The Magic The Gathering Series Has Cast Brandon Routh As Gideon Jura

Everything in Magic the Gathering is the best version of that thing. The swamps are like the archetype of boggy perfection. When you see an elf in MTG, you’re never left wondering if it’s just a tall person with good hair. If H.P. Lovecraft saw MTG’s trans-dimensional tentacular horrors, he’d have named his cat Emrakul and we’d all think a little better of him. In keeping with this trend of having the best versions of everything, the animated adaptation of Magic the Gathering has cast Brandon Routh, 2006’s own Superman. 

Image via CW

Brandon Routh Will Voice Gideon Jura

Gideon is one of the White mana Planeswalkers, notable for not being Ajani Goldmane, the cool one. By MTG standards, his story isn’t particularly remarkable. He has the standard started from nothing, became a savant in a powerful magic, caused the death of his beloved companions, and then became a Planeswalker in reaction to that trauma. In terms of his story, he’s kind of just a really great guy. He’s Magic’s Captain America.

Gideon isn’t the most powerful fighter, but he wins more than it seems like he should. His magical arsenal is all about protecting others, even if it means redirecting damage toward himself. Morality wise, most of his story is focused on trying to protect one person or another, even going so far as to partner up with a fiery-haired woman with questionable morality and a long body count. The only way this comparison could get more overt is if Gideon was part of a coalition of super-powered individuals who work together to fight big bad guys. That would be… that would be The Gatewatch. Gideon is Captain America. The only reason he isn’t Superman in this extended metaphor is because he’s not that strong and Jace Beleren is clearly Tony Stark minus the charisma. 

Image via Empyre: Captain America #3, Marvel Comics

How Gideon and Brandon Routh Fits Into Magic

Like Cap, Gideon’s story is interesting in its own right but made more so because he is a tangent between some of Magic’s best characters. Gideon’s early story closely follows Chandra Nalaar, the flaming pansexual mess. His connection to The Gatewatch puts him in the middle of the Eldrazi invasion, which, if not one of the coolest MTG sets, is at least the one with the most tentacles. And who better to be at the center of all this conflict, all this chaos that needs a shining beacon of morality and stalwart justice than Todd the Vegan from Scott Pilgrim–or Atom from Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow.  

We’ve had a lot of good come out about this series in the last week. Magic the Gathering got the Russo Bros, and now we have confirmed casting. As chaotic as development for this series has been, this is cool news. Gideon is an interesting character, and Brandon Routh seems like a really good fit for him. Gideon has been validly critiqued for being a little one-note, but if that note is done really well, then he is still a compelling character. And there really isn’t a better person to play that note than someone who did a pretty good job as the untaintedly Good version of Superman.

Do you think Brandon Routh getting cast in the Magic the Gathering animated series is good news? Tell us about it! Or drop your least favorite Magic cards in any series, whether it’s because they’re unbalanced or you just think Jace kind of looks like Jason Statham and you don’t know how to handle that. 

Featured image via DC

h/t THR.com

Jessica Kanzler is a freelance writer and editor who lives with her wife and cats. Jessica has bad taste in tv and an MA in Rhetoric, Writing, and Digital Media studies. Talk to her about Frasier on Twitter @Jessicaakanzler