Video game adaptations seem to be entering a bit of a golden era with animated projects like Arcane and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners blowing audiences away. This renaissance is not exclusively relegated to animated projects either as live-action projects like The Last of Us and Sonic The Hedgehog have also been very well received. So many video games are finally getting the adaptations that they have deserved for years, and Blizzard's Warcraft franchise should be next.
The Warcraft series is one of the most iconic fantasy series in gaming, but it has failed to make waves in other major entertainment industries. There was a live-action movie a couple of years ago, but that failed to pull in audience members and was met with mediocre reviews. This seems to have shuttered any plans for a larger Warcraft cinematic franchise, but the story of Azeroth does not deserve to stay within the confines of gaming. While it may have stumbled in the live-action world, shows like Arcane and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners suggest that the series may still be able to thrive in animation.
Warcraft is the Perfect Setting for an Animated Show
The Warcraft franchise has been going strong ever since Warcraft: Orcs & Humans launched in 1994, and it is showing no signs of slowing down. The series is currently composed of three classic RTS titles, and the MMO juggernaut World of Warcraft which just saw its ninth expansion pack launch late last year. The series has even branched out into novels, comics, and manga. All of these projects are chock-full of interesting characters, engaging stories, and fantastic locales that are just waiting to be explored in other mediums.
Blizzard tried to bring Azeroth to the masses in 2016 with the live-action Warcraft film. That movie explored the events of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and was supposed to set up a much larger franchise. It introduced viewers to many popular Warcraft characters like the villainous Gul'dan, the heroic Anduin Lothar, and the powerful Khadgar. It successfully brought the fantastical locales of Azeroth to live-action, but everything else about the film was mediocre. It received pretty negative reviews on release, and there has been no news of another Warcraft movie since. Many factors caused this film to fail, but the franchise's story was not one of them.
The Warcraft film barely scratched the surface of Azeroth's potential. There are so many different stories that a Warcraft animated project could adapt. Viewers could watch Arthas Menethil's descent into evil, see the popular War of the Ancients book trilogy play out, witness the second great war, or even watch as Deathwing ravages Azeroth. All of these tales could make for some pretty great settings, and there are loads more stories that could follow.
One of the highlights of Arcane was that it was a character-focused story, and there are dozens of Warcraft characters that could replicate that model. Not only could a show adapt the iconic Arthas story, but it also could go for some of the lesser-known ones. The animated show could follow Malfurion Stormrage and Tyrande Whisperwind's story, give viewers an insight into the Tauren lifestyle from the perspective of Cairne Bloodhoof, follow King Varian Wrynn's time as a gladiator, or be a simple journey across Pandaria alongside Chen Stormstout.
The Warcraft series seems to have endless stories to tell, and one of the best places to tell them would be in a Warcraft animated show. The world that Blizzard has constructed is one of the most interesting fantasy worlds in gaming, and it only gets bigger as the years go by. Hopefully, the failure of the Warcraft movie did not scare studios off of the property permanently, because the world of Azeroth deserves to be explored.
World of Warcraft is available now on PC.