Adi Shankar discusses working with Netflix, using Ubisoft properties like Rainbow Six Siege and Splinter Cell, & gives a Devil May Cry update.
The Big Picture Netflix recently debuted a brand-new adult animated series, Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix, after a pretty lengthy wait for fans ready to feast on this “amalgamation” of video games and ‘90s nostalgia. In an interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, creator Adi Shankar talks about the ideas behind Ubisoft's Far Cry: Blood Dragon spinoff series and the moves he made with the creatives to bring this universe to the screen.
SHANKAR: Yeah, and you know, through this process of the restraining order, you really blew up. Listen, you're like the Barbara Walters of the geek world. Not even the geek world now, it's just the pop culture. You're the Barbara Walters of pop culture. SHANKAR: So, I think there's two categories of things, right? One is original stuff because I would say Captain Laserhawk. You tell me if I'm wrong here because you're Frosty, but Captain Laserhawk is original. It's like an original thing, right? Then something like Devil May Cry, something like Castlevania, that's IP-based, right? It's a reinterpretation of the IP.
SHANKAR: 100%. I mean, Captain Laserhawk is part of the Bootleg Universe. It is the natural extension. It is the logical extension of where you go with these subversive fan films that are deconstructionist takes on IPs I grew up loving. Ultimately, that is 50% of what Captain Laserhawk is. SHANKAR: So I moved out here to do animation. This was my goal. When I first moved to LA, this was around 2008/2009, I made an Excel spreadsheet of all the different brands I dug growing up, everything from fucking G.I. Joe to Voltron to just everything. And I was like, “Okay, what is the brand? Who owns it? Who's optioned it? What's going on?” Because my goal was to do hard R takes on these different brands, right? I'm like, “Let's do hard R G.I.
This is something that I'm happy that this is being done. Let's jump into Captain Laserhawk. How did you guys decide you wanted it to be six episodes for the first season, or was it story-based? Was it budget-based? How did that number come up? Well, the thing is, though, A. I don't think it's in your DNA to pitch something normal, B. it's boring, C. that's the vanilla ice cream that makes no one excited. You have to mix it with sprinkles. Anyway, I want to continue. One of the characters I couldn't believe was in this was Rayman. I just was like, “Wait, what?” So, where did Rayman come from to put him in this series? Not his origin but the idea to make him an integral part of this show.
That’s one of the reasons why, to be honest, I don't play many video games anymore. One of the reasons is that, for me, from the outside, they're all exactly the same. I don't wanna say they're all the same because people are gonna come at me for that, but exactly what you said, it's equip this equipment, go do this… It's basically built on a structure that's become very formulaic. The games that I'd be interested in are breaking the mold.
Yeah, it's also when a film or when anything tries to do too much in one thing. But moving past all that, I wanna get back to Captain Laserhawk. Specifically, I really enjoyed the aesthetic choices that were made in telling the story. There are moments where it goes 8-bit, there are moments where it’s animation that you might be expecting, there are other moments where it's animation you're not expecting. It changes very quickly. It's never too long in one thing.
SHANKAR: So for Guardians of Justice, for instance—and I can speak to that because we literally put every element together and were sourcing it from all over the world—you find that certain set pieces, let’s call them set pieces, you can convey a large-scale destruction in pixel art for a far cheaper price point than you could in, like, photorealistic CGI. I guess what I said was, like, super obvious. I could have given you a better example.
I was just curious. When you went to Ubisoft and Netflix, and they got involved, obviously, this is six episodes, how much did Netflix say, “Hey, we wanna make sure you have, like, a three-season plan if this were to be a hit,” or is it based on your track record already, and they're like, “We trust you. Let's just make this one season?”
Sure. How long did it actually take once Netflix said yes to it actually getting on the air? Was it three years? Was it two years? What was that number? But you see here, here's the thing: I am not an expert in anime and animation, so I do not have enough of a point of reference to know what people are clicking on. But I enjoyed the sh– I kept on wanting to watch and figure out, “Okay, where is this gonna go? What's the next thing?” So it's just a question of people actually pushing play. But I don't know. Anyway, let's get back to my question, though, because we've evaded…I understand.
What are you actually most excited for people to see in the show? I know it's a generic question, but I'm sincere with it. SHANKAR: The reason the characters have different art styles is I really wanted this to feel like a crossover show, like these are characters from different worlds, and they're coming together. So instead of having one consistent art style for the whole thing, when you look at a character like Bullfrog and then you compare them to Alex, they're from different shows, different worlds, so to speak.
SHANKAR: I think it's a good sign, though, when you get an email or people tell you not to talk about it. That's a good sign versus, “Yeah, just say whatever you want.” SHANKAR: Right. I feel like they understand internet culture better than maybe some of the legacy studios to that regard because I feel like some movies get spoiled because you see the trailer, and then you're like, “Oh, now I know the whole movie.”
SHANKAR: I'm working on a lot of things that either I'm not allowed to talk about or there's not context for me to talk about it. Does that make sense? Where, if I tell you, for instance, I'm creative directing a video game – it's not an original game, it's based on a gaming IP that everybody knows, so that's cool.So you're putting your spin on the video game. Is it something that will be out next year?SHANKAR: Yeah, video games are like a thing, man.
Sure. I just did a long interview with him, and the problem is he worked on that Star Wars movie, and then it didn't get made. He worked on At the Mountains of Madness with Tom Cruise, but it didn't get made. I think he said he has 30 unproduced scripts out of the 12 that he's made.Yes, I do think Guillermo would like Captain Laserhawk, but he also loves animation, so I think anything animation, but that's a whole separate thing.
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