10 Facts on Fallout - The Prime Video series
Kimberley Sanson
10 Facts on Fallout - The Prime Video series
It's impossible to miss—Fallout is THE series of the moment. For those still hesitant to dive into this universe that has captivated players for nearly 30 years, here are 10 facts about Fallout, the Prime Video series!
What is the synopsis of the series?
Following a nuclear catastrophe that has wiped out most of the life on Earth, humans have been living in underground anti-nuclear shelters, known as Vaults, for almost 200 years. Lucy, a resident of Vault 33, must leave the safety of her home to find her father, who has disappeared into a drastically changed, more dangerous, and violent world due to the radiation left by the bombs.
But she won't be the only protagonist in the series. Maximus, a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, a paramilitary organization, must enforce order in this new world, while the Ghoul, a man disfigured by radiation who never had the chance to seek shelter, must survive among those who have never known the safety of the Vaults.
The Fallout series is inspired by a famous video game franchise
Fallout is a retro-futuristic RPG and action video game franchise of the Atompunk genre, blending the aesthetics of the 1950s with a post-apocalyptic twist. The first installment was released in 1997. Marketed as a "post-nuclear RPG" and originally produced by Black Isle Studios before being taken over by Bethesda, Fallout immerses players in a universe where the Cold War between China and the United States escalated into a Great Atomic War.
The basic storyline remains consistent: in the midst of this apocalypse, a company called Vault-Tec has designed anti-nuclear shelters capable of keeping survivors safe. Outside, however, nothing is the same, and the various heroes that players embody in different installments must fight against monsters born from radiation and humans transformed both physically and mentally by the bombs.
Most of the characters in the series are original
Unfamiliar with the video game universe that inspired the series? No problem! Although the series explores different characters' perspectives, many of them are not present in the original video game series. Lucy is a completely new protagonist. The entire family of the heroine, including the father she must find, are original characters.
Maximus also follows this trend and is not inspired by any previously known protagonist. The only character directly taken from the video game universe is Cooper Howard, also known as the Ghoul, who is mentioned several times in the latest game of the franchise: Fallout 76. Regarding the timeline, the series is set in the future compared to the already released games.
Tom Howard is open to adapting another major franchise
Tom Howard, the head of Bethesda Studios, which created Fallout and serves as the executive producer of the series, also holds the rights to another major franchise deserving of adaptation due to its dense and rich lore: The Elder Scrolls. Although he currently has no plans to replicate Fallout's success with another adaptation, he isn't closing the door on the idea.
If the adaptation were to happen in the future, Tom Howard assured IGN that it would be done with the same commitment to quality, emphasizing that he doesn't want to rush the process.
Famous creators gathered around the project
A remarkable array of talent surrounds the project! From Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, creators of Westworld, another futuristic western, to Geneva Robertson-Dworet, who worked on Captain Marvel, and Graham Wagner, known for series like The Office and Silicon Valley. That's not all, as Jonathan Nolan is also the screenwriter of The Dark Knight, The Prestige, and Interstellar, films directed by his brother Christopher Nolan.
The actors involved are also quite well-known: Ella Purnell has appeared in Tim Burton's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Netflix's Army of the Dead, Showtime's series Yellowjackets, and is also the American voice of Jinx in Netflix's Arcane series. Walton Goggins has been seen in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained and Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp.
The Last of Us influenced the production of Fallout
By deciding to take artistic liberties, The Last of Us allowed Fallout to receive the adaptation it deserves. At least, that's what Jonathan Nolan assured The Hollywood Reporter.
The Last of Us series indeed added a lot to the story compared to the original material. The game follows only the perspective of the hero, Joel, without delving much into other characters. The series provides real added value by exploring the backgrounds of several characters whose stories are barely touched upon in the game.
Before HBO's already iconic series, it was hard to imagine taking such liberties with an adaptation and allowing creators to make their own work without hesitation to deviate from the original when necessary. This gamble has paid off.
The unique aspect here is that while The Last of Us couldn't really stray from the narrative arc between Joel and Ellie, Fallout has an expansive enough universe to invent new stories and new heroes.
The team behind the production of the series is well-versed in the Fallout games, knowing that they are largely influenced by player choices and contain various side quests of varying importance, making them difficult to adapt into a series format without straying a bit from the original work.
The writers have thought this through carefully, right down to the series introduction with Lucy's exit from the Vault, a mandatory step for players in most Fallout games. For the other showrunners, Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner, it was important to start from a Vault, number 33, never seen in any of the previous games, to create a new mythology.
Fans are not forgotten, as the references and nods scattered throughout the series prove that the producers are also players and respect the original product as much as their creation. They even provide an origin story for the well-known mascot, Vault Boy, but to discover it, you'll have to watch the series!
The fight scene in episode 1 required 16 hours of filming
Actress Ella Purnell, who plays Lucy, shared this with Télé-Loisirs during the Canneseries festival. The fight scene, which sets the violent yet quirky tone of the series, took no less than 16 hours to shoot and left lasting memories for two actors: several days of muscle soreness for Ella Purnell and a stubborn pickle smell for Kyle MacLachlan, who plays Lucy's father, Hank.
Games from the franchise offered for the series launch
To celebrate the series launch, Steam is offering the game Fallout 76 for free for a limited time, until April 18. On Amazon Prime, two games will be completely free during April with a subscription: Fallout 76 and Fallout Tactics!
If you haven't yet had the chance to try the different installments of the franchise, keep an eye on the free games from Epic Games. Several of them have been offered over the past few years and might come back: Fallout 1, 2, 3, Fallout Tactics, and Fallout New Vegas.
The games have certainly benefited from the series' success. Fallout 4 has become one of the most played titles on Steam in the past 30 days. The same goes for Fallout New Vegas and Fallout 76, which have also seen a significant increase in their number of players.
Buoyed by positive reviews, Fallout will have a second season!
Thanks to the positive reviews received at its release from both viewers and the press, the series could benefit from a second season, which might not reprise the same elements as the first.
Could it introduce other stories and protagonists and, like American Horror Story, become an anthology series where each season dives into completely different narratives? This is the idea teased by the producers to TechRadar.
To relocate its second season to California, Amazon will receive $25 million in tax credits from the state. According to Variety, the series' budget already amounts to $153 million, explaining the company's application for this tax credit to reduce the budget of its future productions.
This isn't the only video game adaptation to find its audience
Fallout isn’t the only production based on a video game making headlines. In terms of series, Arcane, Castlevania, Halo, and The Last of Us, along with movies like Detective Pikachu, Uncharted, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Gran Turismo, Warcraft, Sonic, and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves have also enjoyed considerable success with the public.
The future looks bright for fans of video games and cinema, as the reverse is also true. There are countless superhero universes and cult films and series now being adapted into video games.
Several adaptations are already in the works: Horizon Zero Dawn will be adapted into a series on Netflix, God of War is set to become an Amazon Prime Video series, The Sims will be adapted into a film produced by actress Margot Robbie, Minecraft will have its own film in 2025, an Assassin’s Creed series is expected to be released on Netflix, and the animated Tomb Raider series, scheduled for release in 2024, will also be on Netflix.
For upcoming releases, you can look forward to the Borderlands movie in theaters on August 7, 2024, ARK: The Animated Series on March 21, 2024, on Paramount+, and the Knuckles series from the Sonic universe on April 26, 2024, also on Paramount+.
The Fallout series is now fully available
Yes, there’s no need to wait for a new episode each week. In addition to having its release date moved up by several days, all eight episodes of the season are already available! Perfect for binge-watching without moderation, but be mindful of your screen time.
You now know more about Fallout the Prime Video series, thanks tothese 10 facts about. We hope this inspires you to explore this creative and wacky universe, which undoubtedly has many great years ahead of it.
(Originally written and published in French)
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Posted Mar 24, 2025
10 facts about Fallout, the latest Prime Video series!
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