Wings of Fire book
In an effort to boost its output of fantasy anime content, Netflix is developing a new event series called Wings of Fire, which is an adaptation of author Tui T. Sutherland’s fantasy novel series of the same name. If you love seeing dragons on screen, this might very well be your jam!
The project was first announced by Tui T. Sutherland via Netflix back in April 2021.
The showrunners for Wings of Fire are Emmy nominee Dan Milano (Robot Chicken, Greg the Bunny, Warren the Ape), Christa Starr (Warren the Ape) and Justin Ridge (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels). David S. Cheng (Megamind, Avatar, How to Train Your Dragon) is also the technical director of the series.
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay is producing with her ARRAY production company. Author Tui T. Sutherland is also on the creative team as executive producer. She commented on the development of the series when it was announced in April 2021:
“Will there ever be a TV show?” has been the #1 question I’ve gotten at events almost from the beginning, and the answer is finally yes! Not just “yes,” but “yes, AND I cannot believe the amazing team who are going to make this so great.” I am so immensely thrilled and grateful that Ava DuVernay is our Queen of Dragons (I’m pretty sure that’s the official title). Ava is someone who saves the world every day without waiting for any prophecy to tell her what to do. I hope some of my dragons grow up to be just like her! And I knew the minute I met our showrunners, Dan Milano and Christa Starr, that they are funny, kind, super-nerd kindred spirits who 100% understand what I’m trying to do with the books.
Here’s everything else we know about Netflix’s Wings of Fire:
What’s the plot of Wings of Fire?
Netflix’s Wings of Fire is an animated event series adaptation of the #1 New York Times and USA Today best-selling book series from author Tui T. Sutherland.
A bitter war has raged for generations between the dragon tribes who inhabit the epic world of Pyrrhia. According to prophecy, five young dragons will rise to end the bloodshed and bring peace back to the land. Raised and trained in secret from the time they were hatched, the Dragonets of destiny – Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny – embark on an evolving quest that will bring them face to face with their true selves and the overwhelming scope of this savage war they are destined to bring to an end.
What’s the animation studio behind Wings of Fire?
We have learned that the studio responsible for bringing the world of Wings of Fire to life for Netflix will be Warner Bros. Animation. Their collaboration with Netflix already includes Green Eggs and Ham as well as the upcoming Skull Island anime about King Kong. Here’s the trailer for the former:
Among the names we’ve found to be involved in the series includes Violaine Briat who serves as episodic director, Lila Martinez who serves as a storyboard artist on the project, and Jean-Denis Haas as an animation supervisor.
Lila Martinez serves as a Storyboard Artist on the project and gives some insight into the production process and animation style behind the show:
“A hybrid 2D and 3D storyboarding pipeline is utilized mixing traditional drawings and previsualization in Blender software. Incorporated emotional beat boards, live-action style dynamic staging, cinematic character & camera/lens choreography, filmic composition, and strong drafting abilities for dragon anatomy.”
Wings of Fire artwork
Audrey Diehl is overseeing the Warner Brothers Animation series slate which includes Wings of Fire.
On Netflix’s side, Jess Choi serves as a production executive on the project.
How many episodes will be in Wings of Fire?
Netflix’s Wings of Fire will reportedly consist of 10 episodes. Their exact length is still unconfirmed, but we’ve seen evidence indicating that they will be around 40-60 minutes long.
Whether the series will just be a limited series is yet to be announced. Event series are commonly associated with limited series as in the they’re the same thing but we’ll wait and see for more.
What’s the production status of Wings of Fire?
Production on the series has been ongoing since August 2021 according to multiple staffers on the project. The likelihood is, however, it was going on for far longer.
What’s the Netflix release date for Wings of Fire?
Netflix hasn’t set a release date for the Wings of Fire series, but considering that animations take a while, we shouldn’t expect it to drop on the streamer any time soon. Considering that, projects like The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf or Arcane took several years to develop, even a 2023 date might be optimistic.