D&D Movie/TV Update on D&D TV Show -- Underdark, Small, 6-10 Episodes

Writer Derek Kolstad (John Wick) has shared an insight into the upcoming D&D TV show with Collider, which he says will be 6-10 serialized episodes with an Underdark element.

His approach is a "tinier sliver" of the world, compared to epic stories like Lord of the Rings. He compares it to Star Wars and Jaws. He mentioned that he's like to go "deeper and deeper into the Underdark".

"In the first Star Wars, you heard about Jabba the Hutt and you don't see him until the third one because you earn at that point, and whatever the budget was for the third one compared to the first one, who cares, right? And I think in Dungeons and Dragons, who has this massive, dedicated community of acolytes, I don't want to suddenly throw everything on screen and say, 'Here's the buffet.' You'd much rather keep the story intimate. When you think of our favorite movies, I'd rather do the First Blood version. It's a guy in the woods being hunted. And it's very small, but you allude to the other things through conversation."

As yet the show is untitled. Kolstad talked a bit about legal meetings and available characters for use. It sounds like he wants to set it towards the end of any 'metaplot' that D&D might have -- "... don't want to go in the middle of the mythos. I want to come near the end where everything is canonical, it's biblical, it's happened. Or, it's about to happen. That way you can revisit certain sequences and storylines that everyone loved in the past through flashback, but where we go is new"

 

[bedir than]

Episode 3 of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is the first one written by Kolstad. He gets the group dynamic bit, that's vital for D&D. Also, the empty container field fight scenes may as well have been dungeons.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

They could also just make an adaptation inspired by The Night Below, which doesn't have any Drow in it (that I know of).

Then again, it has duergar which are essentially "Drow but for Dwarves instead of Elves."

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Episode 3 of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is the first one written by Kolstad. He gets the group dynamic bit, that's vital for D&D. Also, the empty container field fight scenes may as well have been dungeons.

It was my favourite episode so far, because it was the first one which was actually fun, and whilst it had real eyeroller of a line (Karli's one about "the only language they understand", seemed out of character and cliched), it was otherwise extremely good, and wasn't "trying too hard" with the buddy-cop stuff with Sam and Bucky. More of Sharon and Zemo honestly!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

They could also just make an adaptation inspired by The Night Below, which doesn't have any Drow in it (that I know of).

Then again, it has duergar which are essentially "Drow but for Dwarves instead of Elves."

Duergar don't look like dwarves in blackface. They also don't have the weird/problematic elements (as far as I know) of "sexually adventurous women are eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil." (I don't think that's what Gygax or Greenwood intended, but they certainly developed that way over time.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It was my favourite episode so far, because it was the first one which was actually fun, and whilst it had real eyeroller of a line (Karli's one about "the only language they understand", seemed out of character and cliched), it was otherwise extremely good, and wasn't "trying too hard" with the buddy-cop stuff with Sam and Bucky. More of Sharon and Zemo honestly!

Zemo's mask bit confused me. It's what he wears in the comices, but I don't understand his apparent reverence for it in the MCU or why it appears so solid -- maybe there's tech inside?

 

[Dire Bare]

Zemo's mask bit confused me. It's what he wears in the comices, but I don't understand his apparent reverence for it in the MCU or why it appears so solid -- maybe there's tech inside?

We'll probably find out before the series ends.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Zemo's mask bit confused me. It's what he wears in the comices, but I don't understand his apparent reverence for it in the MCU or why it appears so solid -- maybe there's tech inside?

I think Dire Bare is right that we'll find out, but he made an off-hand remark about not knowing it was there when he found it, and that the cars were full of stuff from his relatives. So presumably it's his father's mask. Which would mean it probably didn't have any particularly special properties, but maybe would be good for menacing people.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

They could also just make an adaptation inspired by The Night Below, which doesn't have any Drow in it (that I know of).

Then again, it has duergar which are essentially "Drow but for Dwarves instead of Elves."

Actually, there are a couple of advantages to duergar over drow: not an evil matriarchy, never been black skinned, don't have angular (i.e. white) facial features.

And a major disadvantage: either need to cast short actors (see The Witcher) or have complicated or costly FX.

 

[Dragonsbane]

Underdark... the most overused setting, my gameworld doesn't even have an Underdark or Drow. What's next, a good aligned-drow hero? Maybe some other anti-tropes like a good tiefling or evil aasimar!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Underdark... the most overused setting,

How many TV shows can you name set in the Underdark?