The upcoming Fallout TV series, a collaboration between Amazon Studios, Bethesda, and the creators of Westworld, is poised to offer a nuanced exploration of the very themes that have captivated players for decades.
The project, spearheaded by co-creators Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner, promises a fresh story within the established Fallout universe. While staying true to the franchise’s canon, the series will explore a new setting and characters. However, staying mindful of real-world events is also crucial, and the co-showrunner for the series has shed light on it.
Adapting The Vast Fallout Games Was A Task And A Half
In a recent interview with Screen Rant, Jonathan Nolan, co-showrunner for Fallout, discussed the challenges and opportunities of adapting the sprawling world of Fallout, particularly its focus on war, societal breakdown, and the core of human nature.
Nolan acknowledged the inherent difficulty in translating a vast role-playing game like Fallout into a TV format. The game’s open-ended structures and expansive narratives provide hundreds of hours of exploration. Speaking about it, Nolan said:
I think one of the things that drew us to it is that the games are very ambitious and encompass all those things and more. It’s one of the things that a game can do, it’s one of the challenges of the adaptation. You can play the Fallout games for hundreds of hours, and they can be all things to all people. We don’t have that choice for the series.
Despite this limitation, Nolan sees the potential to explore the entire history of human discontent within the post-apocalyptic setting. “We look at the moment now, and it’s hard and uncomfortable to think about the way the world is right now. But this is what’s so great about speculative fiction; you get a chance to look at it from a slightly more comfortable remove,” said Nolan.
The Pandemic And Russo-Ukraine War Influenced The Show
The resonance of Nolan’s thematic exploration was amplified even further in light of recent events. He referenced the ongoing pandemic and the war in Ukraine as stark examples of humanity’s capacity for destruction:
We started talking about [the show] with Todd Howard in 2019. The next year, the pandemic started and we’re like, “Cool, okay, this is slightly more relevant now.” Then Russia invaded Ukraine, and you’re like, “Alright, enough with the relevance. We don’t actually need another resurgent nuclear threat.”
While the real world presents these unsettling realities, Nolan views speculative fiction like Fallout as a valuable tool for processing such anxieties through a fictional framework:
But it does feel like a bit of expiation; maybe a bit of therapy; a bit of a chance to work through some of these things on the page and on the screen.
The development timeline itself underscores this connection to real-world events. Conceived in 2019, the project is even more relevant in the current global climate. Nolan acknowledged a sense of fatigue regarding the constant threat of nuclear war, but by exploring these themes within Fallout‘s context, the creators hope to provide a cathartic experience for viewers.
The Fallout franchise has always served as a social mirror, reflecting our collective anxieties and fears through a darkly comedic lens. The upcoming TV adaptation appears to be true to the source material in that regard. By examining what happens “when it’s all gone”, the series aspires to be a thought-provoking exploration of humanity’s potential, both for good and for evil.
The harsh realities of the wasteland will serve as a stark backdrop to examine the essence of the human condition and the choices we make. Arriving at a time when its themes have never felt more pertinent for audiences is one of Fallout‘s biggest triumphs.
