Arcane “cinematic universe” to expand with three more League of Legends animated series
Netflix and Riot Games’ utterly brilliant Arcane will be followed by three further series exploring other parts of the League of Legends world.
Arcane showrunner Christian Linke has now confirmed the locations in which these new stories will be set as Noxus, home to Arcane’s Mel Meldarda, plus Demacia and Ionia.
Speaking to streamer Necrit94 (thanks, TheGamer), Linke said these new series would tell fresh stories, but also continue some of the threads already seen in Arcane.
“We’re really going wide, we’re looking at every region and we really now have the ability to build a slate to tell many more stories – and continue some of them,” Linke said.
Talented animation studio Fortiche will once again be at the helm for these series, after its award-winning work on Arcane’s two seasons, but there’s no word yet on when these new series might materialise.
Production work on the next show began a year ago, Linke noted, so hopefully we won’t have another three year wait to see more.
Linke had previously mentioned the development of further League of Legends shows when it was confirmed that Arcane would end with its second season.
“Arcane is just the beginning of our larger storytelling journey and our partnership with the wonderful animation studio that is Fortiche,” Linke said in a developer update video earlier this year. “From the very beginning, since we started working on this project, we had a very specific ending in mind, which means the story of Arcane wraps up with the second season.
“But Arcane is just the first of many stories we want to tell in Runeterra. We’ve been with Riot through Vi and Jinx’s entire journey thus far, from becoming in-game champions to characters featured in different cinematics to main characters in a TV show. Their arcs have grown so far beyond our original dreams, and we want to give the same treatment to more champions.”
In related news, a recent League of Legends leak has suggested the game will get a Noxus-themed season next year, as the game gets ready to host Mel herself beginning in early 2025.
“Some iffy pacing moments aside, Arcane’s second and final season truly puts the money on screen,” our Chris Tapsell wrote in Eurogamer’s Arcane season two review. “This is a striking, emotionally wrought, hard-punching climax.”