I may be one of the few people who didn’t hate 2014’s Dracula Untold, mainly because it seemed to me, at the time, like the closest thing to a live-action Castlevania movie we were ever going to get. However, that all changed as Netflix announced an exclusive mini-series for the beloved game.
Netflix released a press release after it held a massive event in New York to discuss it’s upcoming lineup of shows. Within the release was a single line reading:
Castlevania Season 1, Part 1 Coming to Netflix in 2017.
While the details for the show are non-existent, oddly enough, a year-old Facebook from Dredd executive producer Ali Shankar hinted at his involvement in a Castlevania series.
Shankar confirmed his involvement with another Facebook post after the announcement, detailing the show is already signed on for two seasons and post mentioning the series was written by Warren Ellis.
For those unaware, Ellis was the writer behind the DC comics Transmetropolitan, Planetary, as well as the Image comics Ministry of Space. His works also include the NYT best selling novel Gunmachine as well as the “underground classic,” Crooked Little Vein. He also wrote RED (Retired and Extremely Dangerous).
Castlevania has a long and extensive storylines that can all lend themselves to a show incredibly well. The later franchise games: Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow star Soma Cruz, a teenage reincarnation of Dracula, battling his inner demons as well as the minions of the Prince of Darkness. This would allow for some serious drama and keep with Shankar’s initial promise of flipping the vampire sub-genre on it’s head, showcasing a protagonist who is both hero and villain.
However, the recent reboots to the Castlevania franchise, Lords of Shadow, would better suit Shankar’s promise of being both dark and super violent, potentially capitalizing on the success of medieval drama’s like Game of Thrones.
If the show were to borrow from Mirror of Fate, this too would lend itself to excellent drama, detailing Gabriel Belmont’s transformation into Dracula, and his cursed lineage’s endless battle to defeat him.
While no official release date has been set, my guess is an October release, in keeping with the game’s theme.
