Netflix may have begun its life as mail-order DVD rental service, but over time it’s become a media powerhouse in its own right. In addition to creating its own film and television content, Netflix announced via press release that it will be expanding into the world of comic books with a brand new story called The Magic Order written by Kick-Ass and Kingsman creator Mark Millar.
The Magic Order is Millar’s first project announced for Netflix after his company, Millarworld, was acquired by the streaming/production company in August 2017. The six-part comic series will center on a team of crime-fighting and monster-busting magicians who work in secret to keep our society peaceful. Netflix describes it thus:
We live in a world where we’ve never seen a monster and these people are the reason we sleep safely in our beds. Magic meets the mob in The Magic Order, as five families of magicians sworn to protect our world for generations must battle an enemy who’s picking them off one by one. By day they live among us as our neighbors, friends and co-workers, but by night they are the sorcerers, magicians and wizards that protect us from the forces of darkness…unless the darkness gets them first.
The first issue in the six-part series will be released in Spring 2018, and will feature writing by Millar and art by Olivier Coipel (Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man). The comic will be available in physical and digital formats, wherever comic books are sold, and the cover of the first issue can be seen below:
Now, the question remains: will Netflix turn The Magic Order into a film or television series for its streaming network? All focus from the press release seems to be on the comic book itself, so there’s no word yet on whether this is the beginning of some larger transmedia venture, but that has to be where this is all headed, right? What do you think?