Netflix has announced that Planeswalker, an animated series based on Magic: The Gathering, will debut in 2027. The first sneak peek doesn't show much, but it does suggest that the show is taking several pages from the streamer's wildly popular League of Legends series, Arcane.
The series "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," according to the official synopsis.
"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."
The video above is filled with concept and previsualization clips, but there are a few seconds of what appears to be near-final animation and, well, it's tough to deny a clear Arcane influence here in the character design and animation style. The series is being created by animation studio Digic Pictures, which has previously made cutscenes for games including Assassin's Creed Shadows and Call of Duty: Vanguard, and led several episodes of Amazon's Secret Level series.
Terry Matalas, who served as showrunner for VisionQuest and seasons 2 and 3 of Star Trek: Picard, will be showrunner for Planeswalker. Cindy Appel, who wrote episodes for both those shows, serves as co-showrunner. Patrick Osborne is supervising director and executive producer.
Netflix has been trying to get a Magic: The Gathering series underway since at least 2019, when the streamer announced that the Russo brothers were attached to the project. Whatever vision they had for the series seemingly fell through, as it was five years before we heard about it again – this time, led by Matalas.
In the meantime, check out our guides to the best shows on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix to find out what you should be streaming today.
