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| Tom Hardy is The Pirate in HBO's new Eve series! |
It reminds me of Comic Book culture back in the late '80s and early '90s. Every convention I would attend, the same refrains would be heard from fans. When will someone "get it right?" When will Hollywood understand why we all love comics so much and translate that on screen? As we've all seen over the past decade, when it finally started happening, it took the world by storm. And continues to do so. Finally.
Eve will never be as big as the DC and Marvel Cinematic Universes, but I do strongly believe that great films or television series are possible based within this universe. Like everyone, I enjoy my Star Wars and Star Trek films, but I also realize how both of those franchises have stifled creativity for other potential science-fiction films with spaceships in them. If it wasn't Star Wars of Star Trek, it wasn't getting made. This choke-hold has been around our throats for decades. Think about how sad that is. The universe is big enough for more.
There is one thing we will all have to give up about Eve if it is to make the transition to the screen. I've debated this issue in the past in these pages, but for Eve to work on film the idea of the Capsuleer piloting his ship from INSIDE the goo of a pod will have to change. That idea will have to change to something I proposed years ago. The Pod becomes the Captain's chair essentially, and the small crew has time to also escape. From a story perspective this little alteration of the lore will be essential. In fact, I would argue, that it should be adopted as gospel in-game as well. But I know I'll get a ton of push back on that idea.
In my dream series Blood of the Empires I would take a character from each of the four Empires, each involved in a seemingly different storyline, and use them as the main character threads thru which the complexity of the universe and its rich history are revealed. I would try to keep those initial entrance stories as simple and human as possible, slowly revealing the larger themes over the course of the series. Eve is so rich, it would be amazing to work in and thread thru as many connections to that history as possible. But important to not let such richness destroy the essential elements needed to tell a great and compelling story.
I would create a completely new and original story not based on any specific player created storyline. Player created stories would certainly play a role in the development, serving as inspiration and the jumping off point for various plot and story threads. But the series should be totally original. The reason for that is simple and based completely around foreknowledge. Something the audience doesn't have but that us players have in droves. It is tricky, but it can be done. Eve stories tend to be about spaceships and not always about people.
All of which is pointless. The Eve TV series is over at Scott Free Productions and looking for investors to pull together a pilot. It is already out of our hands. Whatever becomes of it, if anything, will be what it will be. Based on the Halo series they produced, my hopes are not all that high. But, as always, I will hope for the best.
Like all of us, I want it to be amazing. Please be amazing.