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"

 

[Dire Bare]

I'll add, Warhammer also has their version of Dark Elves, that are very similar to Drow in being "Evil" and "Weirdly sexual" but differ in one noticeable way; they're pale, not dark-skinned.

They have avoided any large-scale criticism (as far as I've seen), even though they were revived in the popular Total War: Warhammer game, and are sort-of rebooted in Age of Sigmar. It really goes to show that folks don't really have so much of a problem with a fictional race having an evil culture, but they do have a problem with it when there is a physical distinction that connects it to a real-life minority. IE: dark-skinned drow is very problematic, pale-skinned drow not very controversial.

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Any fantasy or sci-fi "race" that is biologically or culturally always evil (or always something else) is poor world design and perpetuates problematic ideas about race in the real world. IMO, of course.

But you're right, the general public doesn't seem to worry too much about it unless it's too on-the-nose, like being dark-skinned as a signifier of evil. And it's a common trope in all sorts of fantasy and sci-fi literature.

However, it's easy to notice, that in many fictional properties that have a long history of development (D&D, Warhammer, Star Trek, etc) that traditionally evil or antagonistic races ("bad guys") get more nuanced as the property is expanded over the years. I used to refer to this personally as the "Klingon Effect". Stereotypical bad guys evolving into more fully developed and nuanced races capable of all sorts of behavior. It seems that folks appreciate fully fleshed out characters, and quickly move beyond more slim portrayals.

 

[MarkB]

It's an interesting point. On the one hand, hobbits look almost entirely human: just a bit of ear prosthetics (whose edges are cleverly hidden by carefully-placed wisps of hair, which I find incredibly distracting btw), and some prosthetic feet which again are conveniently not focused on. So as far as having main characters be as relatable as possible, hobbits are basically humans.

Yep - and the same can be done with the majority of the PHB races. We may not get our first Tiefling or Dragonborn protagonist, but there'd be no problem going with an elf, half-elf, halfling or dwarf.

 

[Scott Christian]

I'll add, Warhammer also has their version of Dark Elves, that are very similar to Drow in being "Evil" and "Weirdly sexual" but differ in one noticeable way; they're pale, not dark-skinned.

They have avoided any large-scale criticism (as far as I've seen), even though they were revived in the popular Total War: Warhammer game, and are sort-of rebooted in Age of Sigmar. It really goes to show that folks don't really have so much of a problem with a fictional race having an evil culture, but they do have a problem with it when there is a physical distinction that connects it to a real-life minority. IE: dark-skinned drow is very problematic, pale-skinned drow not very controversial.

I guess that is true. Both elves in Hellboy and Thor were pale skinned, which if you live underground, makes more sense.

 

[Stormonu]

Strange what things people fixate on sometimes. No one seems to bat an eye about red-skinned tieflings, for example.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

I guess that is true. Both elves in Hellboy and Thor were pale skinned, which if you live underground, makes more sense.

A lot of racial things in D&D don't make sense. Dwarves in Dark Sun for example do not have beards (the explanation being their too hot), but in reality beards provide great sun protection and help hold moisture around the face.

Strange what things people fixate on sometimes. No one seems to bat an eye about red-skinned tieflings, for example.

It is a lot harder to draw a connection between tieflings on a real-world race, compared to the elf split. High Elves are usually described as fair-skinned and having slender athletic body-type, essentially the Legolas "Anglo-Saxon Ideal" look. Obviously the "all the elves who turned to evil have much darker-skin" is going to raise a lot of concerns.

 

[ART!]

Yep - and the same can be done with the majority of the PHB races. We may not get our first Tiefling or Dragonborn protagonist, but there'd be no problem going with an elf, half-elf, halfling or dwarf.

They could even get away with (a version of) tieflings, really - all you need is some horns, some skin coloring, and a tail.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Just a mention, the elves in Hellboy 2 are just elves, not dark elves.

Also a mention, the adjective "elfin": (of a person or their face) small and delicate, typically with a mischievous charm, is a lot older than D&D/Tolkien, going back to 1590 (Spencer's Faerie Queen). The point being, even without D&D, the common idea of elves is kind of "white" in terms of facial features.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I'd still rather just see the WildSpace TV show actually get made.


If nothing else it would avoid a bunch of tedious think-pieces about Drow and racism.

 

[hopeless]

And here I was imagining a society based around Corellon's infidelty that caused one of his wives to make a deal with Grumsh to get revenge for his playing around.
However Grumsh got his eye put out and the combination of her helping an elf's traditional foe along with Grumsh being unhappy with losing an eye got her banished into the Abyss!
Making deals to survive she emerged due to retaining control over those of her people who turned away from Corellon when they learned why she did whats she did.
I can't help picturing a matriarchal led society that's been slowly altered over the countless years they've been forced to remain in hiding and the resulting innate cruelty originating from that original event.
I'd probably leave that image of the bondage and other stuff as a mere rumour making them able to hide in plain sight as everyone assumes they're some kind of albino elf due to their enforced stay underground.

Would be hilarious if they go the opposite direction and make this about them trying to defend themselves from Grumsh followers and fanatical Corellon worshippers who haven't let go of their hate whilst only a small portion of drow society still holds any enmity in return!

 

[Stormonu]

I'd still rather just see the WildSpace TV show actually get made.


If nothing else it would avoid a bunch of tedious think-pieces about Drow and racism.

I think that may be the Ed Wood version of the Marvel EU universe...