Arcane has already cemented itself as far more than your usual video game adaptation, with the animated original becoming a huge success for Netflix and Riot Games. By rolling its episodes out through a series of ongoing acts, the story of Vi and Jinx has already attracted a huge audience of passionate fans invested in where this origin story is going.
Unlike countless movies and shows we’ve seen in the past inspired by video games, it doesn’t bastardise the source material or translate it for general audiences so all of the core appeal is lost. It understands that the universe of League of Legends means so much more than that, especially when it decides to focus on specific locations and characters in such an intimate way. Some elements of wider League lore are never mentioned, and that’s fine.
Nothing about Arcane feels out of place - all of its individual arcs helping to build an overarching story that is bound for inevitable tragedy. The opening act alone journeys forth at a blistering pace, introducing the plight of our lead characters while piecing together a world that will slowly but surely be expanded upon in the weeks to come.
Vi is an excellent heroine, wracked by trauma and defined by a drive to be better than society deems her to be. Her life should be bound to the undercity, but she wants to rise above that and provide a better life for her family. Powder’s inevitable growth into Jinx is hard to watch, knowing that Vi failed to create a world where her younger sister could be free from corruption, allowing the magic that is slowly tricking into this society to change her forever. She wasn’t there when she needed to be, and that fact will haunt her.
She fails, and there’s a beauty in following a lead character who must face her mistakes, even if it means shedding the blood of the only family she has. One day everything goes wrong and they aren’t kids anymore, they’re freedom fighters representing a cause that itself isn’t even clear, but it’s the greater good, and that’s all the motivation they need to move forward. Unlike so many other adaptations, it isn’t relying on familiar themes and imagery to draw in hardcore fans alongside the mainstream, it’s confidently doing its own thing, drawing newcomers into this universe with a dripfeed of precious lore without overwhelming them. As someone who adores the world of League but despises the game, this feels like the perfect compromise. I don’t need to play my role and stay in lane, I just need to sit back and let this engrossing world swallow me whole, and Arcane seems happy to let me.
For years we’ve talked about a film breaking the video game adaptation curse, Hollywood producing something that isn’t merely passable or complete garbage. Sonic the Hedgehog was fine, Detective Pikachu is a wholesome adventure, and the new Mortal Kombat is good fun without breaking any boundaries. But with the arrival of Arcane I can’t help but feel that we’ve been looking in the wrong places. Traditional films and television must abide by a specific model or risk falling into irrelevancy, while streaming services are far more malleable.
Arcane is a product of its time in the best possible way, with services like Netflix and Disney+ showing that unconventional shows can achieve massive success, not abiding by a weekly release format or the promotion required to shine. Squid Game came out of nowhere and was the biggest show in the world for months, and its advertising came almost entirely from word of mouth. It changed everything and defied expectations, and Arcane seems to be following in similar footsteps.
Releasing episodes in small chunks allows it to become a product of conversation, instead of binge culture leaving it to be watched and put aside so there’s space for the next big thing. My timeline is flooded with speculation, fan art, and people wanting Vi to beat the shit out of them, and I love that League is igniting the imagination of thousands instead of quietly existing in the background as a MOBA I will never play. We’ll see where the cards land in the coming weeks, but right now it feels like Arcane has the world in the palm of its hands.
Arcane doesn’t exist to replace League of Legends, or even to adapt it. It exists to compliment the landscape League of Legends has boasted for years. Stories are no longer confined to supplemental materials and character descriptions, now its ambition can be realised in a medium that doesn’t require investment in a genre that will go over the heads of many. It doesn’t fall in line like so many of its predecessors, and that’s exactly why it manages to shine so brightly. I’ll never play League, but Arcane doesn’t want me to, and that’s the best part about it. That and Vi. Don’t judge me, strong girls are cool.