The Fallout TV show is set to arrive very soon, at 6pm PT on April 10th. As anticipation builds for the upcoming Amazon Prime series, fans are buzzing with questions about how faithfully the show will adapt the beloved video game franchise.
Recent interviews with the creative team behind the show have revealed that they’ve taken a certain approach with the story, and why it may not align exactly with fan expectations.
The Fallout TV Show Won’t Be a 1:1 Adaptation
In an exclusive interview with Den of Geek at SXSW 2024, the minds behind the Fallout TV series offered insights into their creative process and how they’re approaching the adaptation.
Spearheaded by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, along with showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner, and with input from Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard, the team is navigating territory that’s not been explored before.
For Robertson-Dworet and Wagner, the freedom to explore new narratives within the Fallout universe was something they treasured:
It was almost liberating that it would be impossible to adapt any one of the games faithfully because these are open-world games. If we tried to do it faithfully, half the gamers would have been like, ‘Wait, this is not the order that I remember.’
It’ll be interesting to see what angle they plan on taking, which Robertson-Dworet revealed a bit of in another interview.
Is the TV Show Going to Be Fallout 5?
There was a certain answer from an interview with Total Film that sparked concern among fans that the TV series might replace a hypothetical fifth installment to the game series.
Nolan had said:
Our series sits in relation to the games as the games sit in relation to each other. It’s almost like we’re Fallout 5.
However, Nolan clarified during the Den of Geek interview that their goal isn’t to replicate the games but to tell an original story within the Fallout world:
I think it would be very presumptuous for someone to assume that we’d reach the caliber of the games. It means you have all of the benefit of beautiful storytelling that Todd and [Bethesda Game Studio] has contributed to, but we also get to tell an original story within that world.
Howard’s involvement was a critical factor in ensuring that the show’s story didn’t clash with future game releases. He guided the creators away from potential conflicts with the eventual Fallout 5 storyline. The CEO explains:
It wasn’t the translation of an existing story. It was, what would the next thing be? It just happens to be a TV show.
So, in essence, the goal of the TV series is to provide both longtime fans and newcomers with an immersive experience in the franchise’s world.
Will you be watching the show? What character from the games are you hoping makes a cameo? Let us know in the comments below!
