Henry Cavill has nothing but good things to say about Netflix's League of Legends series, Arcane. Based on the popular video game series, Arcane is an animated action-adventure television show following sisters Jinx and Vi as they navigate escalating unrest between the utopian city of Piltover, and its oppressed borough, Zaun. Dealing with such subjects as civil unrest, poverty, and classism, all while in the setting of a fantasy steampunk world, Arcane has been applauded not only for its writing and complex characters, but for its art style as well. This year, Arcane won four Emmy awards, including Outstanding Animated Program, marking the first time a Netflix project has received an Emmy for animation, and it appears to have found a fan in a major celebrity.
In an interview with BBC Radio 1 film critic Ali Plumb, Cavill shares his glowing review for the award-winning Arcane. Cavill says that Plumb was the one who encouraged him to watch the Netflix series, and that once he began watching it, he was immediately hooked. Not only is Cavill a fan, but so is his wife Natalie, who watched the entire series late into the night with him. Read Cavill's review below:
Yes, I really did [enjoy Arcane]! I'm so glad you told me, because when you said it, I went home immediately, and I was like "Right, Natalie, I was told by this guy at work that I should watch Arcane." And she was like, "Oh, I've heard some pretty good things about it." I couldn't stop watching it, and it got really late, and Natalie was like "Right, we should probably go to bed," and I was like "No, no, no, no, no, nope, gotta keep on watching." And she went "Yeah, okay, I'm with you, we should definitely keep on watching." It's amazing, and I'm very thankful that you introduced me to that, because I may have missed it otherwise.
How Arcane Beat The Video Game Adaptation Curse
Cavill is well-known for his love of video games, so his love of the League of Legends series may not come as a surprise to some. The Superman has said in the past that he loves video games because they are a way of escaping the craziness of his day-to-day life, and that he grew up playing such games as Delta Force and Half-Life. Even long before Cavill was cast as Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher, he had admitted having played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt two-and-a-half times, while also being well-known for putting together his own gaming PCs.
Video game adaptations have a history of being notoriously hit-and-miss, with the genre garnering a reputation of being cheesy, and uninviting to audiences who don't actively play video games in general, nor the source material of the adaptations in question. However, Arcane managed to beat this curse, and is now a prime example of how well-done and high-performing video game adaptations can be. While Arcane has plenty of action, magic, and unique technology that League of Legends fans wanted to see in a television adaptation, what really moved the series above and beyond is the writing and animation. With well-developed characters who have interesting and complicated relationships, Arcane avoids the video game adaptation pitfall of exclusively being action-packed.
While there is no firm release date on a season 2 at the time of, Netflix was very quick to renew Arcane for another season after the jaw-dropping season 1 finale. In November 2021, season 2 was announced to be in production, with Hailee Steinfeld (Vi), Ella Purnell (Jinx), and Katie Leung (Caitlyn) already set to reprise their roles. With a massive following, season 2 is highly-anticipated by fans and critics alike, and audiences will undoubtedly be eager to hear what Superman himself thinks of future Arcane seasons when the show returns.
Source: BBC Radio 1/YouTube