Henry Cavill made his opinions live-action adaptations perfectly clear while discussing his interest in a live-action Mass Effect TV series.
Speaking to Games Radar during press rounds for The Witcher Season 2, the Justice League star was asked if he wanted to be involved in the Mass Effect TV series. “Very much so, yeah,” Cavill stated; with the caveat “all depending on how they’re executing it.”
“The world of adaptation can be heavy or light. When I like a product, I prefer the adaptation to be less changed from the source, so it all depends.”
He then reiterated his desire to talk about joining the show, “I think it’s found a home, hasn’t it? If [the series] finds a home, I would love to have a conversation.”
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It’s rumored to indeed have found a home. Deadline reported in late November of this year that Amazon Studios were nearing a deal to develop the BioWare developed video game franchise.
Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke didn’t confirm anything, but did reveal the company has plans to invest in a number of different fantasy genres. She explained, “You will see us continuing to invest in fantasy genre of all kinds, we have a genre-focused team on the ground in Studios who work tirelessly with our creative partners on those slates, and you can look forward to more.”
As for Cavill wanting adaptations to stay closer to the source material, that’s something he’s also expressed when it comes to The Witcher.
During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show he explained he’s “effusive about being loyal to the source material” while on the show’s set.
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In his interview with Games Radar, Cavill also touched on his experience with the Mass Effect series. “I did not play Andromeda,” Cavill confesses. “I had a go at it, but ended up being very busy.”
He did not miss out on much, as Andromeda had middling to poor user review scores.
“But [The Mass Effect Trilogy]? Yeah. Loved it. Brilliant games,” Cavill stated. “It would make such a magnificent series of movies or TV shows.”
The franchise definitely has a cinematic feel to it, but an interesting element in a possible adaptation would be exactly how the story is tackled. The third-person shooter RPG had several branching paths players could choose- shaping Commander Shepherd’s personality, his relationships, the story at large, and its conclusion.
This isn’t the first time Cavill has expressed interest in Mass Effect. Game Pressure reported in February of this year that a seemingly harmless Instagram photo posted by Cavill teased his next project, and had him holding what appears to be a script. “Secret project? Or just a handful of paper with random words on it…. Guess you’ll have to wait and see.”
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Said “script” was quickly worked out as being text from the Wikipedia page for Mass Effect 3. It featured words such as Geth, Cerberus, Reaper, and Tali’Zorah. All major players in the original Mass Effect trilogy.
While only the corner of the pages could be seen, and out of focus, was this intentional? Had Cavill already been auditioning for a role? Or had he deliberately teased this to encourage fans to ask for him to be cast?
Mass Effect wasn’t the only franchise that Cavill expressed an interest in. IGN reports when they spoke to Cavill, he also expressed an interest in playing a role in Warhammer.
“There are a lot of characters from the Warhammer universe that I want to be,” Cavill explained. “But I can only really be one, because once I’m one, then I can’t be others. So if it were to ever happen, if there were to be anything live action, I would have to be very aware of that.”
“[Warhammer] is obviously character rich, and especially the 40K universe. I suppose I could play a different character from the Warhammer Fantasy universe versus the 40K universe, but I’m now just dreaming. I’d have to speak to the guys at Games Workshop and see what happens,” he said.
Cavill seemed to welcome IGN’s suggestion of him playing Gregor Eisenhorn from the Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor book series. “That would be exciting, yes,” Cavill admits, “but then I burn Primarchs, and the Captain-Generals, so I don’t really know.” IGN also pitched Roboute Guilliman, Rogal Dorn, and Leman Russ in their articles.
Amazon Studios could certainly do well casting Cavill as Shepard, or anyone in any genre show, at this time. The success of The Witcher and the Castlevania anime has arguably led to more video game and other genre IP adaptions in recent years, having finally shaken off the curse of them always being terrible.
For better or worse, Netflix are looking to release a live-action Mega Man, Gundam, and One Piece series. A Power Rangers cinematic universe and Archie set in 1960’s India are also planned. There’s no doubt other studios are looking for a piece of that pie, and the Halo and Mass Effect TV series might just be the start.
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