Prime Video’s upcomingFalloutseries is the first true attempt to adapt the iconic, post-apocalyptic world into a live-action narrative. Set 200 years into an alternate future, nuclear war between the United States and China has left the globe decimated, with the unfortunate survivors left to pick up the pieces as dozens of militaristic, religious, and communal factions vie for power and authority to rebuild civilization.
The first teaser for the series highlights the tremendous work that has gone into bringingeverything fans wantedto the franchise, like the full-size power armor suits and the Vault-Tec vaults. However, in a blink-and-you-’ll-miss-it moment, the series producers have gone above and beyond simply bringing the world ofFalloutto life and have created a solution for a long-running and hilarious issue that long-time players have had with the games.
Prime Video’s Fallout Introduces the First Vault-Tec Backpack
Whether you enjoy losing yourself in the role-playing elements or you prefer suiting up in power armor and wielding a Fat Man across the Wasteland, there’s one thing all players love to gather throughout their various journeys intheFalloutseries… loot. Even 200 years after the bombs dropped in the year 2077, the wastelands of America are still rich with pre-war weaponry, armor, and collectibles for players to fill their pockets with. However, without the help of fan-made mods, the character models and the hundreds of pieces of clothing found across the Wasteland don’t actually give players anything to hold their loot in.
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Prime Video’s upcoming Fallout series won’t be based on any of the games, sparking concern over the direction it may go in.
TheFalloutseriesuses the classic, suspension-of-disbelief-breaking video game characteristic of players hiding all their items in an invisible pocket behind their backs, much like in classic cartoons likeLooney TunesandScooby-Doo. This is fine for a game as, when you have giant irradiated monsters hunting you, how your character is holding their seven miniguns is a minor problem. But for the live-action series, the design choice posed a hilarious problem for the producers, which they directly fixed.
Not content with letting fans fix the issue with mods after the show’s release, Prime Video’sFalloutis the first property in the franchise to showcase backpacks in the Wasteland. While they’re certainly not large enough to carry multiple pieces of power armor without issue like thevideo gameprotagonists can, this minor in-joke for long-time fans of the franchise is one of a multitude of examples of the producers conveying their understanding of the franchise and shows promise for the final product.
The bag is shown being worn by Ella Purnell’s Lucy as she leaves her vault to explore the world above ground. A small detail fans may have noticed is the Vault-Tec logo embroidered on the back of the bag. To fans of the franchise, the deceptively sinister company is responsible for producing hundreds of vaults across America in the build-up to the nuclear war with China that destroyed civilization in the year 2077. Much like the company found in the games, the teaser trailer also suggests there is a lot more to the ‘national defense’ corporation than what the vault dwellers know.
The Fallout Trailer Perfectly Captures the Tone of the Game
As previously mentioned, the minor detail of backpacks conveys the producers' intimate understanding of the source games. This understanding is also expertly presented through the tone of the first trailer.
Starting as a dark andbleak post-apocalypticstory – much in the same vain asMad MaxorThe Book of Eli– the trailer opens with Ella Purnell’s character exiting the underground vault and beginning to explore the irradiated landscape, with exclusively drab cinematography. However, as Nat King Cole’s ‘I Don’t Want to See Tomorrow’ plays over the trailer, the trailer takes a turn for the darkly bizarre. The best way to describe the tone of theFalloutfranchise is as a dark comedy, where every tear-jerking moment is underpinned with an element of bitter cynicism and humor.
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The trailer takes the same approach, with every blood-soaked shot of action (like a person being ripped from a power armor suit by an irradiated bear) being immediately juxtaposed by a German shepherd smiling at its owner with a severed hand in its mouth, all set against Nat King Cole’s beautiful love song. Even without this comedic contrast, the disparity between the intensely gory action shots – like Walton Goggins’s character exploding heads with his revolver – and Cole’s classic perfectly summarize the tone of the entire franchise.
Prime Video’sFallouthas the hopes of franchise fans in the palm of its hands, with excitement for the show being justifiably mixed with anxiety. The video game curse, while not as prevalent after the release ofThe Last of UsandCastlevania, still exists and has been weighing in the minds of theFalloutfanbase since the series was announced in July 2020. However, the response to the first teaser trailer has been overwhelmingly positive, with the majority of fans agreeing that the trailer truly feels like aFalloutgame brought to life.
