Amazon Reminds Us The Wheel of Time Series Is Still Happening by Greenlighting Season 2

By Allison Keene  |  May 20, 2021 | 1:22pm
TV News Wheel of Time
Amazon Reminds Us The Wheel of Time Series Is Still Happening by Greenlighting Season 2

One of the few shows to appear on multiple versions of our “Most Anticipated” lists (the other being Y: The Last Man), Amazon’s adaption of The Wheel of Time is a fantasy epic that is definitely still happening. We swear it. Or at least, Amazon does. Prime Video announced today that the series, based on Robert Jordan’s best-selling novels, will get a Season 2. This news comes as production wraps on Season 1 in the Czech Republic, although when we’ll actually see it hit our screens is still in question.

Another question is just how many fantasy adaptations Amazon will greenlight before even one of them actually airs—forget ye not about the mega-expensive Lord of the Rings series. Amazon Studios seems to want to take some riskier swings; though it has had some moderate success with its original series, many of its biggest hits are borrowed from overseas—there is certainly nothing in their current library of originals to the scale of the fantasy giants it has turned its attention towards recently, each vying to be the next Game of Thrones-sized juggernaut.

As for The Wheel of Time itself, our Editor in Chief Josh Jackson wrote this about his hopes for the upcoming series for our Most Anticipated TV Shows of 2020 (and also 2021):

Robert Jordan’s epic series sprawls over the course of 14 novels—the last three co-written by Brandon Sanderson from Jordan’s notes after his death. It’s a delightfully imaginative series that was in desperate need of a more merciless editor. Here’s hoping the TV adaptation from Amazon (which will restart a COVID-delayed production in April of 2021) can capture the best of the series with far fewer tugs on braids and better written women characters in general. I’m optimistic. The bones for the next great TV fantasy series are there. Rosamund Pike strikes me as perfect casting for Moraine. On the other hand, showrunner Rafe Judkins and most of the rest of the cast are mostly unproven on a project this big. But with the might of Sony Pictures Television and Amazon Studios behind them, they’ll be given every opportunity to succeed.

Time (cough) will tell.

Allison Keene is the TV Editor of Paste Magazine. For more television talk, pop culture chat and general japery, you can follow her @keeneTV

For all the latest TV news, reviews, lists and features, follow @Paste_TV.

 
Join the discussion...