Screenshot: Secret Level
Earlier this month, Amazon announced that it had ordered an animated series full of shorts based on video games like Spelunky and Mega Man, called Secret Level. Now we’ve gotten our first look at the teaser trailer for the series, and it certainly looks like there’s a short based on Armored Core, the FromSoftware mech games, the stars none other than Keanu Reeves.
Secret Level, out December 10, is being made by Tim Miller and CGI house Blur Studio, who were behind the first Deadpool movie and Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots sci-fi anthology. The new trailer showed slices of a bunch of different shorts from the new series, and one of them definitely looks like three seconds of Reeves sliding his head forward in the sweaty cockpit of a robot.
Here’s the part that looks like Reeves:
And here’s FromSoftware confirming that it’s an Armored Core story:
Now there are two reasons this is blowing fans minds. First, Reeves is awesome, and in addition to starring in timeless classics like The Matrix, John Wick, and Point Break, also delivered an incredible performance as Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2077, showing you could bring A-list Hollywood talent to a blockbuster video game in a way that felt elegant and earned rather than as a cheap cash-in (Idris Elba demonstrated the same in the game’s Phantom Liberty expansion last year).
But second, Armored Core is a beloved but relatively obscure video game IP to mine for an Amazon Prime adaptation. It’s a series known for tense mech fights, brutal post-apocalyptic sci-fi settings, and effective but extremely austere writing and storytelling. And of course its red robot eyes, which you can see in the teaser.
Pilots for these mechs are usually drugged up and spliced with all kinds of weird body-horror cyber-junk, and tasked with keeping their existential crises at bay by blowing stuff up with giant guns. Reeves seems perfect for the part.
Last year’s Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon demonstrated each of those virtues and was excellent, but not exactly the type of phenomenon you’d expect to jumpstart a trans-media cameo, even a relatively small one like representation in an anthology series. FromSoftware’s other games, including Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and the mega-seller Elden Ring all seemed like much more likely candidates.
News
‘I want you to be a child’ – Kate Winslet shares why her kids aren’t allowed smartphones
Actress Kate Winslet has strong views on children having smartphones, and shares compelling arguments why her own children won’t be having them. A child’s first phone comes at the age their parents deem appropriate and will be different for individual family’s situations….
Jodie Foster Says Her Sons Are ‘Insecure’ About Their Fledgling Careers but She’s ‘Thrilled’ for Their ‘Future’
Christopher ‘Kit’ Bernard Foster, Jodie Foster, and Charles Bernard Foster attend the 2016 AMD British Academy Britannia Awards on October 28, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. . Photo: Kevork Djansezian/BAFTA LA/Getty Jodie Foster isn’t sure what kind of work her sons will pursue,…
‘True Detective: Night Country’ Showrunner Issa Lopez Is Still Obsessed with Season 1 and Its Sense of a ‘Darker World Beneath the Surface’
‘True Detective: Night Country’ Showrunner Issa Lopez Is Still Obsessed with Season 1 and Its Sense of a ‘Darker World Beneath the Surface’ Much of the ongoing appeal of “True Detective” can be attributed to the show’s elasticity. Each season of…
Jodie Foster Gives Rare Update About Her Two Sons
nbcs-70th-annual-golden-globe-awards—audience Jodie Foster gave a rare update about her two children to People during the 76th Annual Emmy Awards. The legendary actor, who won her first Emmy last night for her role in True Detective: Night Country, shares sons Charlie, 26, and Kit, 22, with…
‘True Detective’ Boss Issa López Says She’s Deep Into Writing Season 5: ‘Magical Realism Is My Brand’
While “True Detective” celebrated its fourth installment at Sunday’s Emmy Awards, showrunner Issa López revealed she’s already deep into writing Season 5. “I’m deep, deep, deep in the writing and just in the smack of it,” López told TheWrap on the…
Jodie Foster Finally Ends A 10-Year True Detective Disappointment That Matthew McConaughey Began
With Jodie Foster’s 2024 Emmy win for her role in True Detective season 4, she’s broken a 10-year streak of disappointment for the series. Jodie Foster is commonly considered one of the greatest and most accomplished actors of all time, best known for…
End of content
No more pages to load