It’s hard to believe a whole year has passed since Arcane‘s divisive second and final season premiered on Netflix.
And, just as Riot Games celebrated the first anniversary of the show’s debut season in late 2022, the studio behind Arcane and League of Legends – the latter being the hugely popular video game that Arcane is based on – is ready to do the same for Arcane season 2.
As a big Arcane fan, I’m intrigued to see what we’ll learn in the days and weeks to come. However, there are three big reveals I’m hoping for from ‘Arcane Fanniversary’ – here’s what’s on my wishlist.
1. Confirmation about the original plan for Arcane
It’s no secret that some fans were displeased with Arcane‘s sophomore season.
One of the best Netflix shows‘ final installment had the air of a season crammed with storylines and character arcs that should’ve played out across multiple seasons. It wasn’t shocking, then, when co-creator Christian Linke vowed to me that, following the season 2 finale, Riot “will learn” from the mistakes made with Arcane‘s “rushed” final season.
Nevertheless, nobody at Netflix, Riot, or Fortiche – the latter being the studio responsible for Arcane‘s gorgeous animation and art style – has ever confirmed if it was supposed to end after two seasons. Ahead of season 2’s arrival, one particular online rumor suggested Arcane was supposed to last for five seasons, but was shortened due to its eye-watering production costs.
Days later, Linke and co-creator Alex Yee played that down, with the pair telling me it was “never the plan” for Arcane to run for five seasons. I took them at their word, but based on season 2’s overstuffed and fast-paced plot, I’ve never been able to shake the feeling that the original plan included more than two multi-arc installments. I’ve got my fingers crossed, then, that one of the aforementioned Reddit AMAs and/or episodes of Looking Back: Arcane will clarify this once and for all.
2. Answers to lingering plot questions
Riot’s next YouTube series and/or forthcoming AMAs might also provide the opportunity for Arcane‘s cast and crew to finally give the answers we crave to various story threads that were left dangling after the season 2 finale.
There were a lot – and I mean a lot – of unresolved plotlines, too. I discuss a number of them in my Arcane season 2 part 3 ending explained piece, including offering my thoughts on the fate of Jinx, Jayce, and Viktor, and how future projects (more on these shortly) could continue Netflix’s adaptation of League‘s Runeterra-set story that began with Arcane.
Speaking to me as part of a post-mortem chat for its final chapter, Linke wouldn’t confirm or deny a big fan theory about Jinx after Arcane‘s season 2 finale. With the last chapter of Looking Back: Arcane set to air almost one year to a day after the series’ final-ever episode, though, is it too much to ask that we get a definitive answer to that specific query and other plot- and character-based moments that have been left dangling since? I hope not.
3. A big update on Arcane’s sequel projects
I’ll preface this section by saying we don’t actually know how many other League films and TV shows Riot, Netflix, and Fortiche are working on. During my post-season 2 finale chat with Linke, he denied Arcane would get three League of Legends sequel projects – a fanbase claim born out of comments Linke made in an interview with League superfan Necrit that were quickly taken out of context.
That said, it’s possible that multiple follow-ups to Arcane are being worked on. Last June, when Linke addressed fans that Arcane would end after two seasons, he said Riot was “working on our next projects across film and television”, so clearly more than one sequel idea has been bandied about Riot’s offices.
Since then, we’ve heard Arcane‘s sequel won’t come to Netflix for a long time, seen a new League of Legends video that might set up Arcane‘s follow-up, and learned that we might not have seen the last of Caitlyn and Vi. Oh, and Linke has also admitted that Arcane has rewritten certain vital parts of League lore that have reshaped, and will continue to reshape, the massive multiplayer online (MMO) game itself.
Nearly 12 months on from the hit series’ last-ever episode, I’m holding out hope that we’ll get an actual update on where Arcane‘s sequel(s) are at from a development standpoint.
I’d take anything at this stage, too. Give me a working title. Tell me which League champions will be its protagonists. Show off some concept art. Heck, give me a small teaser with genuine footage from your next League film or TV series. An anniversary celebration is the perfect time to reveal something, so please, don’t let me down!
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tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power)
