After a five-year-long concept phase, Netflix and Hasbro Entertainment have finally put the first animated series based on Wizard of the Coast’s iconic card game Magic: The Gathering into production.

They’ve chosen Terry Matalas (Star Trek: Picard, Vision) as the project’s new showrunner and executive producer, replacing Jeff Kline, who has been driving it since 2021. Matalas is scrapping everything that’s been done prior to his involvement and will take the series in a new creative direction, working with supervising director and EP Patrick Osborne (Feast, Drawn Closer). 

There weren’t many details about the series available at press time, but a new promo image from Netflix indicates that Magic’s iconic pyromancer Chandra will play a key role. 

Netflix made the announcement yesterday at its fourth annual GeekedWeek celebration in Atlanta. The streamer also made new cast announcements for One Piece season two and the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as unveiling a behind-the-scenes look at Wednesday‘s second season.

First announced in 2019, this Magic: The Gathering series has had a long and troubled development saga. The project was originally helmed by Avengers: Endgame directors Anthony and Joseph Russo, who quit in early 2020 over creative differences on how to adapt the card game for screens. Kline took over as showrunner the following year, casting Superman Returns star Brandon Routh to voice one of the leading characters, Gideon Jura. But earlier this month, the American actor confirmed that he was no longer involved with the series, adding that he thought it was shelved for good.