Fallout promises world building and dark humor on April 11

Prime Video is gearing up for its first video game adaptation based on Bethesda Softworks’ Fallout series. The final trailer for the post-apocalyptic series promises to faithfully adapt the franchise’s dark humor and retro-futuristic setting. Additionally, the trailer reveals a welcome surprise: all eight episodes of Fallout will be available on April 11, one day earlier than initially announced.

The trailer primarily focuses on vault dweller Lucy, played by Ella Purnell, as she adapts to the dangerous irradiated wasteland. She is one of the series protagonists alongside Aaron Moten and Walton Goggins. Moten plays Maximus, a young soldier in the Brotherhood of Steel. Meanwhile, Goggins is The Ghoul, a mutated survivor of the nuclear apocalypse 200 years ago. Together, these characters come from very different backgrounds, embodying the franchises’ factions.

Today’s trailer also introduces two new characters, Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury) and Ma June (Dale Dickey). While we’ll have to wait a bit longer until we get the full story, but both will play a vital role as the story takes off.

Unlike other game to film adaptations, the Fallout series is not strictly adapting the story of a specific game. Rather, the show tells an original story is set in the world of Fallout exploring similar themes.

Assembling the Fallout team and world

Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s Kilter Films — best known for HBO’s Westworld — produced the Fallout series. Nolan also directed the first three episodes.

The show is a collaborative effort between Kilter and Bethesda. Both Todd Howard, director and executive producer for Bethesda Game Studios (and Fallout 3), and James Altman, director of publishing operations at Bethesda Softworks, served as executive producers.

“We took a very cautious approach [to adapting Fallout], and [Jonathan] was somebody I was such a fan of the movies he did and the TV he was doing. I actually had someone reach out,” said Howard in a press briefing. “And when I first talked to Jonah, honestly, it was like someone I had known for a long time. He obviously played the games a ton, and his approach, right from the get-go, was in sync with what I was thinking. This is a creative endeavor, and having partners that you trust and can really bring something new to it, make it authentic, the world of Fallout.”

Kilter’s experience with Westworld helped the team bring together some of Fallout’s most essential settings to life. The Fallout series tends to rely on practical effects for both locations and props. For example, Fallout’s signature power armor was mostly practical, not CGI. Likewise, the team looks to nail down Fallout’s mix of action, dark humor and factional politics.

While Fallout looks to deliver an authentic experience for fans of the series, its creative team isn’t looking to please them outright.

“I don’t think you really can set out to please the fans of anything, or please anyone other than yourself. I think you have to come into this trying to make the show that you want and trusting that as fans of the game, we would find the pieces that were essential to us and try to do the best version of those that we can. I think it’s kind of a fool’s errand to try to figure out how to make people happy in that way. You gotta make yourself happy. And I’ve made myself very happy with the show,” said Nolan.

All eight episodes of Prime Video’s Fallout debuts April 11.