Lara Croft makes her anime debut in the upcoming show, which picks up after the events of the incredibly successful video-game reboot trilogy, premiering in 2023.
Lara Croft, one of the video game world’s most iconic adventurers, makes her anime debut later this year in the upcoming Tomb Raider series, which picks up after the events of the incredibly successful video-game reboot trilogy of the same name. 25 years after her first game appeared, Lara continues to explore new territory. Netflix has now announced that the series has been renewed for a second season.
Hayley Atwell (Marvel’s Captain America and Avengers films) stars as Lara Croft, and is joined by Earl Baylon (Trese, Tekken: Bloodline) as Jonah Maiava, and Allen Maldonado (Maya and the Three) as Zip. Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education) will star in the second season as Eshu, a new character to the franchise.
In the 25 years since its launch, the Tomb Raider video game series has sold over 81 million copies and garnered a treasure chest worth of awards. The game’s success has led to a global franchise encompassing movies, merchandise, comic books and now, a stylish animated series. The most recent game release, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, has received numerous “Best of” nominations and awards. The Tomb Raider video games are developed by Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montréal, and published by Square Enix.
Serving as executive producers are Tasha Huo (The Witcher: Blood Origin, Red Sonja), who will write and executive produce; dj2 Entertainment founder and CEO Dmitri M. Johnson (Sonic the Hedgehog); Stephan Bugaj and Howard Bliss; and Jacob Robinson, under his company Tractor Pants.
The streaming giant has made a huge commitment to anime series and feature development. Also currently in the works is Legendary’s Skull Island series, with many other anime projects released in the last couple years.
While Tomb Raider has a yet to be announced 2023 release date, Skull Island streams on Netflix starting June 22