Castlevania had to Change Trevor’s Design in Many Ways as They Did Not Want to Make “A Channing Tatum movie”
Although Adi Shankar is well-known for producing a wide range of films, including 2012’s Dredd and 2011’s The Grey, his reputation in the popular gaming world was formally cemented with his showrunning role on Netflix’s Castlevania adaption.
The so-called “video game adaptation curse” was still very much in effect when that anime debuted in 2017—before Arcane, HBO’s The Last of Us, or even Pokemon: Detective Pikachu—but Shankar defied the odds.
Adi Shankar’s statement that he created Castlevania “for the fans” seemed troubling at first. That is, after all, the response that frustrated studio directors give when their summer hit is criticized for being a poor film.
However, considering that Castlevania is based on a video game series, it was mostly a hit with both critics and fans of the game. Furthermore, Shankar clarified that his interpretation of “for the fans” differed greatly from that of certain other filmmakers.
Adi Shankar Talks About Trevor Belmont’s Outfit In Castlevania
Shankar knew very well that one of the criticisms leveled even by supporters about Castlevania‘s brief four-episode first season was that it concludes a little too quickly, gathering the main cast together and serving more as an introduction than a whole story. In the released episodes, Trevor Belmont, the main character, doesn’t even go close to encountering Dracula.
Shankar essentially asked viewers to trust him. He said that to him it was like a multi-year plan and building a larger narrative. The first step in implementing that plan was presenting the ensemble of people, which includes the unexpectedly sympathetic antagonist Count Dracula, who is wreaking havoc throughout Wallachia.
The protagonist, Trevor Belmont, straddles a thin line between black and white, landing him promptly in the gray area just like the antagonists. Trevor is more than the rough, overly muscular beefcake that whipped Dracula in the original game art. Shankar said Trevor wears a shirt instead of a Conan-like outfit in the show because:
You’ve got Alucard without a shirt, and it’s like, where do we draw the line? Does every dude just have a six-pack and no shirt? Is this now a Channing Tatum movie?
The show’s Trevor is worn out, a touch rusty, and not particularly motivated to heed the hero’s call to action. In addition, he has a remarkably dry sense of humor that keeps things lighthearted despite the gore. Shankar attributes the tough character’s likeability to writer Warren Ellis’s signature grim humor and Richard Armitage’s resolutely non-mopey voice acting.
How Castlevania Captures The Game’s Essence While Retaining Its Own Character
Castlevania debuted on Netflix on July 7th, 2017 and like the games the series is based on, the show follows the Belmont family as they battle Dracula and the forces of evil over several generations. Trevor Belmont, the last of his line, is the focus of the animated series.
The series is violent and action-packed, and fans can see the vibrantly obscene vocabulary that character creator and comics legend Warren Ellis is known for.
The Castlevania series on Netflix is different from the video games in a few ways. The most significant change is that it has gone from being a rather lighthearted, pulpy take on gothic horror to being far more gory, with blood and gore akin to that of Game of Thrones.
But unlike most prior adaptations, the show also successfully conveys the spirit of the games. It builds upon elements that are less central to the games, such as the people and story, while maintaining the portions that work effectively, such as the intricate, rich history and the gothic sense of style.
You can watch Castlevania on Netflix.
