Is Assassin’s Creed the Next Big Streaming Franchise?

A live-action series based on the Assassin’s Creed franchise has been in development hell for several years, with a variety of changes in the creative team. Announced in 2020, the project has been a distant horizon in Netflix’s ambitious video game adaptation plans. Now, it finally seems to be getting the green light it needs to proceed.

The streamer has two showrunners at the top of the project: Roberto Patino and David Wiener. Patino has a strong track record with character-driven shows, with work on Sons of Anarchy, The Fall, and Westworld among other series. Wiener, on the other hand, has a history with science fiction and action with his work on AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead as well as the live-action Halo series that he helmed for Paramount+. The latter showrunner also made headlines for his experience developing for Amazon, with his long history on Transparent and potential future work for the company on a Halo series.

The showrunners for Netflix’s Assassin’s Creed have both proven successful in different areas of science fiction and television. Will their combined efforts be enough to satisfy fans of the Ubisoft series?

“A show about Assassin’s Creed,” the showrunners said in a joint statement. “We’ve been fans of Assassin’s Creed since its release in 2007. Each day we work on this show, we’re struck by how huge and epic the world is and the storytelling opportunities this world affords. There is the on-the-ground, adrenaline-fueled action set in the animus and a sprawling, historically immersive landscape full of intrigue. But at its heart, it’s a very human story about identity, purpose, faith, and how people all over the world have been connected through history for centuries.”

“The human story is what will guide every choice and decision we make,” they continued. “It’s about real characters. Characters you can care about and relate to across time, across space. At the end of the day, this is a show about the value of human connection. Connection to the people around us and connection to the people who have come before us. The perils of losing those connections are what’s at stake. With a studio at Ubisoft that loves this property as much as we do and the backing of Netflix, we’re excited to bring something special to the fans all around the world.”

A Cultural Phenomenon of History and Fantasy

Assassin’s Creed began as a hybrid stealth action and RPG set in a fictionalized version of the Holy Land during the Crusades. The franchise’s original gameplay hook was “social stealth,” or the ability to blend into a crowd to avoid detection by your enemies. However, Assassin’s Creed II and its sequels, Brotherhood and Revelations, are the crown jewels of the series, introducing the iconic character Ezio Auditore and setting a high bar for the quality and detail of its depictions of Renaissance Italy.

Across a long history, Assassin’s Creed has included 14 mainline titles. Set in a variety of historical settings, the games have taken players to Revolutionary America, Napoleonic France, Victorian London, Viking Britain, Ancient Greece, Egypt, Africa, China, Russia, India, Mexico, Mesopotamia, and more. The series is currently in a shift away from stealth and more toward a full-fledged open-world RPG, with recent entries like Valhalla and Odyssey following that formula. The newest game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, is set in feudal Japan and has been highly praised so far, from a high-pressure development in part because Ubisoft took a bold step in delaying the game to give it more polish and time to shine.

Fans of Assassin’s Creed have high expectations for its adaptation, but there’s still a lot about the upcoming show to find out about. Netflix has confirmed that the series is indeed a live-action adaptation of the game and that, at its core, will focus on the now-standard premise: modern-day characters with access to genetic memory relive the past lives of their ancestors, thrust into a secret war between Assassins and Templars. However, most of the particulars are still shrouded in mystery.

A Film Precedent… With Little Success

A feature film with Assassin’s Creed already exists. Released in 2016, it starred Michael Fassbender in dual roles as a modern-day protagonist and his ancestor, an assassin working against Templars in the year 1492. While the film was successful enough to turn a profit with a $240 million worldwide gross on a $120 million budget, it did not gain a lasting foothold with audiences or critics. It is possible the Netflix series could tie into the events of the film, but not much, if any, connection has been announced.

Netflix, Ubisoft, and showrunners Patino and Wiener will all be able to take notes from the feature’s successes and failures, of which there are many. This series will be entering a video game adaptation environment that is more primed for success than ever, however. HBO’s The Last of Us is proof that proper adaptations of video games can work on screen, and with Netflix’s emphasis on genre fare with a focus on fantasy and sci-fi, the Assassin’s Creed series may have a fighting chance at success. The showrunner duo, in particular, both have a history in sci-fi and fantasy action, and have a combined experience that could help with the challenge of bringing Assassin’s Creed to television.

In any case, there will be many hurdles for the series to overcome to translate a gaming experience into a narrative for the small screen. A large part of the draw of Assassin’s Creed for players is the experience of jumping into a past world and inhabiting a historical setting. The scale of the series’ stories stretches across thousands of years and civilizations, with dozens of protagonists all linked by a modern-day narrative through the protagonists’ shared DNA. Sorting out which part of the series’ storylines can and should be covered in the show will likely be one of its biggest challenges.

Patino and Wiener, meanwhile, have stated a deep-seated respect and understanding of the series’ fans in the past, and have hinted at prioritizing and focusing on the series’ core themes of individual purpose and belonging. In that case, a big part of fans’ wait for the series may be getting cast details. There is no word yet on what periods, settings, or characters the series will adapt, or even how many seasons it may have.

In any case, the recent news has only increased the buzz for an adaptation of one of the world’s best-selling video game series. With an established creative team in place as well as support from Ubisoft and Netflix, Assassin’s Creed at last has some momentum behind it. However, it will ultimately be up to the execution of the idea on screen to make or break fans’ hopes for the series. In an increasingly strong market for quality video game adaptations, Assassin’s Creed will be a major player in the new wave if the right team is in place to make it a success.