How Assassin’s Creed Built a Universe Spanning Millennia

Netflix will officially be greenlighting the live-action series of Assassin’s Creed, the Ubisoft video game. The news has finally been made official as the concept for the show has been under development for a number of years.

The media giant has assigned Roberto Patino and David Wiener as showrunners who will be in charge of the process. Patino previously was the executive producer of Sons of Anarchy and Westworld, while Wiener has also produced the live-action Halo series for Paramount+ and worked on AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead.

In a statement provided, the two commented on their readiness and passion to be a part of the franchise.

“As long-time fans of the games, we have been inspired every day by the magnitude of this world and the opportunity to bring this vision to life. On its surface, this is a story of top-tier action and ancient secrets, but at its heart is an intensely personal exploration of identity, of faith, of purpose, and of the things that make us family no matter the passage of time.”

The studio heads were also ready to point out that the film is no different from others, as it will focus on the power of personal connections rather than other values.

“This is a show about the importance of people-to-people connections: between past and present, between cultures and societies, and even between people and machines. In a world increasingly focused on the next shiny thing, this is a story about the people we leave behind,” they concluded, further noting that they have a “deeply talented” team behind them, along with great support from Ubisoft and Netflix as well.

The video game debuted back in 2007, but Assassin’s Creed, the series, first came to the world of consoles with Assassin’s Creed, and it was a unique social stealth during the time of the Crusades, taking place in the Holy Land. However, it is the Italian Renaissance era games, such as Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood, and Revelations, that fans and critics alike have come to stand out as Assassin’s Creed’s most successful adaptations.

14 mainline games have been released in the past 18 years. The games have included main protagonists that have ranged from Native American Edward Kenway in the 18th century in the New World, through the open seas in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, all the way to Ancient Egypt in Assassin’s Creed Origins.

The newest game is called Assassin’s Creed: Shadows and is a narrative placed in 16th-century feudal Japan, a game the gaming community has been asking for for years. The reason why the game was well received is that it came at a later stage than was initially planned. This is due to Ubisoft admitting that the team had been rushing in the last few games as they were trying to keep up with development and release schedules, and instead, took their time in polishing Shadows.

As for the on-screen version, it is still unknown how it will go, and there have been no confirmed details on cast members or which game settings or parts of the franchise’s history it will be dipping into first. It has been rumored, though, that the TV adaptation could be the first ever made for the series, as there was the Assassin’s Creed movie released in 2016 with Michael Fassbender as the lead.

The film was released in theaters, and it had a moderate showing at the box office, which did not break out. The sequel to that was done in the form of a video game short film, Assassin’s Creed: Lineage, set in Ancient Egypt, and released in 2022. The live-action show, though, will follow the series’ main premise as is known by the fans.

There will be the modern-day story where the main characters who share genetic memory will relive the life of one of their ancestors who is a part of a war between the Assassins and Templars and had been using the AColyte to live as a kid of a Genoese family during the Renaissance in Italy. However, there have been no other connections to the Fassbender film or the game-based sequel.

Live-action series to games are also taking a more serious tone, and it is with good reason. From the Doom TV show that is one to HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us, it can be agreed that the latter can be considered high-quality television. The massive success of the game and the film studio, Netflix, has been pouring a lot of funding and money into series and films that revolve around fantasy and science fiction.

Assassin’s Creed is set to be a success with the right team, just as video game movies have recently been a success. The series has a total of 14 mainline games spread out over 18 years. It has settings that span through an array of past eras such as Ancient Greece, Revolutionary America, the Caribbean, Victorian-era London, the Caribbean, Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty, and more.

Of the modern titles, they have kept to the same open-world RPG format and game systems with recent entries such as Black Flag in the Caribbean Sea, Origins and Valhalla in Ancient Egypt and Viking-era Britain respectively, and New World, Assassin’s Creed’s latest game, set in 18th-century colonial America. All in all, it just seems like this new iteration of Assassin’s Creed will have a great chance to make it on the big screen with the right leads and cast.