Tomb Raider Netflix showrunner echoes Crystal Dynamics’ frustrating mistakes with Lara Croft

Tomb Raider is one of the most iconic video game properties with Lara Croft one of the most famous video game characters of all time. She’s been around for nearly 25-years, and she has changed a considerable amount with every console generation. We are building up to the release of a new game, and there will be a Tomb Raider Netflix anime series very soon. Unfortunately, fans of classic Lara Croft may be trepidatious about the upcoming Netflix series as the showrunner has echoed the same mistakes Crystal Dynamics made with the Survivor trilogy.

The release date for the Tomb Raider Netflix series is October 10th. The idea of the series is to bridge the gap showing Survivor Lara Croft transition into the famous British heroine everyone loved in the 90s. This is because the next video game is a unification of all Tomb Raider timelines with the survivor trilogy established as the default canon.

Leaks suggest the new game is open-world, and a new Tomb Raider RPG has shown more of unified Lara Croft following her appearances in Call of Duty, Magic The Gathering, and many other popular franchises. The idea of a unified Lara Croft is already divisive, and there is legitimate concern that Crystal Dynamics and current media is never going to recapture the badass action hero that once took over the world.

Tomb Raider Netflix showrunner echoes Crystal Dynamics mistakes with Lara Croft

In an interview with IGN, the Tomb Raider Netflix anime series showrunner, Tasha Huo, discussed how the show is going to portray Lara Croft.

Responding to a question about the series’ nearly 25-years worth of influence, Tasha Huo said, “We were coming from the Survivor series, so you had to honor who [Lara Croft] was… but move her into the person she was in the games where we all started playing – those early 90s games where she’s just a very different person”.

The above is good to hear. After three whole games, fans are desperate for Crystal Dynamics to makegood on their promise of Lara Croft finally becoming the Tomb Raider. It’s also good to hear that Netflix has decided to “work in more humor,” something sorely lacking from the Survivor trilogy’s constant whining, and doom and gloom storytelling.

Unfortunately, Tasha Huo’s further elaboration isn’t as promising. Asked about creative liberties for re-imagining the character, the showrunner said, “I really want to capture the Lara that, as a little girl, I really fell in love with, which was someone who takes no s**t, who really stands up for her herself in every scenario against any villain – man, woman, doesn’t matter”.

The above reply is good, but then Huo said, “I also wanted to know more about her relationships… how does this woman, who is this incredible badass and who can accomplish so much alone, how does she relate to people? How does she form friendships?”.

Huo further elaborated, “I think it was fun to be able to have one scene where she does an incredible feat of strength or agility or what have you – the Lara thing – and then another scene where she’s hugging a friend and is emotional with them. I think that’s something we desperately definitely wanted to explore in term’s of womanhood”.

This reply is frustrating as it’s simply more of the lame, emotional portrayal of Lara seen in the Survivor trilogy. She’s already spent three massive games performing “an incredible feat of strength” to “hugging a friend and is emotional with them”. There is simply no desire to see anymore of this Lara as Crystal Dynamics has promised the return of the Tomb Raider for over a decade, and that iconic action hero wasn’t a snivelling, complex, and reluctant hero with daddy issues needing emotional support from friends.

In the interview, Huo said “it doesn’t have to make her vulnerable because she loves other people,” implying Netflix will still portray her as an “incredible badass” even through moments of vulnerability with friends. However, while true, this is just more of the mistakes Crystal Dynamics made with the Survivor trilogy.

With the Survivor trilogy, Crystal Dynamics rewrote Lara Croft into an emotional mess in an effort to make her more relatable and complex. However, this was far less interesting, and was also way less inspiring than the larger-than-life action hero of the 90s who was strong through actions rather than words. Lara Croft of the 90s was someone people idolized and wanted to become, whereas Survivor trilogy Lara is a bore people can relate to but nothing more.

Fans want to see the Lara that chased after treasure and the thrill of adventure because it was her love and passion. Friends and relationships have gotten in the way, and it unfortunately seems like that is going to continue in the Netflix series, as well as most likely the new game from Crystal Dynamics.

The urge for a new game is massive, but at the same time it comes with concern about how Crystal Dynamics will further strip Lara Croft of everything that made her so beloved as the Tomb Raider. Hopefully the Netflix series turns out to be good, but, judging by the showrunner’s comments, fans of classic Lara Croft will simply be treated to more underwhelming slop already seen from Crystal Dynamics since 2013.

In other gaming news, a leak suggests there will be a PlayStation State of Play in September 2024.