David Farnor | On 06, Jul 2018

Castlevania will return for Season 2 this October, Netflix has confirmed.

The series, inspired by the classic videogame series, is a dark medieval fantasy following the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Vlad Dracula Tepes himself. In Season 2, Trevor Belmont, last survivor of his house, is no longer alone, and he and his misfit comrades race to find a way to save humanity from extinction at the hands of the grief-maddened Dracula and his sinister vampire war council.

Written by Warren Ellis, who exec-produces alongside Adi Shankar, Fred Seibert and Kevin Kolde, the anime was a hit for Netflix when it premiered at the start of 2018.

“Ultimately, Castlevania is a good romp that has been intelligently and lovingly produced by a cast and crew that seem to understand exactly what has made fans so passionate about the series in the first place,” we wrote in our review of Season 1. “Ellis’ writing captures the dark yet enticing world of Castlevania perfectly.”

Since then, the wait for the second batch of episodes has been long – but while it will be longer still, after a summer release date was initially teased by its creators, Netflix has now confirmed that Season 2 will return on Friday 26th October. Here’s the first image released from Season 2:

 

Castlevania Season 2 to release on Netflix this summer

24th January 2018

Castlevania will return to Netflix for Season 2 this summer.

The show, which is based on the classic video game series, is a dark medieval fantasy following the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Dracula himself. The animated series is from Frederator Studios, a Wow! Unlimited Media company, and written by best-selling author and comic book icon Warren Ellis.

The only downside about the series? It lasted for just four episodes. The show proved successful enough, though, that on the same day as its premiere, Netflix confirmed that it had expanded its order for a second part to include more episodes.

“Season 1, Part 1 is telling the story we originally showed up to tell 10 years [the project began as a feature film in 2007]. Part 2 is where I take more advantage of being on Netflix,” said Ellis.

Now, Ellis has announced that Part 2 will premiere this summer for eight more episodes.

“FAQ: people keep asking, so I guess word didn’t get around?” he asked. “We’re coming back this summer, for eight episodes, from Netflix.”

Watch this space for a confirmed Season 2 release date.

https://twitter.com/warrenellis/status/954460793814376448/photo/1

 

Netflix renews Castlevania for an expanded Season 2

8th July 2017

Netflix has renewed Castlevania for a second season, within hours of its premiere.

The show, which is based on the classic video game series, is a dark medieval fantasy following the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Dracula himself.

The animated series is from Frederator Studios, a Wow! Unlimited Media company, and written by best-selling author and comic book icon Warren Ellis. The show was announced earlier this year, with Netflix releasing a four-episode first season on Friday 7th July. The first four episodes were initially announced by Netflix as “Part 1” of a first season, with no word on when the second half would be released.

On the same day as their debut, though, the streaming giant confirmed that it has ordered additional episodes from exec producers Warren Ellis, Kevin Kolde, Fred Seibert and Adi Shankar.

“I keep thinking of it as two seasons,” Ellis said in an interview with Paste Magazine this week, “but it’s really just one, split into two unequal parts. I think we’re allowed to say that? So I’ve written what I think of as Season 2 already, which is where I move away from the source material somewhat, stretch my legs, and probably get a little eccentric in places. Season 1, Part 1 is telling the story we originally showed up to tell 10 years [the project began as a feature film in 2007]. Part 2 is where I take more advantage of being on Netflix.”

Deadline broke the news of the renewal, calling the next instalment a second season. Whether you think of it as Part 2 or Season 2, though, the one thing we know for certain is that we can expect even more Castlevania: the next run will consist of an expanded eight episodes.

Castlevania: Season 1 is available on Netflix UK, as part of an £9.99 monthly subscription.

 

 

Netflix’s Castlevania series gets trailer and July release date

25th May 2017

Almost as soon as it was first announced, we’ve got a surprise trailer for Netflix’s new Castlevania TV series.

Beginning with a delightfully retro sequence of what Netflix would have been like on a NES, the animated series takes us to the darkness-ridden land of the computer game franchise, a land in need of a hero – and a hero, judging by the title, in need of vengeance.

Part 1 of Castlevania will span four half-hour episodes, which will all be released on Friday 7th July. Here’s your first look at the man who killed Dracula in action:

 

Netflix, Adi Shankar and Warren Ellis are making a Castlevania TV series

10th February 2017

Netflix is making a Castlevania TV series.

Yes, the classic video game is heading to the small screen – and it’s being adapted by none other than Warren Ellis.

The animated show will premiere the first half of its first season later this year, the streaming giant announced at a press event earlier this week.

In 2017, the streaming service will deliver “the biggest and most diverse slate in Netflix history”, the company promised, with over 1,000 hours of original content on the way this year.

“We aren’t in the business of creating ‘one size fits all’ programming, or building slates to fill a finite number of hours of a programming grid,” said Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer at Netflix. “We’re catering to a dynamic world full of people with different tastes – and as a result, no two Netflix experiences are alike – we want to have something for everyone to enjoy.”

Something that Castlevania fans can enjoy was buried deep the press release that accompanied the event, but with no further details given other than “Castlevania Season 1, Part 1 coming to Netflix in 2017”.

Some detective work from Gizmodo highlighted some comments transcribed on Slashfilm from producer Adi Shankar (who made that unofficial Power Rangers short film in 2015), who told the Nick Animation podcast last year that he was working on a secret animation project.

“We have a project right now that we’re doing that needs to go unnamed, based on one of the most world-famous video games of the last 30 years, that we’ve had in our shop for 12 years without being able to get it started,” he said. “But there were great characters and a great story, and eventually we got it going.”

Canada’s Globe and Mail then reported that comic book legend Warren Ellis will be penning the adaptation of the Konami franchise. The newspaper added that it will be produced by Wow Unlimited Media, a new company launched by Michael Hirsh, a veteran of the animated scene, whose work ranges from a 10-minute cartoon commissioned by George Lucas several decades ago to such hit shows as Babar, Care Bears and Max & Ruby.

Hirsh, who is the CEO of Wow, told the paper that the company aims to break new ground by focusing on digital platforms, content and merchandising, rather than old-school TV screens and ratings. Wow owns Frederator, an online provider of animation films, as seen on YouTube and elsewhere.

Now, Shankar himself has confirmed the whole thing. He took to Facebook to issue a brief announcement:

“Castlevania is a Netflix Original Series with Season 1 launching in 2017 and Season 2 in 2018. Furthermore, I personally guarantee that it will end the streak and be the western world’s first good video game adaptation.”

So there you have it, folks: a Castlevania series is officially on the way to Netflix.

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