Stranger Things’ Maya Hawke Drafted in Major MTG Movie Role

Last updated on November 5, 2026

Oath of Chandra | Illustration by Wesley Burt

The Magic: The Gathering movie is in the works, and guess who just got cast in it: None other than Stranger Things phenom Maya Hawke. We only have so many details at the moment, but there are some strong possibilities for Magic characters she may be portraying in the upcoming film.

What We Know So Far?

The main question on everyone’s minds is who exactly she will be playing in this upcoming film. If we take it for granted that the movie will be drawing on already existing Magic characters and/or stories, a safe assumption would be the planeswalker Chandra Nalaar. It fits her type, although recent depictions of Chandra have consistently changed to the point where Maya Hawke may not be an appropriate casting choice for the role, assuming that they want to keep depictions of characters consistent between film and game alike.

There are other options, pick pretty much any major female planewalker you like: Nissa Revane, Liliana Vess, Elspeth Tirel. These are all possibilities, as they are all “main characters” in Magic lore, so to speak. Again, this is all operating on the assumption that they will be heavily pulling from existing lore and characters rather than striking off on their own path and perhaps expanding the Magic multiverse via this film and introducing new characters.

The long and short of it is that we really don’t have any solid details at this moment about her involvement in the film other than that she’s in it and almost certainly playing a leading role (although it was stated that this film would be more of an ensemble film, in which case she’ll be sharing the screen with multiple other leads). As for who else will be in this film, we also don’t really have any names at the moment, but we know Matt Johnson who most recently directed Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie will also be directing this film.

What To Expect Going Forward

Time Walk | Illustration by Chris Rahn

The Magic movie is in early days right now, and likely we won’t hear much about it until it’s a lot further down the line. Casting decisions still need to be made, finished touches on the script, locations scouted, scenes filmed, editing, marketing, etc. Once it’s underway, we’re likely to hear more, and additional notable casting decision will also likely be announced to generate interest, but these are the kind of things that we’ll have to wait at least a few months for, and we don’t currently even have a date on the films release, although I’d wager to guess no less than a year from now, if not longer.

Again, since we’re without details on the scope or premise of the film, it also makes it hard to have casting predictions, however if we’re assuming that they are in fact going with a traditional Magic story with traditional Magic characters, I don’t see it outside of the realm of possibilities that they get someone popular, trendy, and importantly available to play one of the other beloved Planeswalkers we hold so dearly; Jason Momoa as Garruk, Tom Holland as Jace. Do I want these people cast in these roles? Not necessarily, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people did, and therefore I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened.

Wrap Up

Haunted Screen | Illustration by Sean Murray

It’s exciting to see progress happening on the Magic: the Gathering film. For years now there’s been rumors of one, and it seemed like it was never really going to happen, but now it really truly is happening, and Maya Hawke being cast is just one of the first steps in the long process that will hopefully ultimately result in a finished movie that we’ll all enjoy watching. Until then, I guess we’ll just have to wait and hope to hear more sooner rather than later.