The Wheel of Time boss wants the effects to be as practical as possible

The Wheel of Time novels have been beloved among fantasy fans for decades, but it’s only now that they’re getting a proper screen adaptation courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

The Wheel of Time defines the term “epic fantasy.” This thing is sprawling. The characters travel all over the map, visiting a wide variety of disparate civilizations. There are sorceresses who weave the One Power to their will, eyeless demons called Myrddraal, and many resplendent fantasy cityscapes.

With all of that, you know that the show will involve a lot of special effects, but showrunner Rafe Judkins wants to keep things practical where he can. “Right from the beginning, I was like, ‘I don’t want those big hawk-flying-over-the-CGI-city shots,” he told Empire magazine for its October 2021 issue. “I wanted to see the world from the eyes of our characters. The books created a realistic geopolitical world, and defined a lot of fantasy literature that followed. So we make sure that a person looks like they come from somewhere real.”

That sounds great, although I have to point out that there’s at least one birds-eye-view shot of a CGI cityscape in the recently released trailer — check at 0:27 for a vision of Tar Valon:

But that’s to be expected. Likewise, CGI will also be used when the Aes Sedai sorceresses wield the One Power. “Yeah, you will see it,” Judkins said. “The magic system in The Wheel of Time is so special; we had to show that to the audience.”

And the Myrddraal, which were brought to life with prosthetics and touched up with CGI later, really do look fantastic; you can see them at 1:38. “Those are unbelievably horrifying,” Judkins said. “I think we’ve done our job with them.”

The Wheel of Time showrunner has plans for at least seven seasons

The first season of The Wheel of Time premieres in just a few months, but it’s going to take more than one season to adapt a 14-book strong series. Amazon has already renewed the show for a second season, but Judkins has plans for at least five more after that. “Coming into something like this, there are certain decisions you have to make in the first and second season to set up for long-term success,” he said. “We’re always thinking about that, right from the beginning.”

The Wheel of Time premieres on Amazon Prime Video on November 19.

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h/t SyFy Wire