Not a gamer? Here’s what to know about Prime Video’s Fallout series before it premieres

Prime Video is sharing the first looks at the highly anticipated Fallout TV show. For those who aren’t video game fans, here’s a quick look at the series and why it’s going to be a new sci-fi success!

Debuting in 1997, Fallout is a series of video games that mix the first-person shooter with role-playing aspects. The backstory is that in 2077, a massive nuclear war wiped out civilization. The survivors retreat to huge underground bunkers, and a century later, they begin venturing into the world to scavenge for scraps and clash with the mutated creatures that abound.

The series has been a huge hit, with four main games (a fifth is planned) and spin-offs, including a strategy game and a pinball version. While there have been plans for a movie version, Amazon bought the rights to a live-action series in 2020.

What is the Fallout show about?

Created by Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan (Westworld), the show is also overseen by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner, with original Fallout writer Todd Howard attached. The series is considered part of Fallout canon, set in the mid-23rd century as civilization had changed into a retro-futuristic feel. As the survivors try to build their lives, they face challenges from vicious marauders to the threat of strange creatures.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Howard praised the series for managing to capture the feel of the games.

“We view what’s happening in the show as canon. That’s what’s great when someone else looks at your work and then translates it in some fashion.”

"“Based on one of the greatest video game series of all time, Fallout is the story of haves and have-nots in a world in which there’s almost nothing left to have. Two hundred years after the apocalypse, the gentle denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind—and are shocked to discover an incredibly complex, gleefully weird and highly violent universe waiting for them.”"

Who stars in Fallout?

The big name of the cast is Walton Goggins, the Justified star, who plays the Ghoul, leader of a mercenary pack. Ella Purnell is Lucy, a heroine who exits the fallout bunker only to have her innocent attitude tested by the vicious world.

Kyle MacLachlan plays Lucy’s father, with Moses Arias as her brother. Expect some names familiar to game fans, such as the Brotherhood of Steel and the Vault Boy mascot.

• Walton Goggins as The Ghoul
• Ella Purnell as Lucy
• Kyle MacLachlan as Hank
• Xelia Mendes-Jones
• Aaron Moten as Maximus
• Mike Doyle as Mr. Spencer
• Moisés Arias as Norm
• Johnny Pemberton as Thaddeus
• Cherien Dabis as Birdie
• Dale Dickey as Ma June
• Matty Cardarople as Huey
• Sarita Choudhury
• Michael Emerson as Wilzig
• Leslie Uggams
• Frances Turner
• Dave Register as Chet
• Zach Cherry
• Rodrigo Luzzi as Reg
• Annabel O’Hagan as Steph

When does Fallout premiere?

The show is set to debut on Prime Video on April 12, 2024, although there’s no word on the schedule for the release dates.

With this fantastic cast and the rise of successful video game adaptations, Fallout looks ready to be another Prime Video epic when it hits the streamer next spring.

Fallout premieres April 12, 2024, on Prime Video.