Tomb Raider and Lara Croft have received multiple editions, remakes, and remasters over the years, from the games to the movies, with the franchise becoming synonymous with the action-adventure genre of any format.
It has now been confirmed that there will be a Netflix Tomb Raider animated series, with only a small number of roles being revealed but several hints suggesting that this could be the project to properly revamp the franchise and give it a singular identity.
10 All Of The Tomb Raider Timelines Will Be Unified
When Tasha Huo made several announcements on October 28th, 2021 regarding Netflix's Tomb Raider's animated series, she not only revealed that characters Zip and Jonah would be included in the series, but she also announced that the series would finally be attempting to unify the Survivor, Legend, and Original timelines and make one singular timeline for Lara's life.
This is promising for Tomb Raider fans, as it will likely try to draw inspiration from the previous timelines but make it all align in one complete Tomb Raider universe. While the franchise has been redefined several times before, this could be another huge moment for Tomb Raider.
9 Powerhouse Animation Will Aim To Repeat & Surpass Their Castlevania Success
Animation Studio Powerhouse Animation has been confirmed to be at the helm for the Tomb Raider animated series, and considering the fact that the studio has worked on Netflix's Castlevania and Blood of Zeus, this is only a good thing.
The Netflix adaptation of Castlevania was such a huge hit with viewers worldwide, from its voice acting and storytelling all the way to the incredible music and animation. Feedback from Castlevania's success will undoubtedly contribute to the studio working to ensure that Tomb Raider is another success story.
8 Hayley Atwell Will Voice Lara Croft In This Series
Hayley Atwell will be the voice actor for Lara Croft in the Netflix animated series. She is best known for her work as Peggy Carter, Captain America's love interest within the MCU, with her also having her own spinoff series. It has also been confirmed that she will be in at least the next two Mission: Impossible movies alongside the likes of Tom Cruise and co.
This won't be the first spot of voice acting that Atwell has done, with her previously lending her voice to Zadra in Netflix's 3Below: Tales of Arcadia and Mittens in Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway.
7 Zip Being Included In The Series Confirms The Merging Of Timelines
As a part of Tasha Huo's announcements, she announced that Zip would be appearing in the upcoming Tomb Raider series. Zip was Lara Croft's old friend and also a tech expert. He made an appearance in Tomb Raider Chronicles, Tomb Raider Legend, and Tomb Raider Underworld. His inclusion is further confirmation of the various timelines being merged together for this Tomb Raider edition.
Zip will be played by Allen Maldonado, known for his recent role as Rooster Robbins in the television series Heels, along with various other roles over the years, including a recurring rule on Black-ish as Curtis.
6 Red Sonja, Starring Hannah John-Kamen, Is Another Of Tomb Raider's Showrunner Tasha Huo's Current Projects
Tasha Huo is this project's showrunner and has been keeping everyone updated with various developments in the gradual build-up to the show's release in 2023. She announced, back in August, that the animated Tomb Raider show's first season would consist of 8 episodes running at just over 20 minutes each.
Tasha is relatively new to producing and writing on such a scale, with Tomb Raider being her producing debut and it being one of a few current writing projects that she is a part of. Red Sonja is one of them, starring Hannah John-Kamen, although it is still just in the announced phase.
5 This Isn't The First Animated Tomb Raider Series
The 2023 Netflix animated series will not actually be the first Tomb Raider animated series, as Revisioned: Tomb Raider beat it to the punch, with its 2007 release.
It was a ten-part series created by Ricardo Sanchez, with well-known actress Minnie Driver voicing Lara Croft. The Revisioned concept was created to reimagine video game franchises in smaller bundles, with Tomb Raider and Lara Croft being the first to get the experimental treatment. The 2023 series will still undoubtedly establish itself as the main and most memorable Tomb Raider animated series, upon its release.
4 Reliable Friend & Crewmate Jonah Will Once Again Be Voiced By Earl Baylon
Earl Baylon has been cast once again to reprise his role of Jonah Maiava, after previously featuring in the games, Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
In the games, Jonah is a New Zealand-born, gentle giant of a man, who is an Endurance crew member and a reliable friend to Lara throughout her various troubling escapades. It is highly likely that the same side of Jonah will be shown in the animated series as well, and will undoubtedly be an important character for Lara's wellbeing and sanity.
3 Fans Will Likely Have To Wait Until 2023
While the Tomb Raider series has begun to pick up traction in 2021 with a series of updates and announcements, it isn't set to be published and released until 2023, which will be an excruciatingly long wait for some fans, and will likely only add to the anticipation and expectations for its eventual release.
Although plenty can change in the meantime, Tasha Huo confirmed back in May 2021 that the writing had been finished, so the rest should theoretically fall together over the course of the remainder of 2021 and 2022.
2 Alicia Vikander's Tomb Raider Sequel May Still Not Be Out By The Time The Animated Series Is Released
The Tomb Raider reboot movie with Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft is set to have a sequel. Following the release of the reboot's first movie back in 2018, its sequel was initially expected to be released in 2021 but plans drastically changed.
Netflix's Tomb Raider animated version may actually end up beating the Vikander sequel to the punch in terms of release date.
1 The Series Is Likely To Take Place After The Events Of The Reboot Trilogy
Netflix's 2023 animated series will allegedly be taking place after the events of the reboot trilogy games by Square Enix. Back in 2014, a limited comic series was made that also complemented the reboot trilogy with additional story and substance. It was published by Dark Horse, and written by Gail Simone and Rhianna Pratchett.
If the animated series is in fact a hard reset on the entire franchise, however, this may just mean that the Lara Croft in the series is more seasoned and experienced than her reboot versions, and these events may never have happened.