With the Fallout TV show right around the corner, fans are hyped about seeing one of their favorite gaming franchises get the live-action treatment. After the success of The Last of Us, people now hold adaptations to a higher standard, which Jonathan Nolan aims to deliver.
Releasing on Prime Video on April 11, the director has put all his past learnings and experiences into ensuring this series is a success. After all, when it comes to working with serials, Nolan has a bit of a checkered past. But that hasn’t deterred the director from quitting the genre. Instead, he’s doubling down and hoping to tie up all the loose ends.
Fallout Won’t Go Down the Same Road as Westworld
Nolan is currently in the news for Fallout, but the writer, director, and producer has a shining portfolio of work showcasing his expertise as a creator. From The Dark Knight to Interstellar, Nolan has been one of the leading minds behind some of pop culture’s most iconic content. His track record has also taught him a lot about how to approach series creation.
One of his best-known shows, Westworld, was a bumpy ride and was canceled by HBO Max after four seasons. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter about Fallout, Nolan states very explicitly that the team is filled with completionists and they want to create the true ending of the canceled show, be it as a movie or a graphic novel.
He now understands that featuring shows on free platforms such as Roku and Tubi has a much greater reach than a subscription service. Nolan also expressed that he does not feel regret about how his sci-fi western series ended.
The excitement was, “Can we go again?” You just want a chance to go again. You put everything you have into one movie or one season. If you get a chance to go again, then great.
When asked about the lessons he learned from working on such projects, he pointed to how Batman Begins, which wasn’t a big hit, motivated him.
Nolan Doesn’t Want to Dumb Down His Ideas
In the same breath, Nolan said if the lessons he learned from previous works were to “ease back on the complexity of the weirdness of something,” then that’s not a lesson he wants to learn. Fallout is breaking the mold set by the games in a few ways, one of which is the inclusion of comedic elements in the narrative.
Fallout has never been one for humor that makes you laugh much, but with a groovy aesthetic, Nolan is aiming to make sure the post-apocalyptic world isn’t dreary. Even the trailer showed some instances of Walton Goggins’ character, The Ghoul, engaging in some witty one-liners.
Following a new character and an original storyline, the upcoming series isn’t going to completely break away from the universe. The trailer showed several references to the game, such as the Power Armor and the Brotherhood of Steel’s airborne base. It will be interesting to see how Nolan weaves the story around established set pieces in the franchise.
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