Borderlands’ Cinematic Universe Is Officially Different To the Borderlands Video Game Universe

Borderlands writer and Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford has made clear that the Borderlands cinematic universe is different to the Borderlands video game universe, after fans expressed concerns about the recently revealed plot for the Borderlands movie.Pitchford revealed the news in a tweet after the synopsis for the forthcoming Borderlands film was released earlier this week. The plot summary revealed that the movie was diverging from the plot of the game series, mainly by introducing a mostly unseen character called Atlas as the main antagonist, played by Edgar Ramirez. Many also pointed to the lack of mention of a Vault – sources of alien technology that act as something of a Holy Grail for the protagonsts of the Borderlands games – and Handsome Jack, the villain most associated with the series.

Seemingly in response to those questions around the plot, Pitchford wrote: “The Borderlands Cinematic Universe is not identical to the Borderlands Videogame Universe. We are authentic to characters, tone and style, but allow for independent storylines. The mediums are not the same, so the content should not be bound to the same rules.”

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To the interested: The Borderlands Cinematic Universe is not identical to the Borderlands Videogame Universe. We are authentic to characters, tone and style, but allow for independent storylines. The mediums are not the same, so the content should not be bound to the same rules.

— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) April 6, 2021

Essentially, Director Eli Roth (Hostel) and writer Craig Mazin (Chernobyl, The Last of Us) are trying to tell a new story in a new verison of the Borderlands universe, riffing off of the themes and characters established in the game franchise, which is par for the course for most adaptations. However, some fans have expressed disappointment after reading the synopsis, which is likely what led Pitchford to clarify how the team is approaching the movie with regards to the established narrative in the game series.

In IGN’s comments section for the news of the movie’s plot, TheCreepyPasta wrote, “Aaaaah now I get it! So many theories to explain a weird cast and age discrepancies, only to prove again that the simplest answer is often the right one: they never ever tried to adapt the story of the franchise in first place.” Alien_Whal3 on Reddit said that it “sounds painfully like they already had a script for some generic sci-fi movie and they adapted borderlands to it.

“I don’t expect it to be awful, I’m sure it will be okay, but damn is it going to be painful to see how poorly they represent the games and characters.” James-Avatar added, “This is just another ‘not made for the fans and too weird for the general public’ box office bombs.”

It’s of course possible that Vaults, Handsome Jack and other recognisable elements from the games will appear in the final movie, and are being held back from the basic synopsis – but fans are clearly concerned at the early changes being made to the formula.

The Borderlands movie, which doesn’t yet have a release date, will see Cate Blanchett as Lilith, Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Tannis, Jack Black as Claptrap, Kevin Hart as Roland, an ex-soldier turned mercenary, Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, Florian Munteanu as Tina Tina’s protector, Krieg, and Hillbilly Elegy’s Haley Bennett as an unnamed character connected to Lilith.

The movie will see the crew “battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to find and protect [a] missing girl, who may hold the key to unimaginable power. The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other.” It’s one of a host of in-production movie and TV adaptations of games right now.

Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.