A recent interview with one of the Arcane showrunners revealed the settings for future shows set in the League of Legends world of Runeterra.
As many fans of Netflix’s Arcane are left gasping for more content from Studio Fortiche and Riot Games, they have already announced that there will be more future shows to come. In an interview with League content creator Necrit, Riot creative director and Arcane creator and showrunner Christian Linke revealed the three Runeterra regions it’s exploring as settings for future shows: Noxus, Ionia, and Demacia. These three regions were already on my radar, so here is a comprehensive look at what these three regions mean for future shows, and who could be getting introduced.
If you have not finished Arcane yet, I implore you to do so before reading on because there will be many major spoilers ahead to provide a better scope of what may come to this animated series world. If you have finished both seasons, great, keep reading! We know Arcane primarily covered Piltover and Zaun, with some hints of Noxus through Mel and Ambessa Medarda’s backstories. Riot described this region as a “brutal, expansionist empire,” home to the likes of champions Darius and Draven.
A Noxus show would make the most sense for the next Netflix series, seeing as how so many character teases and influences of Noxus were in Arcane. LeBlanc and the Black Rose cabal of Noxus was initially teased in season 2 Act II, then expanded on further through Mel’s capture in Act III. LeBlanc is a champion known for manipulating people and events since the earliest days of Noxus. This was exactly how Ambessa was getting what she wanted through the Black Rose, but at the sacrifice of her son Kino.
In Arcane season 1, Ambessa was introduced as conquering a magical land that many fans speculated was Ionia. The lore already discussed how Ionia was largely neutral until their land was invaded by Noxus. Riot Games described the island continent as one with “natural beauty and magic”, where Yasuo, Master Yi, Sett, Karma, Ahri, Zed and so much more are from.
If the Arcane showrunners wanted to continue along the magic trend of Ionia, they could also tease the home of the Yordles, Bandle City. Heimerdinger is the first on-screen Yordle but is not from Bandle City. However, the new show could explore more Yordle lore—expanding on Heimerdinger’s backstory and other Yordles. Riot Games detailed that Bandle City is a place where “colors are brighter. Food and drink intoxicates the senses for years and, once tasted, will never be forgotten.” Ionia and Bandle City could be a good joint series if the showrunners wanted to continue down the magical path.
Finally, Demacia. Demacia is Runeterra’s “proud, lawful kingdom with a prestigious military history.” It’s where Garen, Lux, and Lucian are from. Personally, I want the Demacia show next! Garen, Lux and Lucian’s backstories are some of my favourites. Also, Demacia and Noxus are two nations always fighting one another, so this could lead up to a Noxus series after or before this one. Then, it could have one of the shows do a whole battle of Noxus versus Demacia. This would ratchet up the war/siege scenes shown in the finale of Arcane season 2.
In the interview, Linke revealed that Reddit threads in which players voted for where they would like to see Arcane follow-ups head next were spot on. “I’ll give you a little something,” he said. “I’ll tell you this: we are investing quite a bit in Noxus, Ionia, and Demacia. We start really with character stories. But, I’m very confident that we’re investing in the right stories, because simply those were the answers we have seen in those threads.
“We have a lot of data. We know which characters our audience like and play a lot. It takes quite some effort to understand the difference between people picking champions because they win, versus people picking champions because they like them. But we pay attention to that. So we don’t just go with who’s popular because they win, but, where’s resonance, and how do you define resonance? But I’m very confident that we’re looking at the right regions, where there’s a lot of fandom, a lot of interest, and I’ll guess that’s where I’ll leave it.”
Regardless of budget controversies, I trust the Arcane showrunners with whichever story they choose next. I keep saying this but they really made my friends who never played the game enjoy this series, and interested in exploring the various League of Legends games. If they could do that with Arcane, the sky is the limit. With over 168 champions in the League of Legends roster, they can almost do no wrong. The general backstories for some of these champions have been fleshed out for years, so there is a lot the showrunners and writers have to work with.
