Shortly after the writers' strike came to an end, Netflix hosted their first-ever DROP 01 event and revealed the first official teasers for a number of upcoming animated projects, arguably none bigger than Legendary's Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, which will feature the fan-favorite Hayley Atwell (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One; Avengers: Endgame) as the voice of the storied heroine.
The anime series is based on the best-selling Tomb Raider action-adventure video game series, namely the acclaimed Square Enix reboot, which released three games from 2013 to 2018. While plot details for the new series are being kept under wraps, it will carry on the reboot continuity and is expected to pick up a short while after the events of 2018's Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Tasha Huo (The Witcher: Blood Origin) is attached as showrunner, with Legendary Entertainment and Crystal Dynamics co-producing, and Powerhouse Animation Studios providing the animation. Legendary was also behind Netflix's recent Skull Island animated series, which premiered this past June, and also featured a similar animation style from Powerhouse.
Lara Croft is undoubtedly one of gaming's most iconic female protagonists and has been portrayed in live-action previously by Academy Award-winning actresses Angelina Jolie (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider; Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life) and Alicia Vikander (Tomb Raider). Vikander was actually slated to reprise the role for a sequel, but that project was unfortunately canceled last year. A new live-action TV adaptation is now in the works at Amazon Prime Video, with 3x Primetime Emmy-winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Killing Eve; No Time to Die) reportedly penning the scripts.
Fellow English actress Camilla Luddington (Grey's Anatomy; Justice League Dark: Apokolips War) voiced Lara Croft in the Square Enix origin trilogy, which consisted of Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. While it's unclear why she wasn't asked to reprise the role for this sequel series, it's certainly an interesting prospect to have Atwell tackle the legendary part, especially after her scene-stealing performance in Paramount's action blockbuster Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One earlier this summer.
Netflix didn't announce a premiere date, but the streamer did confirm that Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft will arrive sometime in 2024.
Check out the first look teaser below:
A new, Netflix original series featuring the iconic rise of Lara Croft is officially in development. Coming soon, only on Netflix.