Summary

• Fallout TV series will be canon with the video games, offering a fresh take on the universe while staying true to the source material.
• Amazon's adaptation includes familiar factions like the Brotherhood of Steel, tying into the lore of the games.
• The series avoids recycling a story already covered in the games, allowing for the exploration of new and exciting narratives within the Fallout universe.

The Fallout TV series will be canon with the video games, meaning it will avoid issues other adaptations have had. Outside of movies like 1995's Mortal Kombat being regarded as guilty pleasures, the critical reception of video game to movie adaptations used to be very poor. From 1993's Super Mario Bros to the likes of Max Payne, the genre was often filled with wall-to-wall turkeys. In the last decade or so, the critical reception to game adaptations has turned around, with the best usually being found on TV instead. Netflix's Castlevania was extremely respectful of the source material, featured beautiful animation and fleshed-out characters.

HBO's The Last of Us adaptation might be the most acclaimed live-action take on a game to date, and while it took some deviations, it was relatively faithful to the original plot. Amazon is hoping for the same acclaim to greet their Walton Goggins as a gunslinging Ghoul, a recent Vanity Fair shed some more light on the approach it will take.

The Fallout TV Show Is Canon To The Games

Chiefly, unlike most video game adaptations, Amazon's Fallout will be canon with Bethesda's beloved game franchise. Bethesda head Todd Howard - who also directed Fallout 3 and 4 - stated "We view what’s happening in the show as canon,” and that series will be a blend of post-apocalyptic adventure and the game's trademark subversive humor. The iconic Vault Boy will appear too, and there will even be an in-universe origin for the character. Most game adaptations tend to avoid being canon to simplify their narratives and not be bound by the source material's continuity.

The Fallout TV series will debut on Amazon Prime on April 12, 2024.

Of course, the Fallout games may all be set in the same world, but each outing tends to focus on its own characters and story. According to Howard, part of the appeal of the Amazon series is it ties into the lore of the games and includes familiar factions like the Brotherhood of Steel. One note is that Howard stated he rejected multiple pitches to turn Fallout into a movie because he wanted a live-action adaptation that offered a fresh approach to the property.

I did not want to do an interpretation of an existing story we did. That was the other thing - a lot of pitches were, you know, ‘This is the movie of Fallout 3…’ I was like, ‘Yeah, we told that story.’ I don’t have a lot of interest seeing those translated. I was interested in someone telling a unique Fallout story. Treat it like a game.

Why A Canon Fallout Show Is Better Than A Video Game Remake

Not only does the Fallout series being canon set it apart from most adaptations, but it doesn't have to recycle a story the games have already covered. 2008's Fallout 3 was the first entry in the series after a long break and introduced a new generation of fans to the sprawling world. At best, the games give players a huge sandbox to explore and approach however they wish, but the stories of the Fallout games are often the least compelling part.

Nolan and Joy have already shown an innate understanding of video game narrative with their work on Westworld, making their take on a property as rich as Fallout is very exciting. A live-action take on the third game and its various side quests and moral quandaries may have been interesting, but 2024's Fallout sounds like it will take chances with what a video game adaptation can do, and one that could snag the franchise even more fans.

Source: Vanity Fair