Finally, after months of waiting, we got a glimpse into the world of Prime Video Fallout TV program.
That’s right, Amazon has released some first look images Fallout TV Series – and we don’t know about you, but we love how faithful it is to Bethesda’s iconic video game franchise of the same name.
Fans of the post-apocalyptic action role-playing games have long pored over the stills to see what they can learn about the Fallout TV show since they were released online. However, in some cases it is possible Fallout diehards are just as in the dark – at least about some elements – as those with little to no knowledge of the game series.
With that in mind, we took a closer look at Amazon’s first-look images, with a little help from one Fallout Press release from TV program and Vanity fair cover story, to elaborate on (or speculate on) what we know about the show. So put on your Vault jumpsuit, grab your Pip-boy and let’s dive in.
A recognizable story
Before we look at the images themselves, what is the Fallout TV program actually about?
According to the Amazon Studios press release, the plot summary reads as follows: “Based on one of the best video game series of all time, Fallout is the story of the haves and the have-nots in a world where there is almost nothing left to have.
“200 years after the apocalypse, the friendly residents of luxury bomb shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind – and are shocked to discover an incredibly complex, cheerfully strange and deeply violent universe awaits them.”
Diehard fans hoping for a similar genre to the games will be happy to hear that the story of the Prime Video show will be similar to that of the games on PlayStation and Xbox consoles, as well as on PC.
That “new story” angle was crucial in getting Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard’s approval to make the series as well. “I didn’t want to give an interpretation of an existing story that we did,” he told Vanity Fair. “That was the other thing: a lot of pitches were ‘This is the movie of’ Fallout 3‘ (and) I was like, ‘Yes, we told that story.’ I’m not really looking forward to seeing that translated. I was interested in someone who said something unique Fallout story.”
California Dreamin’
Until recently, established fans and newcomers alike had no idea when or where Amazon’s were Fallout There was going to be a TV show.
However, after an image – posted on Prime Video’s official Instagram account in August – revealed the story will be set in Los Angeles; Vanity Fair’s article reconfirmed the location yesterday (November 28). The statue of Ella Purnell’s Lucy – more about her soon – overlooking a junkyard is located in an area known as ‘Philly’, home to survivors who have nowhere else to live in the Wasteland, the name attributed to the post from earth. nuclear environment in the Fallout series.
As for the year the series is set in, it’s set 219 years after 2077 – the year nuclear war broke out in Bethesda’s fictional universe – meaning Amazon’s Fallout series begins in 2296.
A colorful cast of characters
As mentioned, Purnell – viewers may recognize her from Netflix projects including Army of the dead And Arcaneplus hit Paramount Plus show Yellow jackets – plays Lucy, the main character of the series. She is described as “an optimistic Vault Dweller with an all-American can-do spirit. Her peaceful and idealistic nature is tested when people harm her loved ones.” Vanity Fair also confirms that Lucy is a “kind but naive” individual whose utopian values are questioned when she is forced to leave the safety of Vault 33 and embark on a rescue mission.
But Arcane Season 2 voice actor Purnell isn’t the only big name attached to the series. For more details on which other big stars will be playing prominent roles, check out the cast list confirmed so far below:
- Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) as Henk. As Overseer of Vault 33 and Lucy’s father, Hank wants to protect his daughter at all costs while changing the world for the better.
- Walton Goggins (Invincible, Ant Man 2) as The Ghoul. A bounty hunter with a mysterious past, this pragmatic and ruthless individual who, according to the Vanity Fair article, was a man formally known as Cooper Howard. He is believed to be hundreds of years old and, unlike the game series namesake, The Ghoul is not a mindless zombie-like creature in Fallout‘s TV adaptation.
- Aaron Moten (Emancipation) as Maximus. A member of Fallout‘s iconic military faction called the Brotherhood of Steel. Maximus hides his tragic backstory after joining the Brotherhood’s seemingly noble mission to bring law and order to the Wasteland, and it will be interesting to see if his views remain aligned with those of the armed group as it season progresses.
- Michael Emerson (Lost) as Wilzig. An enigmatic researcher who lives above ground.
Gun for rent
Fallout fans will know all about the franchise’s iconic horror enemies. As mentioned, the games involve people who have been turned into zombie-like creatures by gamma radiation that polluted the world during the nuclear conflict, also known as the Great War.
However, not all ghosts are cruel, mindless creatures. There are intelligent (albeit hostile) versions of these mutated individuals in the games, which the TV series seems to draw inspiration from for The Ghoul. Vanity Fair even revealed that Amazon has positioned Goggins’ character as a tritagonist – alongside Lucy and Maximus – in Falloutconfirming that he will have a major role throughout.
“There is a gap in time and distance between who this man was and who he has become,” says co-developer, director and executive producer Jonathan Nolan (Westworld, The Dark Knight) told the outlet. “For me, that raises a huge dramatic question: What happened to this man? So we walk backwards into that. He becomes our guide and our protagonist in that (older) world, even though we understand that he is the antagonist. ” at the end of the world.”
Steal the show
No Fallout adaptation would be complete without the aforementioned Brotherhood of Steel, of which Maximus is a part. For those unfamiliar with the games, Nolan compares the group to a merger of “the Marine Corps… (and) a little bit of the Templars,” which should to some extent *ahem* reinforce the idea of what they represent. .
Longtime fans will know that there is a moral complexity to the Brotherhood, whose hardline approach to bringing justice to the Wasteland can be seen as heroic or immoral depending on who you ask. As Nolan told Vanity Fair, “One of the things we’re trying to carefully avoid here is that kind of binary thinking, like, ‘They’re the good guys or the bad guys.’ Whoever the good guys and the bad guys were. “They got the whole world destroyed. So now we’re in a much grayer area.”
Staying true to the games
FalloutThe TV adaptation of the film will take some creative license with the source material – more on that later – but it seems to hew closely to the lore and world-building already established by Bethesda.
A quick look at the first images proves the same. From the lifelike blue and yellow Vault jumpsuits (complete with Pip-Boy wrist devices) and the Brotherhood of Steel’s perfectly replicated Power Armor to the retro-futuristic aesthetic and vast but barren locations, the Prime Video series goes all out for both Bethesda as to appease the franchise’s devoted fanbase.
But just as important is the canonicity of the TV show within the broader context Fallout universe. “We consider what happens in the show to be canon,” Howard explains, so expect events in the TV series to be influenced by what happened in the games – and hopefully influence events in the future as well. Fallout games.
Changing of the Guard
Of course, since this is a live-action adaptation, Amazon’s TV show will seemingly deviate from and/or adapt aspects of it. Fallout tradition.
One of the biggest sticking points seems to be the appearance of the Brotherhood of Steel. In the games, the Brotherhood does not have a substantial presence on the West Coast of the US, especially in New California, where the show is set. The dominant group in New California – at least in the video game series – is the creatively titled New California Republic (NCR). However, given the Brotherhood’s presence in the Fallout TV show, many fans are concerned that NCR may not appear as much (if at all) in Amazon’s take on the source material.
Another supposedly major change is the name given to the Brotherhood’s airship. The group’s air base is known as Prydwen Fallout 4, but it appears it has been given a new title in the TV series – the Caswennan. Of course, the Caswennan could just be another ship the Brotherhood uses – the Fallout The TV show is set nine years after the events of Fallout 4which took place in 2287. Still, if the Caswennan ends up being a revised version of the Prydwen, fans might not take too kindly to the unnecessary change.
Curious, Fallout‘s Vault Boy – the smiling mascot with the thumbs up – also gets an origin story of sorts in the TV show. Amazon and Bethesda aren’t spoiling the storyline prior to release, but Howard was able to tease this: “That was something they (Nolan and wife/co-developer Lisa Joy) came up with and that’s just really clever.” Color us intrigued.
Fallout debuts worldwide on Prime Video on April 12, 2024.