“War Never Changes” is a quote that starts most Fallout video games, said by the grizzled voice of Ron Perlman. Well, the war of the new Amazon Prime adaptation will certainly not change as the adventures are set to continue.
This is hardly surprising as Fallout has already become one of Prime Video’s most-watched original series since Rings of Power, ranking in the top three most-watched seasons ever on their streaming platform. Whilst it took me a while to embrace the madness, the popularity on social media was almost infectious.
Critical Acclaim and Social Media Buzz
Upon debuting, the series achieved a 95% Rotten Tomatoes score. Critics and fans have flocked to social media with their early reactions, with some hailing it as “one of the best video-game adaptations” ever and “on par” with HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us.
Writing on X, @adamblevins_ said: “Fallout is a gift to fans of the franchise. It’s accessible with all-new characters and story, but that same inhospitable world we all know and love. Goggins puts on a masterclass as The Ghoul. This is on par with The Last of Us, a truly authentic adaptation crafted with care.”
@WildeePatrol said: “Fallout is fantastic. Season one crafts a spectacular story with its three leads that perfectly intersect and collide. The world looks as if it was ripped from the games and the spirit is there. Purnell, Goggins, and Moten absolutely knock it out of the park. Amazon has a hit!”
@JordisTweeting said: “Fallout is thrilling, funny and is easily one of the best video-game adaptations. It’s a wonderful extension of the existing canon and the new characters make it accessible for newcomers too.”
The Premise of Fallout’s First Season
The premise of the first season (consisting of eight episodes) sees a future where the world has been turned to dust from nuclear war. And like many post-apocalyptic tales before it, the future belongs to the mad. Viewers witness this world through three essential protagonists. One is Ella Purnell’s bubbly yet resolute Lucy MacLean. As part of the privileged few to shelter from the destruction, she sets out across wastelands to find her father. On her travels, she encounters fellow protagonists such as Aaron Moten’s Maximus, a put-upon squire who becomes a knight, and scene-stealer Walter Goggins as a zombified bounty hunter.
Following in the vein of fellow hits, The Boys and Invincible, Fallout sets out to flip its respective genre on its head through rich storytelling and evocative spectacle that is not for the faint of heart. I feel it is truly indicative of Prime Video attempting to go the extra mile with their content, whereas Netflix and Paramount+, despite some success, largely aim more for quantity over quality.
Producers Announce the Return of Fallout
Prime announced (on April 18th) that their extremely successful science-fiction dystopia is returning via this statement from producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy:
“Praise be to our insanely brilliant showrunners, Geneva and Graham, to our kick-ass cast, to Todd and James and all the legends at Bethesda, and Jen, Vernon and the amazing team at Amazon for their incredible support of this show. We can’t wait to blow up the world all over again.”
As of now, no official release date has been confirmed, but, according to Nolan, fans could be in for a fairly long wait.
Speaking to Collider, the brother of Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan bemoaned how long these epic shows can take to shoot, explaining that:
“Part of it is just the ambition of these shows, right? From shows like Game of Thrones and then Westworld, onwards, practical photography means it takes time. But I am as frustrated as anyone that it takes this long to get these shows on the air. So, we are poised and hopeful that we’re not gonna have to wait quite that long, should we be so lucky.”
Additional rumours have already begun to surface, including who may be joining the cast for the new adventures. One potential newcomer has me excited: Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul. The multi-Emmy award-winning actor is always a fabulous presence, carrying much of the emotional storylines of the latter drama series (and my personal favourite of all time).
A Promising Collaboration
Nolan and Paul have worked together before on Westworld, another provocative sci-fi serial, and the former claims that the actor is a huge fan of the show. He comments “Aaron [Paul] was at the premiere, a human being I love so much. And he was very polite. He was very enthusiastic about the show. There was sort of an unspoken kind of like, ‘What’s up, man?’” If Nolan can include Paul as part of the team, I would be eagerly soaring through the new season.
However long it may take, the writers are teasing more treats for fans of the video games. Co-showrunner Graham Wagner commented “[In] Season 2, we’re very excited to finally tackle one of the most iconic elements of the games … It’s such a monumental piece. We want to save something for Season 2 to be able to do it properly, not just add on to the massive world-building we had to do already in Season 1.”
Anticipations for the Next Season
Therefore, we can expect bigger adventures in the mad world of Fallout in the future, one that is hopefully not too far away (but certainly further than the destruction and devastation we see onscreen).
All episodes are available to stream on Amazon Prime now.
