Although Gearbox Software has already shown Borderlands 4 twice, it still hasn’t revealed much about its plot or characters. The company has confirmed that the upcoming game will take place on an entirely new planet separate from the previous entries in the Borderlands series, and that it’s going to feature a major antagonist called the Timekeeper, but other than that, it has remained rather tight-lipped regarding the matter. Borderlands 4 is supposed to be released sometime within the next 12 months, so it’s somewhat surprising that Gearbox is still keeping so much about the game under wraps.
One aspect of its upcoming looter shooter that Gearbox hasn’t been so reluctant to share information about, however, is its sense of humor. Borderlands 4 narrative director Sam Winkler has gone on record multiple times explaining the role comedy will play in the highly-anticipated game. Winkler told PC Gamer back in August 2024 that humor in Borderlands 4 would be more situational in nature, and that comedic events would emerge naturally throughout the course of the gameplay. He also noted in a Twitter post in mid-December that BL4 would have far less toilet humor compared to Borderlands 3, which was widely criticized by many for its poor writing. While these do sound like promising changes to the series’ comedic formula, what would arguably make BL4 even better is if it includes scenes that satirize the recent Borderlands movie.
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Borderlands 4 Should Satirize the Critically-Panned Borderlands Movie
Despite Having a Star-Studded Cast, the Borderlands Film Failed to Take Off the Ground
Way back in 2015, the film production company Lionsgate announced that it was making an adaptation of the Borderlands franchise. This movie, however, didn’t materialize until early 2023, and it wasn’t released in theaters worldwide until August of last year. The film, simply titled Borderlands, was directed by Eli Roth, of Hostel and Cabin Fever fame, and was co-produced by Avi Arad, best known for his work on Marvel movies like Blade and Iron Man. It also starred a handful of notable actors, including Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, and even Jack Black. Despite having a star-studded cast, though, the movie was far from high-quality.
Video game adaptations have historically failed to live up to fans’ expectations over the years, but Lionsgate’s Borderlands was especially disappointing. The film obtained universally bad reviews from film critics and audiences alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, it garnered a dismal 10% rating, while on IMDb, it received a 4.6/10 user score. Borderlands was criticized for its unfaithful rendition of Pandora, underdeveloped characters, poor humor, and PG-13 rating, among many other things. Despite being in the works for nearly a decade, the movie arguably ended up being one of the worst video game adaptations of all time.
Pandora is the name of the planet that most Borderlands games take place on.
The Borderlands Movie Would Be a Great Source of Comedy for Borderlands 4
With how poorly received the Borderlands movie was, it would make sense for Borderlands 4 to take a few jabs at it, just for the sake of satire. The Lionsgate film is, quite frankly, a gold mine of potential parody content that Gearbox could make use of. The movie’s annoying iteration of Claptrap and overt lack of violence can easily be made fun of in the game during a side mission or two, along with the film’s unusual use of older actors to play younger characters’ roles.
There are, of course, a handful of problems with such an approach. Gearbox and its owner, Take-Two Interactive, may not want to openly mock what is effectively their own official product, and outright criticizing the film in Borderlands 4 could risk angering both Lionsgate and some of the movie’s few defenders, like Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford. At the same time, though, the Borderlands movie is so unanimously disliked that it feels like it wouldn’t hurt that much if Gearbox and Take-Two were to make fans laugh at themselves for a little bit. Meta-humor like this would, indeed, be a perfect fit for Borderlands 4.
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Looter Shooter
Action
Adventure
RPG
- Franchise
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Borderlands
- Released
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2025-00-00