Despite being in the works for a number of years now, almost every aspect of Amazon's upcoming live-action adaptation of the Mass Effect games has been a mystery to eager fans. Finally, the game series' executive producer, Mike Gamble, has given us all something to get super excited about. As an added bonus, the news has calmed countless nerves.
Gamble posted a BioWare blog to mark N7 day, which celebrates the franchise every November 7. The occasion often means the studio releasing a teaser or some sort of detail about an upcoming project. Although Mass Effect 4 is on the way, it was key information about the TV show that caught everyone's eye this year.
"We've got a lot figured out about how it fits within the Mass Effect canon," Gamble wrote, as he explained where the show will sit "in respect to the new game." As it turns out, the Amazon/BioWare collaboration will revolve around a new story set after the original Mass Effect game trilogy, rather than being a retelling of Commander Shepherd's story.
BioWare's Mass Effect TV show news leaves a vital question unanswered
Gamble's comments about the relationship between the Mass Effect show and the games seem to imply that it'll all be part of the same, shared continuity. This may sound unusual to some, but Amazon has already done this with the Fallout franchise, and the decision resulted in great success. However, there is still a lot of room for ambiguity in Gamble's statement.
All we can really discern with any clarity is that the show won't canonize a specific version of the Mass Effect trilogy's incredibly customizable storyline. There was some concern that Amazon would opt to do this, given how many twists and turns the source material can take and how impossible that would be to adapt for the small screen. Every player has their own version of what the Mass Effect storyline is, and it's great to see that the Amazon show is respecting that.
So, the decision to pen an original Mass Effect storyline makes perfect sense, and it's even more logical to set the show after the events of the original trilogy. What Gamble doesn't solidly confirm is whether or not the live-action project will be part of the games' timeline, or whether it'll be set in a new version of the Mass Effect universe that uses all the same lore, but doesn't actually belong within the same canon as the source material.
That said, a shared continuity across the board does sound like what Gamble and company are aiming to achieve. 2017's Mass Effect: Andromeda game proves that it is possible to make a canonical sequel to a complex storyline with no cemented version of events, so we already know that it's an achievable task. That said, Mass Effect 4 also needs to be factored into those plans, so there is surely a long way to go before everything is nailed down.
A shared Mass Effect universe between the games and show would be tricky, but worth it
A huge reason for Mass Effect's success so far is how well the characters are written, despite how malleable their paths are throughout the series. By confirming that Shepherd won't be the Amazon show's protagonist, Gamble is also implying that none of the other characters will show up either. Some of them die in certain playthroughs, so showing them alive in a canonical project set after the trilogy's conclusion could break the illusion for countless fans.
So, the only option that Amazon is left with is to create new characters who are just as beloved as their franchise predecessors. While Andromeda proved Mass Effect sequels could be made, it also proved that introducing new characters like this isn't a guaranteed home run. There are a few good characters in the 2017 effort, but most of the best franchise icons are contained within the trilogy.
The challenges ahead for Amazon and BioWare include this character problem, but there are other issues too. The biggest obstacle is making a show that's not just entertaining and worthy of flying the Mass Effect flag, but also one that can exist while accepting all possible outcomes of the games that have preceded it. I'm not saying it's impossible, though. In fact, it's probably why the first live-action Mass Effect project is taking so long.