People of the Cosmic Wasteland, it is I…Three-Dog…er… Ayla with news more fantastic than an ice-cold Nuka-Cola or Sunset Sarsaparilla. Fallout fans finally have a reason to celebrate after an extended tour of patrolling the Mojave without action. On Friday afternoon, the Hollywood trades reported that Walton Goggins was cast in a lead role in the dark comedy based on the video game series.
Plot details and setting are still frustratingly under wraps, but Goggins is reportedly playing a Ghoul. Goggins is well-known for his role as the villainous Boyd Crowder on Justified and recently as televangelist Baby Billy Freeman in the HBO show The Righteous Gemstones.
If you haven’t played the game, Ghouls are, well, Ghoulish. Game cannon has them as humans that have been irradiated for one reason or another. Some are more irradiated than others.
Presumably, Goggins’ Ghoul – try saying that three times fast – will be a Ghoul that has retained some of his humanity. Think more like the Fallout: New Vegas Freeside resident Beatrix Russell or the glowing-ghoul cult-leader Jason Bright and not the rampaging feral ghouls.
Unfortunately, the casting news doesn’t give fans anything new about the series setting. Ghouls are everywhere in Fallout – from the Capital Wasteland to Boston and Necropolis.
If you’ve spent time on any Fallout forums or Reddit during the last decade, then you know that the question of where the next installment in the series should take place is a common one. Commenters have passionate views about why their region should be spotlighted in the post-apocalyptic wasteland.
The casting announcement is also mum on whether or not Goggins will be an original character or one that already exists in the IP. The actor has already proven to be a great villain with some of his past characters.
It will be notable to see what happens with this role. Morality in Fallout is not black and white like some video games; there are a million shades of grey and often no “best” quest solution. For example, you may have won the victory at the Hoover Dam, but you had to team up with the NCR or Legion to do it.
Fallout will be on Amazon’s Prime Video and jointly produced by Bethesda Game Studios and Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan’s Kilter Films. You might recognize Kilter Films from the freaking massive hit shows Westworld or Person of Interest. And Bethesda Game studios is the dev team currently responsible for Fallout in the gaming world.
Co-Showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner are taking on the massive task of writing the video game franchise to life. Robertson-Dworet is best known for writing the Captain Marvel origin story movie that spotlighted the eponymous superhero played by Brie Larson.
She’s also writing the third movie installment with Chris Pine as Kirk in the Star Trek Universe. Wagner has done Portlandia and Silicon Valley, comedies that expertly lampooned hipster culture and the tech-bro world.
In an August interview, executive producer Lisa Joy told the Post Credit Podcast via BroBible this tidbit.
“We’re producing it for these two brilliant writers, and the world that they are making is so gonzo and so fucking crazy. It’s just ridiculously baller, and I can’t wait. It’s totally irreverent and mad and humorous and just insane. It’s just insane.”
Based on what they’ve already made, this group of execs, writers, and now cast gets the funky retro future-that-never-was vibe that has helped make Fallout so successful. This bottle-cap hoarding writer is hopeful that the venture will be a success.
What do you think of Walton Goggins joining the Fallout universe? Join the conversation and share your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter.
Source: Deadline / Post Credit Podcast via BroBible
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