For video game fans, the record of video game adaptations in the world of TV and movies is spotty–and that’s being kind. While there have been some recent successes in films like the two Sonic The Hedgehog films and Detective Pikachu, those are outliers, not a proven record. However, with certain companies seeing the potential in them more than ever, there might be hope for us all. Case in point, Horizon Zero Dawn is getting an adaptation from Netflix, and it’ll be helmed by a respected showrunner.
That showrunner is none other than Steve Blackman, who many might know as the man behind the wildly successful The Umbrella Academy, an adaptation of the comic line from Dark Horse Comics. That series is hailed as one of the best comic adaptations around due to how it’s both faithful to the material and capable of doing its own thing.
Before you ask, yes, Blackman is well aware of the games and praises developer Guerilla Games for making them so grand.
“Horizon Zero Dawn is an exceptionally well-crafted game with wonderful characters not often seen in the rank-and-file of the gaming world. Guerrilla Games has created an incredibly lush and vivid world of man and machine who find themselves on a collision course to oblivion.”
He notes that Aloy will indeed be the main character in his title, and he would love for this series to gain as much support and love as his other Netflix series.
It’ll be really interesting to see how well Horizon Zero Dawn adapts to the world of live-action. The first priority to many is going to be the look of the show. People are looking for a well-crafted world, faithful costumes and casting, and a story that’s both close to the original and unique. It’s a lot to ask for, but we’ll keep the faith.
There’s also the matter of the machines. The battles with the robotic entities of the world are a vital part of the game’s feel and flow. One can only wonder how they’ll look and how many of them we’ll see.
We won’t know until it comes out, but there is at least hope that the show will be a worthy adaptation of the very worthy games.