Arcane season 2 is in full swing, but prepare for it to end, because the creators are definitely done and there won’t be a season 3.
Speaking to Animation Magazine, showrunner Christian Linke takes some time to reflect on how the League of Legends spin off show got its start, “We definitely started Arcane at a time where there wasn’t a lot of precedent for this approach,” he says. “People told us, ‘Hey, you can’t have 40-minute episodes in animation; that’s insane.’ And I think there was just this dream of, ‘Well, we think you can.’ I think, really, the drama, the long pauses and silences between two characters — those are things that have been very unusual, at least in Western animation.”
It turns out he was right, as the show has been a hit with fans of the game and people who’d never even heard of a League of Legends. I envy those people who don’t know what pushing bot lane means, I truly do.
As for the future, director Pascal Charrue says, “We spent nine years at this point on these 11 or so characters, so there’s also something about wanting to make sure that we are able to tell the stories of other characters that we’re also really passionate about.”
It’s unclear if this means more characters within the League of Legends universe, or a new source entirely, but whatever the Arcane team makes next, I’m excited for it.
Nine years is a long time for any creative to spend on a project. Linke adds, “There’s people who were single when they started on Arcane and now they’re married and have kids in school,” so it really has been a lifetime for some.
If you’re itching for your next batch of Vi and Jinx tales, check out our Arcane season 2 release schedule.