Movie Review: "Igniting the Spark - The Story of Magic: The Gathering" Shows How the World-Changing Game Almost Never Happened
Despite this being my third Gen Con, last night, I experienced a part of the show I didn’t know existed. Over at the Westin hotel (which I’ve seen the tunnel to but never taken), the Gen Con Film Festival was underway. That’s where I caught a screening of the new documentary Igniting the Spark - The Story of Magic: The Gathering.
Going in, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. Namely, having never really played Magic, would I feel as though I was missing something? As it turns out, a knowledge of the game is completely optional as the film explains the very basics you’ll need to know to understand the rest of the story. Meanwhile, those who are familiar with the game will surely not miss the intricacies they left out.
So, if Igniting the Spark isn’t about the rules of Magic, what is it about? At its core, it’s the story of a scrappy start-up that endures setbacks and struggles on its way to making an unimaginable impact on pop culture — and changing the lives of millions. Speaking of that impact, while there is a decent amount of talk about the Magic fandom, Wizards of the Coast and its rise remains the central focus. To that point, it features interviews with several of the people who were there, including those who worked at Wizards from its initial days to game designer Richard Garfield and many more.
With Igniting the Spark being produced by Nacelle (The Toys That Made Us, Behind the Attraction, etc.), you might expect the documentary to take on a certain style. Sure enough, in its opening, it almost feels as though you’ll be venturing into that realm. However, after the titles, it quickly becomes clear that this is a far more “relaxed" (for lack of a better term) approach. This is to say that, rather than having an overarching narrator with quick cuts of interviewees, those being interviewed are able to tell their stories without jumping to out-of-context jokes or references. That said, the animations in the film are fantastic and really add some great moments to the doc. In particular, a tale from Peter Adkison that finds him demoing Magic for a group of men with increasingly larger cowboy hats was made far more interesting with the hysterical visuals.
Even though I don’t have too deep a knowledge of Magic, I did know that the current state of the game is a bit controversial. And while there are a few mentions along the way about how some Wizards employees had resisted certain aspects of the growth all along, the documentary doesn’t dwell too much on the modern era. The exception here is a heart-warming segment on the development of Commander — a format of playing Magic developed in part by Sheldon Menery. Thankfully, Menery was able to appear in this film to tell his story before his passing in 2023.
By the way, while learning about Magic through this movie, the parallels to Disney Lorcana were obvious (even more than they already were, that is). On top of that, Elaine Chase, who previously worked at Wizards of the Coast and appears in the documentary, is now at Ravensburger on the Lorcana team! Having seen her on the Gen Con stage just a few short days ago, it was great to see her in the film. She also got to share one of my favorite anecdotes in the movie as she shared what it was like being at Wizards on the day that the buy-out checks arrived.
Overall, Igniting the Spark - The Story of Magic: The Gathering shares a truly fascinating story — including how close Magic came to never happening! And while the movie is perfect even for those who don’t have any knowledge of the game, watching it with a room of players informed me that there are some parts that will have fans ooo-ing, aah-ing, and perhaps nervously giggling at some uncomfortable foreshadowing. They may also find a new Holy Grail for themselves, which of course involves the famed Black Lotus — but one you probably haven’t seen before. Personally, I came away with a newfound respect for what the team at Wizards of the Coast and Garfield were able to create and thoroughly enjoyed my journey through their life’s work.
Igniting the Spark - The Story of Magic: The Gathering premiered at Gen Con 2025 and will be available on VOD starting August 5th.