Shadow and Bone Writer is Working on a World of Darkness Cinematic Universe

Shadow and Bone writer, Eric Heisserer, is teaming up with Christine Boylan, whose television credits include Netflix’s The Punisher, Once Upon a Time, and more to create a World of Darkness cinematic universe.The success of franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe has led to the creation of many a new cinematic universe and World of Darkness is the latest to join in on the connected-universe fun. Heisserer, Boylan, and Hivemind, the production company behind Netflix’s Witcher series and The Expanse, have partnered with Paradox Interactive to “develop the acclaimed World of Darkness story universe for film and television.”“The World of Darkness story universe is deliberately and unapologetically inclusive and diverse,” Boylan said in a press release about the announcement. “It has always made a point of including equal gendered characters, protagonists, and antagonists of every race, and representation of all creeds — bringing a female and diverse audience to gaming like nothing prior.”

Boylan goes on to say that the World of Darkness games and its fandom are “a place where women, POC, and the LGBTQI community feel welcome” and she’s very proud to be able to help bring these stories to life on the silver and television screen. Heisserer says the legacy of these stories are ahead of their time in that they offered issues and perspectives ignored by other games.

The World of Darkness, as it were, launched in 1991 with the tabletop RPG known as Vampire: The Masquerade, which later went on to become a video game series as well in the form of 2004’s Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines. A sequel to that game, Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2, has been in development for quite some time and it was expected to release this year, but it has since been delayed out of 2021.Following the success of the tabletop Vampires game in 1991, the World of Darkness was expanded upon with properties like Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Orpheus, and Hunter: The Reckoning. Today, the World of Darkness “encompasses two decades of globally popular video games, virtual reality, card and board games, comic books, novels, as well as original tabletop roleplaying games.”

“World of Darkness stories combine genre elements that have traditionally been separated — such as horror, science fiction, and fantasy — into a single universe of mystery and intrigue that play out among its many supernatural factions,” the press release reads. “Its protagonists are very clearly monsters, but their stories are anything but simplistic, exploring complex moral situations that challenge us to examine our own world more critically.”

Heisserer, Boylan, Hivemind, and Paradox Interactive will be exploring these monsters and stories in the form of interconnected movies and television sometime in the future. It’s unknown when the first movie or TV series will debut at this time.While waiting for the World of Darkness cinematic universe to begin, catch up on the latest of Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2, which recently had its developer, Hardsuit Labs, removed from the game and then read about the layoffs Hardsuit Labs underwent following all of that.

Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

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