Summary

• Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft
  follows Lara around the world on her search for a stolen Chinese artifact and explores forgotten tombs.
• Produced by Tasha Huo, the series explores Lara’s relationships and backstory, combining new elements with classic Lara Croft.
• Hayley Atwell effectively portrays Lara Croft because of her adventurous spirit and the series aims to surprise fans of Red Sonja.

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft begins immediately after the events of the hugely successful video game series Survivor. Lara Croft (voice: Hayley Atwell) has left her friends to embark on dangerous solo adventures, but she is forced to return home when a dangerous and powerful Chinese artifact is stolen from Croft Manor. To track down this thief, she must venture across the world and into the depths of forgotten tombs, where she will be forced to confront her true self.

The Grave robbers The franchise’s popularity has exploded from video games to a series of blockbuster films. Lara Croft has been a contemporary global icon for over two decades and was even listed by TIME Magazine as one of the 15 most influential video game characters of all time. This new animated series is produced and written by Tasha Huo and will launch on Netflix on October 10, 2024.

Screen Rant spoke with showrunner Tasha Huo about the new Netflix animated series. She explains that she is a big fan of Grave robbers herself, so working on this series was a dream come true. Tasha also explains what makes Hayley Atwell the perfect person to voice Lara Croft. Although she couldn’t reveal much, she also comments on what fans of Red Sonja can expect in the upcoming film.

Tasha Huo is a Tomb Raider fan and for her, producing a new show was “a dream come true”

Screen Rant: What was it like exploring and acting in such an iconic franchise?

Tasha Huo: It was a dream come true. I’ve literally been a fan of these games since I was a kid, so it was and still is incredible. It’s like living out your fantasies in every episode. It’s great.

Screen Rant: What was it like finding the balance between giving Lara something new while still keeping the essence of what fans like you love?

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Tasha Huo: It was definitely a balancing act. But I feel like when you play, you miss a whole section of Lara’s life, which is: What is it like beyond the graves? What are her relationships like? I was always so curious when Lara was able to call a friend in the middle of nowhere in Thailand. How did she meet that person? The show explores how she built those relationships and the origin story of a lot of things about her life that we just take for granted when we meet her in these ’90s games.

Hayley Atwell is “the perfect embodiment of Lara”

Screen Rant: What do you think makes Hayley such a great Lara Croft? Because she’s so good in the show.

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Tasha Huo: I’m so glad to say that because I think she’s Lara in her real, waking life. It’s funny because she was shooting Mission Impossible while she was recording for us, so a lot of times it was like, “Oh, I did that stunt last week, so I know exactly what that sounds like.” She’s a natural adventurer herself, but she’s also an incredibly dramatic actress, so she’s the perfect embodiment of Lara during that kind of bridging time.

Finding the perfect villain to face Lara Croft in Tomb Raider

“I really wanted to see Lara leave this darkness behind.”

Screen Rant: Can you talk about deciding on the perfect villain for the series?

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Tasha Huo: Yeah, absolutely. I knew I wanted Lara, who, coming out of Survivor Series, just struggles with a lot. A lot that can lead someone to a really dark place. The idea of ​​Lara going to therapy was something I thought was so cool and hated it, which is obviously her behavior. I really wanted to see Lara overcome that darkness that we saw on Survivor Series. And I think in order to do that, she needed to go up against someone who was struggling with a similar kind of darkness and see that reflected back at her and make her decide whether she wanted to go down that path or not. And so it was important to me to find a really good match for her in that way. And hopefully we did that.

Of course Lara’s clothes would have pockets!

“She will have a dress that is tailored just for her.”

Screen Rant: One of my favorite lines that I found very relatable was when someone mentioned that they loved Lara’s dress and she replied that it had pockets. Can you talk about how that came about?

Tasha Huo: Well, because I’m the same way. Every woman we’ve ever met asks, “Why doesn’t that beautiful dress have pockets?” Lara is Lara Croft, with an emphasis on Croft. So she’s going to have a dress that’s tailored her way, and she’s going to make sure it has pockets.

Tasha Huo’s message to Tomb Raider fans: “I am one of you”

Screen Rant: Many fans, myself included, are always cautiously optimistic when something they love so much gets a new adaptation. What would you say to Tomb Raider fans about this series?

Tasha Huo: I would say I’m one of you. I’m a huge fan too. And everyone who worked on it, who animated it and designed it, they all played these games as little girls and boys too. So we all don’t want to disappoint ourselves and hopefully not disappoint you. Because if this show can manage to not disappoint us, then I think we’ve done a good job.

Fans of Red Sonja will be surprised by her new film

Screen Rant: Speaking of adaptations, Red Sonja is coming soon. Can you tell us anything?

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Tasha Huo: I can’t give anything away. But it’s supposed to be really cool. It’s a really cool origin story for her and if you’re a fan of it, you’ll be surprised.

About Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

The animated series Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft follows the events of the successful Survivor trilogy of the Tomb Raider video game (Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Shadow of the Tomb Raider) and will chronicle the globetrotting heroine’s next chapter as an iconic adventurer. More than 25 years after her first appearance, Lara Croft (voice: Hayley Atwell) continues to explore ancient mysteries and uncover lost truths in stunning and dangerous locations.

Following the events of the Survivor series, Lara Croft has left her friends to embark on increasingly dangerous solo adventures. But she must return home when a dangerous and powerful Chinese artifact is stolen from Croft Manor by a thief with an eerie personal connection. Her daring quest takes her on an adventure around the world and into the depths of forgotten tombs, where she is forced to confront her true self and decide what kind of hero she wants to become.

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

will stream exclusively on Netflix on October 10th.

Source: Screen Rant Plus