MTG Netflix series will feature dark original stories with existing characters in the lore

An executive producer on the Magic: The Gathering Netflix animated series said that the cartoon will feature existing characters in the lore while telling dark-toned stories, separate from what’s considered canon. 

While taking a break from interviews prior to San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), Isaac Krauss talked with YouTuber Comic Drake about the upcoming MTG animated series. Krauss is the co-founder and CEO of animation studio Octopie Network and is serving as an executive producer on the Netflix MTG animated series. 

Many people in the MTG community have been wondering if the writers would jump in on the current storyline or branch off with original content. 

“We’re telling a unique story through that [MTG] lore,” Krauss said. “It’s a real opportunity to develop the characters in a really concrete way—more concrete than has existed in the cards, and to tell an original story in animation.”

Related: Magic: The Gathering Netflix series to be character-based as more heavy-hitters join the team

Krauss also discussed the hiring of the Russo brothers as executive producers. He said that what they accomplished with Marvel and the Avengers movies will play a major role in developing a storyline. 

“It’s similar to Marvel,” Krauss said. “You can have all these different stories being told with these characters, but to tell the right story, you need to think about the medium. The stories we are telling will be unique for that medium.” 

For Marvel, it was a live-action format. But for MTG, it’ll be animation. In addition, Krauss said the Netflix series will have a dark tone. And while the writers, Henry Gilroy and Jose Molina (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), have written toward a family audience in the past, it doesn’t mean the MTG animated series will follow a similar path. 

Krauss said the tones of series that were previously written by Gilroy and Molina aren’t what the studio is looking for. But the character banter, action sequences, and plot setups are foundations that will carry over. He also said that Gilroy and Molina have “really absorbed the world, the universe, of Magic.” 

A release date for the MTG Netflix series hasn’t been set yet and the title remains a mystery, too. Other individuals working on the series have previously been involved with projects like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Batman: The Animated Series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Agent Carter, and Firefly.