8 stories from Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere we need adapted onscreen

Mistborn: Wax & Wayne

Next up, let’s get into one of Sanderson’s longest-running and most popular series: Mistborn. As of this writing, there are two main sequences of books in the series: the original trilogy, and the Wax & Wayne quartet, often referred to as “Era Two” since it takes place centuries after the original novels.

Of the two sequences, the original Mistborn trilogy is a better candidate for adaptation, so let’s talk about Wax & Wayne first. Wax & Wayne follows lawmen Waxillium Ladrian and his partner Wayne as they attempt to keep the peace in the face of criminals, conspiracies, and even cosmic forces from the larger Cosmere. Compared to much of Sanderson’s work, the Way & Wayne books are snappier, less dense reads. They also have a strong comedic streak thanks to Wayne’s antics.

One of the things that makes Wax & Wayne so interesting is how Sanderson evolves the world of Scadriel. In the original trilogy, it’s a post-apocalyptic fantasy world. But by the time of Wax & Wayne, it’s moving into a steampunk western era. That allows for very different kinds of storylines.

But at the end of the day, it’s very hard to think of a reason why Wax & Wayne should get adapted before the original trilogy. I don’t even know that you could adapt it first, since it’s built on the mythology established by the preceding series. So as fun as they are, Wax & Wayne definitely shouldn’t be adapted until some of Sanderson’s other stories find their way to the screen, especially when you consider that the final volume, The Lost Metal, has some major ties to other Cosmere stories.