Barely 24 hours have passed since Netflix quietly confirmed development on a Castlevania animated series and already, ardent fans of the video game classic are reeling with excitement.
Pitched as a “dark, satirical” adventure comprised of four 30-minute episodes, Netflix’s original series follows the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan who wages war against the infamous Vlad Dracula Tepe. Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse has been earmarked for creative inspiration, while we understand Frederator Studios (Adventure Time) will handle animation. Remaining behind the scenes for the time being, author Warren Ellis (Moon Knight) is the brains behind the screenplay for Castlevania‘s inaugural season – producer Adi Shankar (Dredd, The Grey) claims Ellis has already drafted up plans for season 2 – with Kevin Kolde and Fred Seibert lending producing support.
To add more context to Netflix’s recent announcement, Adi Shankar took to Facebook yesterday evening, where the producer compared Castlevania‘s tone to that of Game of Thrones. Going one step further, the prolific producer – who remains optimistic for the future of Dredd 2 – even went so far as to suggest that Netflix’s fantastical original series will be the first good video game adaptation to grace these shores.
I’m producing a super violent Castlevania mini-series with my homies Fred Seibert and Kevin Klonde. It’s going to be dark, satirical, and after a decade of propaganda it will flip the vampire sub-genre on its head. Castlevania is a Netflix Original Series with Season 1 launching in 2017 and Season 2 in 2018. Furthermore, I personally guarantee that it will end the streak and be the western world’s first good video game adaptation.
Netflix is expected to conjure up the first part of its original Castlevania series before the year’s end, while there’s already chatter of a second season in 2018.