Adi Shankar, executive producer and showrunner of Netflix’s upcoming Castlevania anime series, confirmed that he’s currently developing an Assassin’s Creed anime series with Ubisoft. From his statement, it looks to be a wholly original Assassin’s Creed story set within the existing universe:
“I’m happy to let you guys know that I’ve selected my next project! I played the first edition of Assassin’s Creed the year I moved to Los Angeles to pursue my dream. At that moment I knew absolutely no one in the industry and could never have imagined that one day Ubisoft would ask me to take the world of Assassin’s Creed and create an original story set in it as an anime series. If anyone tells you not to follow your passion in life they are wrong.”
There have been attempts at original stories in other media already; as we all know by now, Ubisoft’s most recent foray into expanding their universe with 2016’s live action Assassin’s Creed wasn’t too well received by critics, with a paltry Metascore of 36. Plus, there’s the fact that it only grossed $54 million in the US, effectively killing any hopes Ubisoft may have had for a sequel.
However, fans of the games were far more receptive of the film, and its worldwide showing was strong – so it seems that Ubisoft knows that they have an audience who’s hungry for more Assassin’s-flavoured goodness.
We expect Netflix will have a hand in this, given Shankar’s current collaboration with them on Castlevania, another videogame-to-anime conversion that’s due on July 7.
From what we’ve seen of it, Castlevania – a gothic anime with a Transylvanian setting – looks suitably melodramatic and well animated to boot, with a healthy dose of gory violence. So, assuming things go the same way as that series, it should have all of the ingredients an Assassin’s Creed adaptation really needs.
An anime could really let an Assassin’s Creed story shine, since multiple episodes means enough time to focus on both of the intertwining storylines Assassin’s Creed is known for: the modern day battle against the evil Abstergo corporation, and the ever-changing historical settings of the Assassins’ fights against the Templars.
