Who Should Star in Netflix’s Assassin’s Creed Series?

If you have been following along with our social media, chances are that you have seen us talk about Assassin’s Creed a time or two, especially with the recent release of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows. This is for good reason, however, as it’s a property that fans have been excited to see on the screen for quite some time. So long that Netflix dropped it back in 2021. We had no idea what was going on with this series until very recently, so fans can imagine our delight when we learned that Netflix has finally fully given it the green light, with some final details on this highly anticipated adaptation.

Netflix has been chasing the rights to Assassin’s Creed for years, and the rumors were that they might finally be done pursuing it last year, but nope, that’s just not what was going on. They have finally moved forward in a big way, according to a new report that details just that, but also tells us who’s in charge of the show, and just how dedicated both the studio and the showrunners are to making this series a quality and faithful version of the one that fans know and love.

The long-awaited Assassin’s Creed series, based on the Ubisoft video game franchise, has found two showrunners to helm the project: Roberto Patino and David Wiener. Patino is no stranger to character-driven, thriller shows such as Sons of Anarchy and Westworld, while Wiener served as showrunner for Paramount+’s live-action Halo series as well as an executive producer for AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead. So not only are these two showrunners’ backgrounds very different, but they also work very well in the case of what fans are looking for here, as well as their experience.

The showrunners themselves have also offered some more information about what to expect and the state of production as well, noting in a joint statement:

“We have been fans of Assassin’s Creed since the original game came out in 2007, and as we work on this show every day, we are consistently humbled by the scope of the universe and the possibilities for deep storytelling that Ubisoft has created,” the statement continued. “Underneath the intense action and epic history is an inherently human story about identity, purpose, faith, and connection, one that spans centuries.”

Patino and Wiener continue, “This is first and foremost a show about the importance of human bonds, across time, across cultures, and the cost of severing them. With an incredible team at Ubisoft and a strong commitment from Netflix, we are thrilled to tell a story that fans of the games and newcomers alike can connect with and rally behind.”

Ubisoft Has Spoken: Assassin’s Creed Has Hype

Assassin’s Creed, which first appeared in 2007, has been a world-famous and continually successful series. The first game in the series took the unique “social stealth” mechanic to the setting of the Crusades in the Holy Land, while the next game set in the Italian Renaissance became Assassin’s Creed II and remains to this day the most popular and well-liked in the series. The three titles in this setting, Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, and Assassin’s Creed Revelations, became all-time top-sellers at the time and established the franchise as not only an incredible opportunity for history and stealth fans but also a potentially wide variety of video game stories.

The 18 years of the Assassin’s Creed franchise have brought players around the world, as each major entry of the series has brought with it a new setting and a new protagonist. From Revolutionary America to the open seas of the Caribbean, from the crowded streets of Victorian London to the ancient pyramids of Egypt, Assassin’s Creed has always been a fantastic excuse to experience history as well as an escape from it. And in recent years, as the mechanics of each title have begun to evolve into a large-scale open-world RPG, we’ve also seen the setting range from the mythological of Ancient Greece to the mysterious Viking-era Britain.

The newest title, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, is set in feudal Japan. This is a setting that has long been asked for by fans, and it appears to have paid off. The game has been a success for Ubisoft at least in part because the studio did the once unthinkable and delayed a title in order to ensure it was polished and well-received, and as fans, we are hoping that the same care and attention to detail will be in place for the television adaptation.

But beyond a general statement that Ubisoft has signed off on and the existence of the showrunners, little else is known about the series itself. While fans and critics alike are aware of the baseline premise — modern-day characters using genetic memory to relive the lives of their ancestors while being caught up in an eternal conflict between Assassins and Templars — no casting has been revealed, no periods have been hinted at, and only a promise that more news is coming has been shared with us.

Wait, We’ve Been Here Before

The Assassins may be “freelance historical enthusiasts,” but the path of the live-action adaptation of Assassin’s Creed has a habit of repeating itself. In 2016, a feature film starring Michael Fassbender was released that was serviceable and moderately successful at the box office, but, much to the chagrin of the franchise’s most optimistic fans, a film that did not inspire many cinematic advancements for Assassin’s Creed moving forward. So far, there have been no concrete connections or hints that the Netflix series will be a sequel, or at all tied into the events of the film, but everything about this new incarnation of the series on the small screen so far has led us to believe that it is likely on its separate path.

We are also in a world where a TV adaptation of The Last of Us was successful both with fans and as a way of telling a great story so the bar for good game adaptations is far higher than it was years ago, which is just one more way to ensure that Assassin’s Creed would not be the one that snags the limelight and leaves the franchise stuck in its own shadow for years to come.

The benefits here are many: Netflix in particular is expanding its genre storytelling, leaning into sci-fi and fantasy more and more with each passing year and with Assassin’s Creed we have both a widely successful long-running series and a massive opportunity to capitalize on the success of some of their other titles, as well as the increased interest in the source material.

The Problems are Legitimate

We are not getting into the weeds here to try and nitpick what Ubisoft or Netflix have revealed so far about the TV show, but what’s on paper does show a problem inherent in adapting Assassin’s Creed to any form of media: the franchise as a whole. Spanning thousands of years, numerous civilizations, and more protagonists than most people can keep track of, while simultaneously being intrinsically linked to a modern-day narrative, can be a confusing and difficult series to both handle and truly connect with. Making the stories accessible and understandable to both new viewers and diehard fans is going to be key to not only making the series work but ensuring it is a success.

With that said, all fans can do for now is wait for some of that final information to come to light. Netflix has shown that it is prepared to move forward, Ubisoft and the showrunners themselves have given us statements that indicate a commitment to quality and a faithfulness to the games, and now all we can do is sit back and wait for something to finally sink its blade into this entertainment juggernaut and reveal exactly what Netflix and Ubisoft are cooking up behind closed doors.

With the bar higher than it has ever been, it’s clear to see Assassin’s Creed is poised to rise to the top and become an even more noteworthy property and one to look out for, and for fans like us, the next step is all we can wait for with patience.