WIRE Buzz: Magic: The Gathering producer talks Netflix continuity, Yvonne Strahovski joins Ghost Draft, more

Magic: The Gathering is preparing to make the leap from the card table to the screen in the form of a new Netflix series courtesy of executive producers Joe and Anthony Russo, and now we've got a few more details on exactly how that transition will proceed. 

Netflix announced last month that the Russos would be bringing Magic, the fan-favorite fantasy card game full of characters, creatures, and lore, to the streaming service in the form of an animated series, but the announcement didn't include much in the way of plot. Well, sadly we still don't know much about the plot, but Wizards of the Coast head of story and entertainment Nic Kelman, who'll also serve as executive producer on the series, is talking a little more about how the show will integrate the mythology built through hundreds and hundreds of cards into a new medium. 

“So what we plan to do is, the story and the characters are going to be true to the spirit of the story and the characters that are preexisting,” Kelman told The Wrap at San Diego Comic-Con Thursday. “We’re going to be true to that and the world and also true to the core values of those worlds and characters. But we’re definitely going to try to carve out our own continuity space in a very similar way to other franchises that have done that with adventures in a new medium from preexisting stories.”

As an example of what he meant by staying "true to the spirit of the story and the characters," Kelman noted that, if a character's backstory includes the death of their parents, that will still hold true if they're translated to the series, but exactly how old they were when their parents died might change. In that way, longtime Magic fans will be able to recognize the characters they know and love, even if the show is "not going to pick up exactly from the current continuity of the fiction.”

Kelman also addressed the people who won't recognize the characters they know and love in the new series, namely people who are eager to check out a new Netflix fantasy series but might not be all that familiar with Magic. The game has a loyal and massive following, but the show has the potentially to reach a much wider audience, and Kelman believes the universality of the characters within the world the game has created will make it attractive to streaming viewers.

“So I think while some of the deep lore from the ’90s might be inaccessible to a lot of people, the core of what makes Magic characters is the same as what makes any characters popular,” Kelman said. “So I think it’s just a question of focusing on the things that really make these characters appealing to everybody, including our fans. And I don’t see it as being anymore of an issue for Magic than any other similar franchise.”

Chris Pratt's sci-fi epic Ghost Draft is bringing another major genre star into the fold. Variety reports that Yvonne Strahovski -- best known for her roles on Chuck, Dexter, and most recently The Handmaid's Tale, has signed on for a key role in the flick, which reportedly has the potential to become a tentpole franchise starter. 

Pratt stars in the film as a man who's been drafted to be a soldier in a war that's happening in his future, apparently because his own connections to the past are required to win the fight, with the fate of humanity on the line. Strahovski will play someone Pratt's character meets in the war torn future, who also has a connection to his particular and very important past. 

Chris McKay (The LEGO Batman Movie) is directing Ghost Draft from a script by Zach Dean (Voyagers). Production is set to kick off this summer, but the film does not yet have an announced release date.

In its first two seasons in 2017 and 2018, the Netflix docuseries The Toys That Made Us proved to be an endless well of nostalgic fun for toy collectors and people who just remember hours of childhood fun alike. Now the first look at Season 3 has been revealed, and we can prepare for four new episodes about toy lines we all know and love. 

In past seasons the show has tackled everything from the history of Star Wars toys to Star Trek toys to Transformers toys, and more legendary characters and toy store favorites are about to join the lineup. Season 3 will focus on Teenage Mutant Ninjas Turtles, My Little Pony, Power Rangers, and wrestling action figures, particularly those launched out of the WWF in the 1980s. Check it out:

The Toys That Made Us Season 3 does not yet have a release date, but sometime soon we'll all be sitting down to recall just how big TMNT toys were and learn the exciting history behind Pony bum designs and the birth of Bronies.