Side quest/story lines only included if related to the main story
Each episode is at least 1 hour, pilot being 2 hours.
How many seasons/episodes would Warcraft the series be? Would it be rated PG-13 or fully explore the realities of war in this universe, perhaps like Game of Thrones, The Witcher, etc…? Who could produce and direct it? Would the general audience be able to follow the story lines? What locations would it be filmed assuming it is not all CGI? Who would be ideal cast members to fill specific roles? Could the lore be translated into a screenplay, meaning there is a full set of books that a screen writer could utilize?
It think it would be best if it was animated or atleast not really copying what Witcher and Game of Thrones is and it should be it’s own thing.
If there was a Warcraft Lore Series it would have to seriously start with Season 1 of Warcraft 1, following Warcraft 2 of the Season 2, Season 3 would be Beyond the Dark Portal, Season 4 Warcraft 3, and so on.
War of the Ancients, War of the Trolls, War of Night Elves and Trolls, Fall of Argus … No? They will be side stories (spin-off?)
Elemental enslavement? Ordering Azeroth?
I think it could be almost like an anthology series, with a core crew that tells the tales.
A good example would be the old Nickelodeon show : Are You Afraid of the Dark
That would be my template. Various tales told by a few folk who may or may not be intriguing themselves.
It could have, say, 5 or 6 steady members, and guest appearances, telling tales and short stories. They could range from Y for Youth, to X for Fun. I mean, the lore of Warcraft ranges from Lili Stormstout, to the origins of Helya and Garona. We have political intrigue, and we have full blown warfare.
Season 1: War of the Ancients
Season 2: Council of Tirisfal and Aegwynn/Sargeras saga
First spin off (and direct prequel to Season 3): Medivh: Early life, Karazhan and the Opening of the Dark Portal
Season 3: First and Second War (tbh First War is boring and better get it over and done with in a two-fer season)
Season 4: Third War
Second spin off mini series: Acherus and the Battle for Light’s Hope Chapel
Season 5: War against the Lich King
Season 6: Third Invasion of the Burning Legion
Season 7: The Fourth War
The model I would take is not GoT or The Witcher, but The Clone Wars.
I’d like it to have these features:
Animated—play to the strengths of the source material! Plus, you could keep the original voice cast
More but shorter episodes
Follow several different sets of characters in short arcs, showing multiple perspectives on larger events
PG-rated in terms of gore, but unafraid to tackle serious ideas
I’d also like it to be unafraid to diverge from the games at key points when it makes the story stronger. For example, neither Jaina nor Sylvanas were present at the defeat of Arthas, despite their rich personal histories with him. I’d like the TV show to put them both there.
More than anything else, I think it’s important for one person to be the “Dave Filoni,” serving as the final word on continuity and tone.
So you’d skip Cata and MoP completely, going straight from WotLK to Legion? Would the Third Invasion be broadly like Legion, or would it be a new storyline with some features borrowed from Legion?
Part of me hopes they’d just ditch the Fourth War. Another part of me thinks it might be a chance to clean it up and make it something actually interesting.
You wouldn’t want to have too many seasons, and broadly speaking I’d say Cata and MOP aren’t as “”“iconic”"" (or TBH as interesting comparatively to put on the big screen, despite it literally killing me to screw the mantid out of screen time).
I’d say the first episode would cover the inbetween from WOTLK>Legion, including the immediate happenings before Legion starts.
Fourth War would be absolutely excellent to watch, honestly. I’d say BFA’s story, viewed as a whole without prior context, isn’t too bad. It’s just awful because we were subjected to it in real time.
Ep 1: War of the Thorns + Battle for Lordaeron
Ep 2: Both factions’ intro to Zandalar/Kul Tiras
Ep 3: Both faction’s 8.0 War Campaign
Ep 4: Battle for Daza’alor (god what an ep this would be)
Ep 5: Kul Tirans and Zandalari joining the factions; Crucible of Storms
Ep 6: Nazjatar, focus on Thalyssra and Shandris’ stories; the Azshara Warbringers
Ep 7: The Eternal Palace and aftermath thereof
Ep 8: Ny’alotha
Ideally, if I were to make a Warcraft TV series, I would have it be a TV-MA rated series with each season having 16 one-hour long episodes. By movie standards, it would be equivalent to a PG-13 except for occasional gory R rated moments that would highlight the danger of the situations that are occurring. Each season would represent a separate game/expansion addition. Warcraft 1, 2, and 3 would have their first episodes be prologues that set the stage for the season, with the beginning, middle, and ends of the games being represented in 5 episodes. The expansions of WoW would have an even number of episodes that represent each patch for their seasons, with TBC and MoP having 4 episodes represent their .0 patches since they had four patches, and WoD having 8 episodes for 6.0 and 6.2; Classic would also have 8 episodes that show the questlines involved in leveling, with the other 8 episodes representing the patches.
If it were ~20 min stand alone episodes, where you followed along on someone’s “Quests” similar to the Terror of Darkshore cinematic…
You’d have a solid 6 seasons.
Stand alone mini episodes, much like Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots.
If it was going to be consistent, much like Game of Thrones, it would only last amount 4 seasons before people began to lose interest.
So much happens within WoW, that there wouldn’t be enough time to introduce each character. You’d have about 4-5 seconds of screen time for Lor’themar, for example. Not to say he is a dominate character, but he’d be easily glossed over and it would just feel like things are jumping around too much.
If you want a traditional series, you’d need to focus on one period of time and not try to tell the entire history of Warcraft. Unless you’re goal is just a visual chronicles, the key to a tv series is following select characters around through their growth and journey. Leaping to different time periods and entirely unconnected characters is a fast track to losing viewer interest.
