Netflix and Riot Studios' League of Legends adaptation Arcane won big at the Emmy Awards 2022, beating out other animated shows like Marvel Studios' What If...? and previous winner Rick and Morty.During the first night of the 74th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, which honors the many artistic and technical achievements in television, Arcane received the award for Outstanding Animated Program. "Honored doesn't even begin to describe how we feel about winning the [Emmy] for Outstanding Animated Program," the show's official Twitter wrote following Arcane's win. "Thank you to our incredible team at [Riot Games] and Fortiche, the [Television Academy], and the greatest fans (yes, you) for making this possible."
Arcane won for the sixth episode, titled "When These Walls Come Tumbling Down." Nominated alongside Arcane in this category was Bob's Burgers, Rick and Morty, The Simpsons and What If...?. Arcane's win has ended Rick and Morty's winning streak in this category, as the Adult Swim series had previously won for both of its prior nominations for the episodes "Pickle Rick" and "The Vat of Acid Episode." It also prevented What If...? from netting Marvel Studios its first series win at the Emmys. The studio had previously been nominated for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series in 2021 for WandaVision, which it lost to Netflix's The Queen's Gambit.
Despite its loss against Arcane, Marvel Cinematic Universe fans are still thrilled over Chadwick Boseman's posthumous win for What If...?. The actor, who recorded his lines for Starlord T'Challa before his sudden passing on Aug. 28, 2020, was awarded for his performance in What If...? just over two years following his death. Taylor Simone Ledward, Boseman's widow, accepted the Emmy on his behalf. "Thank you so much for the honor," Ledward said in her speech. "Chad would be so honored, and I'm honored on his behalf."
Set in the world of League of Legends' Runeterra, Arcane is a "love letter" to both its source material as well as animation, according to the show's co-creator Christian Linke. The show received critical acclaim for not just its emotional story and character development, but also for its unique visual style brought to life by French animation studio Fortiche. Linke recently said that Fortiche was chosen to develop Arcane due to the studio's previous work on promotional animated shorts for League. "They just always had this x-factor, all these beautiful visuals, it just kind of really clicked," Linke said in an episode of the behind-the-scenes series Arcane: Bridging the Rift.
Arcane is available to stream now on Netflix.
Source: Twitter, Television Academy