The Marvel Universe is filled with more witches, sorcerers, mages, and spellcasters than both Avengers and X-Men can keep track of. But they've never been gathered together into one school of magic... until now. Prepare to attend the first semester of Marvel's Strange Academy. Where, unlike Hogwarts, every student is a hero or villain in the making.
The newly announced series is set to debut in March of 2020, and as the name may suggest, Doctor Stephen Strange the Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe will be taking charge. Leading the effort behind the scenes is Deadpool's Skottie Young, determined to prove he's as obnoxiously talented at writing as he is at drawing. He's joined by artist Humberto Ramos (Amazing Spider-Man), as if this wasn't a compelling enough story on its own. Which, from the early details and magical students confirmed for the series, would be putting it lightly.
The new series will bring together a whole new class of students from Earth, Weirdworld, Asgard, the Dark Dimension, and beyond, all assembled to learn how to control their mystical gifts. Choosing a faculty is as satisfying for Strange as the storytellers, it seems, with Brother Voodoo, The Ancient One, Scarlet Witch, Magik, and Hellstrom confirmed thus far. But with a promise of seeing "all of Marvel’s most iconic magicians" join in on the fun, readers can see what looks to be the first plot synopsis for Strange Academy:
Through its history, the Marvel Universe has seen magic rise and fall to warp minds, control the future, and even destroy the very fabric of reality. Now, magic has changed and is more powerful – and dangerous – than ever, and Doctor Strange is forced to do what he’s avoided for decades: he’s opened a school for young sorcerers… but as they will soon learn, magic always comes at a cost. Welcome to STRANGE ACADEMY!
While the recently-healed Doctor Strange will play a prominent role, it seems the series will be centered on Emily Bright, a lifelong magic manipulator, and Doyle Dormammu -- yes, illegitimate son of the Dark Dimension’s ruler. Young explains in the official announcement that the new story and magic school helps create Marvel stories for a potentially new audience -- and why New Orleans is a perfect location for the Academy itself:
What we’re really trying to do is tell those classic coming of age stories that we’ve seen in so many other properties or other projects out there in the world whether it be TV or film or novels or comics. Whether it’s kids running around mazes or kids at a magic school or people running around trying to survive a post-apocalyptic landscape.
There’s a nice history and folklore about magic and the mystic arts and the dark arts and things like that that kind of surround the mythos of New Orleans. Having just gone there myself for my 40th, I thought that would be a great place to set it.
Fans of Spider-Man will already be familiar with Humberto Ramos from his work on Amazing and Marvel's Champions, but he echoes Young's own excitement at the chance to trade webs and weaponry for outright magic and mysticism:
Over a year ago, I was driving Skottie down from the airport in Mexico, and out of the blue, he asked me what I wanted to do after working on Spider-Man. He began to pitch me on an incredible project for the rest of the weekend…and I’m excited to now say that project is STRANGE ACADEMY! Like all great stories, they all start with an idea…and this idea blew me away. We can’t share too much yet, but if you stick around, you’ll get to experience magic like you’ve never seen before in the Marvel Universe.
The new Strange Academy series will arrive in your local comic book shop on March of 2020, so stay tuned as more details and previews arrive as the day approaches.
Source: Associated Press