Key Takeaways
- Christian Linke has confirmed that Noxus, Ionia, and Demacia are the next steps in the “cinematic universe.”
- The next show has been in development for over a year at Fortiche.
- We likely won’t see it for a couple of years.
If you’ve been on social media this past weekend, you’ll have witnessed an endless stream of memes and spoilers for the League of Legends animated series Arcane, which recently concluded the third act of its second season. The series, a collaboration between Riot Games and Fortiche Production, has expanded beyond only appealing to League of Legends players, ending its two-season run with a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Thankfully, this isn’t the end of the collaboration between Riot and Fortiche. In an interview with streamer Necrit94, Arcane showrunner Christian Linke confirmed that the next step of the “cinematic universe” is adapting shows based on Ionia, Noxus, and Demacia. “Noxus, Ionia, and Demacia are getting shows and are [the] next steps in this cinematic universe,” Linke said.
Always More Stories To Tell
Linke also confirmed that the next show has been in development for a year at Fortiche but didn’t reveal which region it covers or a timeline for when we can expect to see it. There was a three-year gap between the releases of the first and second seasons of Arcane, so it’s safe to say that we won’t see the next show for at least a couple of years.
The decision to adopt Ionia, Noxus, and Demacia next is sensible, given that these regions are among the oldest and most storied in League of Legends lore and offer a plethora of established characters to work with. A large portion of the original lore involving Demacia and Noxus had them in constant conflict, but the respective stories of these regions have since been expanded to include domestic intrigue.
Demacia has the concept of forbidden magic and Sylas’ attempted emancipation of mages, and Noxus has the battle between the secret cabal The Black Rose and the nation’s visionary leader Swain. Ionia has a more nuanced story, involving the balance of nature and ecological elements, but the struggle between Zed’s Order of Shadows and Shen’s Kinkou may be the centrepiece of the show.
Arcane is the most expensive animated series of all time, boasting a $250 million budget for two seasons. As mentioned previously, the show has achieved universal acclaim, including four Primetime Emmy Awards.
Set in the League of Legends universe, Arcane focuses on sisters Violet and Powder (later Jinx) as they end up on opposite sides of a growing conflict between the wealthy utopia of Piltover and its dark undercity whose citizens wish to break away from their oppressors. Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell, and Kevin Alejandro star in this animated adventure.