Summary
Adapting video game IP is a popular trend in Hollywood at the moment but one title that is yet to be licensed is Arrowhead Games’Helldivers. The franchise has seen a lot of success in 2024 thanks to the release ofHelldivers 2and while it may seem an unlikely choice for an adaptation, the impact of Prime Video’sFalloutseries is a good indication that aHelldiversTV show could work.
Video game adaptations are some of the hottest titles in Hollywood these days, particularly Prime Video’sFalloutTV series. The series recently wonBest Adaptation at The Game Awardsand was one of the streamer’s biggest originals of the year. Bethesda’sFalloutfranchise provided a strong foundation for adaptation with players long being enamored with the dark-humored post-apocalyptic world. On the surface,Helldiversdoesn’t share too many similarities in plot or gameplay withFallout, but both properties share something in common that makes them ideal for modern TV adaptations.
Why Prime Video’s Fallout Succeeded
Falloutwas a successful video game adaptation for several reasons. One of those was that it opted for the TV format rather than film, allowing the expansive world to be spread out across multiple episodes and different character’s points of view. Another clever strategic choice was to set the TV series in the same world as the games but using entirely new characters and a fresh storyline, rather than adapting any one specific game. Given that theFalloutgames are so reliant on player choice and exploration, this would’ve been phenomenally difficult to translate on screen. But theFalloutcreatives made the right choice, infusing the story with enough familiar character archetypes and elements of theFalloutworld that it felt right at home in the series.
Another thing thatFalloutreplicated to a tee in the TV series was the series’ dark humor.Falloutis set in a world that is run by corporations and it tackles this with a healthy dose of satirical humor that reflects on the extremes of capitalism and consumerism. TheFalloutTV adaptation isn’t afraid todouble down on the games’ dark humor, by bringing up more taboo topics like incest, offsetting violent scenes with comedy, and even making some meta winks to the video game audience.
The Wasteland’s got its own Golden Rule: ‘Thou shalt get sidetracked by bullsh*t every goddamn time.’
A Shared Sensibility
Fallout’s Execution of Tone is A Great Reference For A Helldivers Show
The main commonality that bothHelldiversandFalloutshare is this unique tone and sense of humor. Similar toFallout, Helldiverstakes place in an exaggerated world,where satirical humor is used freelyto comment on military propaganda and patriotism. InHelldivers 2, which Arrowhead released earlier in 2024, players are placed in the shoes of nameless faceless soldiers who are overly dedicated to the idea of democracy and fighting for the glory of Super Earth. The irony begins there.Helldiversfight blindly for liberty and freedom, despite having none themselves.Helldiversintroduces the idea of “managed democracy”, a political system that provides the illusion of voting for one’s ideals, but in a system that is ultimately out of the voter’s control. InHelldivers, this has resulted in a worldperpetually at war, who survive solely on the idea of democracy, without really knowing what it is.
This satirical sensibility is something evident inFallout’sworld as well. InFallout, the vault dwellers believe they are the chosen ones tasked with sustaining humanity’s way of life and ideals until such a time as they can repopulate the Earth. However, this is all a capitalist lie that has been fed to them by the powers at Vault-Tec, which Lucy learns quickly upon experiencing the Wasteland way of life outside the vault. EvenFallout’sBrotherhood of Steelshares some similarities with theHelldiverssoldiers, as they turn the recovery of old-world technology into a sacred quest, when in reality the items they’re searching for have little meaning or value.
A Helldivers Show Should Follow Fallout’s Lead
While not a video game adaptation, another TV show that leans into this sense of humor is another Prime Video series,The Boys, which offers a satirical takeon superhero pop culture.FalloutandThe Boysare evidence that this satirical and dark type of humor is popular among audiences, who want to challenge the structures they experience around themHelldiverscould easily be the next adaptation to contribute to that trend.
There’s been no discussion of aHelldiversfilm or TV adaptation at this time, but if Hollywood were looking for another project with tonal similarities, which could be the nextFalloutorThe Boys, Helldiversshouldn’t be ignored.Helldivers 2is an online multiplayer game with no single-player narrative or campaign, meaning an adaptation would likely need to followFallout’slead and create an original story set in the world ofHelldiverswith new characters. However, the adaptation’s success will rely on theexecution ofHelldivers’ themes, and it must find ways to provide an entertaining and witty exploration of political satire in Arrowhead’s action-packed sci-fi world.
Fallout
Created by Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout is based on the post-apocalyptic RPG gaming franchise that started in the 1990s. Set hundreds of years after the Great War, Lucy leaves her Vault bunker to travel the Wasteland in search of her kidnapped father.
Helldivers 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Do you believe in freedom? Can you stand in the face of oppression – and defend the defenceless? Wage war for peace. Die for democracy.Join forces with up to three friends and wreak havoc on an alien scourge threatening the safety of your home planet, Super Earth, in this multiplayer co-op shooter for PS5 and PC from Arrowhead Game Studios.Step into the boots of the Helldivers, an elite class of soldiers whose mission is to spread peace, liberty and Managed Democracy using the biggest, baddest and most explosive tools in the galaxy.Helldivers don’t go planet side without proper backup, but it’s up to you to decide how and when to call it in. Not only do you have a host of superpowered primary weapons and customizable loadouts, you also have the ability to call on stratagems during play.Helldivers 2 features Arrowhead’s best cooperative gameplay yet. Collaboration will be vital: Teams will synergize on loadouts, strategize their approach for each mission and complete objectives together.1Enlist in Super Earth’s premier military peacekeeping force today. We are heroes… we are legends… WE ARE HELLDIVERS.
