non-believers in its video sneak peek released during MagicCon Atlanta.
Yes, there’s our old “I’ll believe it when I see it” friend right at the nine-second mark. Thankfully, we’re all now seeing it together. The Magic: The Gathering series is titled Planeswalker and will premiere sometime in 2027. As its name implies, the show will focus on the dimension-traversing magicians who populate the card game’s canon (not only is “planeswalker” a card type in the game but you, the player, are also a planeswalker according to Magic: The Gathering. Congrats!)
In particular, the plot will hone in on a young Chandra, who should be eminently familiar to red aggro deck enthusiasts. The series’ synopsis reads: “PLANESWALKER chronicles the fierce clash between formidable mages known as Planeswalkers. At the center of this struggle for power and survival burns Chandra, a volatile pyromancer hunted for her gifts and haunted by her past. Confronted by an insidious force, Chandra and some of the most legendary Planeswalkers must harness their extraordinary abilities, navigate treacherous alliances, and battle their own inner demons to prevent a cataclysmic war that threatens to consume their very existence. As the line between victory and annihilation grows thinner, a single spark determines the fate of thousands of worlds.”
There are no further details yet on what other planeswalkers will be joining Netflix’s series, but that sneak peek makes zero effort to hide that one of them will be the hulking leonin (cat person) Ajani Goldmane.
Terry Matalas and Cindy Appel (both of the recently-concluded VisionQuest) will serve as co-showrunners on the series. The former gets the money quote in Netflix’s video, saying “Each of these cards is this window into this incredible world. It’s not just world-building. It’s worlds-building.”
We’ll find out just how many worlds there really are for Chandra, Ajani, and friends to explore when Planeswalker premieres in 2027.