Is a Mass Effect TV series in development?
Video game adaptations have always been a mixed bag, with some turning out really good, such as the Castlevania anime or The Witcher series, and some have turned out really bad such as the Super Mario Bros movie.
With the recent releases of Castlevania and The Witcher, it seems that gaming adaptation may finally be taking a step in the right direction.
Do We Need A Mass Effect TV Series?
If we were to tell you a Mass Effect TV series was in the works, what would you think? Do we really need a Mass Effect TV series? Are these narratives better-suited to other media?
Recently, Henry Cavill has shared yet another cryptic Instagram post about his future projects and the eagle-eyed web sleuths at Game Pressure have managed to decipher several words from a blurred passage included.
The words “Cerberus”, “Reaper”, “Geth”, and “Tali’Zorah” happen to appear in it and everyone has connected the ever-so-slightly spaced dots and believe a Mass Effect TV series or film is upon us.
But, do we really need this? We don’t think we necessarily do…
A Mass Effect TV Series Would Limit The Scope
Mass Effect is quite-literally a universe full of content. To put it plainly, a TV series wouldn’t do Mass Effect justice.
Even in the Commander Shephard narrative that is the focus of the original Mass Effect trilogy has a considerable amount of branching storylines and a large-enough selection of developed side characters that you could focus on any one if it’s amazing cast and still get a solid TV series or film.
When you consider the idea that Mass Effect might be getting a television show, you have to wonder if the ship has already sailed…
Every other major sci-fi franchise of a similar scale has so much more content already available that you feel Mass Effect would be too late to the party if it was to start now.
The series suits video games, with it’s choice-based narrative arcs and complex array of side missions and character-based storylines. It’s hard to imagine a TV series or movie doing Mass Effect justice.
READ MORE: HBO The Last Of Us Series Cast Revealed
That isn’t to say video game series don’t work as TV shows and films, though. When you think of a series like The Last of Us, for example, it’s grounded nature would fit well with a gritty cinematic approach.
Mass Effect, though, you feel would have to have a Marvel Cinematic Universe’s worth of backing and funding in order to truly do justice to the sheer scope and scale of the series at the moment.
It Would Have To Look Right Too
Take Star Wars, for example. Star Wars has the budget to deal with complex practical effects and then blend over enough CGI to make every out-of-this-world species and creature look real.
A Mass Effect TV series would need to do that, to put it simply.
What’s more is, unlike Star Wars which is largely humanoid characters in the limelight, Mass Effect’s cast is much more diverse.
Garrus, Liara, Tali… These are just three of the characters that appear in the Mass Effect trilogy that are almost as equally important as Shephard himself. Mordin Solus too is a favourite among many.
READ MORE: Mass Effect Legendary Edition: Everything You Need To Know
Although video games are growing in popularity, it’s hard to imagine that any upcoming Mass Effect TV series would be able to get that much budget.
There is the chance that a cinematic experience set in the Mass Effect universe would abandon the Commander Shephard narrative altogether. However, with HBO’s The Last of Us series following the story of Naughty Dog’s first title we have to wonder whether a Mass Effect show would do well to do the same.
If it did abandon this narrative, a human-focused story could be developed. However, would this be an insult to the rich and diverse array of races that BioWare have worked to develop over the years? We’re inclined to think so.
Netflix’s Witcher series has proven that video game-based series can do well, but is this another case of Henry Cavill’s star power coming to help kickstart a project?
Of course, nothing is confirmed… But, we can always speculate.
