Image via Wizards of the Coast
Back in 2018, after years of loving it from the sidelines, I finally sat down to play my first live, in-person Dungeons & Dragons campaign. I knew the lore from my days pouring far too many hours into the likes of Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, but I’d never actually rolled a D20 IRL before. Little did I know, I had found two new obsessions: Dungeons & Dragons 5e and the Curse of Strahd campaign. Surrounded by my husband’s friends, the token woman in a group of dudes, I quickly fell irrevocably in love with the game. And, by extension, my first campaign.
In theory, I don’t really like horror. I scare easily, and even a few minutes of a horror trailer can set me on edge to the point that I don’t sleep at night. Yet somehow, I am also obsessed with vampires. I’d blame it on Twilight, but I was reading about vampires well before I picked that one off the shelf. So, of course, I adored the Ravenloft setting and the whole saga that is Curse of Strahd. When Wizards of the Coast brought us back to Ravenloft with this year’s Ravenloft: The Horrors Within sourcebook, I could have pinched myself. I’ve never been quite that excited in a press briefing before. So when Netflix announced that they’re going to set their live-action D&D series in Ravenloft, I kind of lost it. If it’s good, it’s going to be so good. But if it’s not, it might break my nerdy little heart.
Netflix Swaps Its Forgotten Realms Series for the Mists of Ravenloft & The Vampire Lovers Rejoice (It’s Me, I’m the Vampire Lovers)
Last year, Netflix announced a live-action Dungeons & Dragons TV series. At the time, the project was to be set in the Forgotten Realms. That certainly seemed like the setting for all things D&D at the time. It’s where the events of Baldur’s Gate 3 take place. The Forgotten Realms is also the setting for the criminally underrated Honor Among Thieves movie. And it’s no secret that Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast are all in on Baldur’s Gate 3, throwing characters from the game into sourcebooks and spinning off various projects to keep the enthusiasm rolling long after Larian stepped aside. However, it seems like it may be time to move on from the Forgotten Realms for a little while. At least where Netflix is concerned.
On September 4th, Deadline broke the news that Netflix will instead develop a live-action series set in the world of Ravenloft. In the same exclusive, Deadline confirmed that the Forgotten Realms series is no longer in development. So, in essence, the streaming platform has dropped the Forgotten Realms setting in favor of a journey through the Mists of Ravenloft. After the absolute masterpiece that was Honor Among Thieves, I’m very here for another attempt at live-action D&D. That said, I can’t help but be a little worried we’ve already swapped one project for another.
Ravenloft Could Easily Be Netflix’s Next Biggest Hit, If They Manage to Pull It Off
The new project, currently titled Ravenloft, is being written and executive produced by John August (Charlie’s Angels, Big Fish), alongside executive producer Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). In a lot of ways, this direction makes more sense for Netflix. Their biggest hits, like Stranger Things and Wednesday, often play with the same horror themes present in the Ravenloft setting. The series will reportedly follow “the making of the vampire Darklord Strahd von Zarovich.” In other words, the very same character who would go on to star in the events of Curse of Strahd, one of 5e’s most iconic campaigns. If they pull it off, this could easily be the next big hit for the streamer. But that’s a big if.
I adore Strahd and his whole obsessive love story vibes. What can I say, I grew up on vampires with unhealthy romance dynamics. A series that follows his origins and digs into the lore of Ravenloft could be a great first foray into live-action D&D for Netflix. And with Wizards so recently publishing new source material centered on Ravenloft, there’s plenty to go on to flesh out the world in a lore-accurate way. At the same time, I remain a bit skeptical. Everything that worked about Honor Among Thieves feels like a less obvious choice for the kind of Strahd origin story Ravenloft purports to be. It’s hard to imagine that same humor and “we’re actually just kind of watching a D&D campaign play out” working if Strahd will be the primary character. As such, this series is likely going to have to strike a different, more serious tone. I expect it will feel a lot more like a straightforward gothic horror story than a real D&D campaign. And that could be good or bad.
At any rate, I’m pretty excited to see someone take a stab at bringing live-action Strahd to life. If I may go ahead and propose some fan casting… Nicholas Hoult as Strahd, perhaps?
Looking for more D&D coverage? Check out my review of Delilah S. Dawson’s Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd.
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