Ella Purnell as Lucy MacLean, a young Vault Dweller
Prime Video's Negative consequence is officially a hit: The video game adaptation has already been renewed for a second season, after reaching number three on Prime's most-watched list.
The series has been well received by viewers and critics; even experienced players are satisfied with the faithful representation Fallout's post-apocalyptic retro-futurism and disjointed sense of humor.
The husband-and-wife duo behind the series, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, previously ran HBO. Westworld; surely the two were well equipped to tackle a story about maniacs in cowboy hats roaming the wastelands.
Why does “Fallout” work as a series?
When it comes to video game franchises, Negative consequence it is very suitable for adaptation. Unlike hellothere was no blank protagonist to flesh out, as open-world games allow players to customize their character.
So the showrunners were given the freedom to create new characters: Ella Purnell as a naïve vault dweller, Walton Goggins as a gunslinging ghoul, and Aaron Moten, clad in the franchise's iconic power armor.
The Negative consequence the games offer distinctive vibes, iconography and stellar world-building; the franchise is a playground for a skilled showrunner, and the creative team nailed the tone.
A similar approach could work for Bethesda's other major franchise, The old documents? There are currently no such plans, however The oblivion i Skyrim they are still beloved titles.
One could easily imagine a future adaptation that surpassed Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – There would be no adaptation directed by Peter Jackson to compare it to, for example.
What does the success of 'Fallout' have to do with superheroes?
In the wake of declining interest in superhero stories, video games offer a new IP frontier for streaming giants and Hollywood studios. In the sea of ever-blooming content, it's hard for a new series or movie to gain attention without a pre-existing fan base.
Sometimes, quick success will arise due to positive word of mouth, like now Beef, Fleabag, or Baby Reindeer. Otherwise, the competition is incredibly high; there is a lot of “content” out there.
So studios and streamers rely on popular IP to increase visibility for new titles, whether it's a reboot, a legacy sequel, or a comic book adaptation (whether or not that's a positive development is another conversation).
The superhero era was ushered in by Brian Singer X Men movies and Sam Raimi spider man spiderman trilogy, culminating in the billion-dollar behemoth known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
But it's no secret that the MCU, the highest-grossing franchise of all time, has recently lost its luster, with a slate of underperforming entries such as Thor: Love and Thunder i The wonders.
Audiences grew tired of increasingly complex connectivity, learning about C-list superheroes, and sitting through tedious origin stories, only to be promised a better movie next time. Who needed to know how Madame Web got her sunglasses?
Even sequels to big franchises like Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, i Ghostbusters they fail to light up the box office nowadays.
That said, childhood nostalgia hasn't gone away… barbie was a resounding success ($1.446 billion), but it remains to be seen whether the proposed “Mattel Cinematic Universe” will be as popular: audiences may not be as excited to see it. Barney i Polly Pocket.
This leaves video games as the new landscape full of high-profile IPs, a vast catalog of wonderful worlds and characters waiting to be adapted into film and television, including dedicated fan bases.
Also, video games are not subject to the limitations of superhero stories; many of them are also power fantasies, of course, but they can be about anything.
What about the “video game adaptation curse?”
The “video game adaptation curse” seems to have been broken by the Sonic movie, which suffered a lot of online backlash and mockery due to a terrible redesign of the titular hedgehog. The filmmakers, however, heard the cry of the fans and corrected their mistake, with a huge success ($319.7 million).
Now, Idris Elba is voicing Knuckles and the entrant Sonic 3 will feature Keanu Reeves as Shadow the Hedgehog, who would have been dismissed as a Reddit fantasy just a few years ago.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie proved that family video game adaptations could do MCU numbers ($1.36 billion). Five Nights at Freddy's managed to gross over $300 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing horror film of 2023.
Adaptations of The Legend of Zelda i Minecraft they are on their way; both franchises are very popular, but the cultural impact of Minecraft in younger millennials, Generation Z and Generation Alpha can't be overstated — the incoming film could even challenge Mario's box office crown.
on television, Negative consequence it's just the latest success story; HBO The last of us was critically acclaimed, and even twisted metal was well received. There are many more video game adaptations coming to streaming, like now Death Stranding, Days Gonei Horizon Zero Dawn.
Interestingly, each of these adaptations, incl Negative consequencetakes place in a post-apocalyptic hellscape; perhaps that speaks more to the current state of mind than anything else.
Those sandy wastelands could easily represent the current state of the superhero landscape. At least, until Deadpool and Wolverine make the desert bloom
