Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

The Far Cry video games are a good, and surprisingly weird, time, explains Alasdair Stuart.

The basic premise is always the same: you’re a Chad Pectoral-esque action hero, often someone with no training, in the wrong place at the right time and must defeat an evil via traps, combat, fomenting a revolution and, occasionally, bears. The setting changes every time and that’s encouraged the series to make some fun, risky choices. I’m very fond of Far Cry 5 for example, which pits you as a Sheriff’s deputy against a militarised valley of hyper right-wing Christians. The ending is surprising, and great, and its mini-sequel is also excellent. Far Cry Primal plants you at the opposite end of history as an early human. Blood Dragon drops you into a ’90s straight-to-video SF movie, that sort of thing. They’re a good time!

Fargo and Alien: Earth showrunner Noah Hawley is stepping up pre-production on his TV adaptation and I’m cautiously rather excited. I enjoyed Alien: Earth but had some major issues with it and I’m curious to see what Hawley and his writer’s room do here. Especially as that room seems to include Rob Mac, of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Mythic Quest. Mac is a remarkable comedian and writer, and a man prepared to both play absolute monsters and radically alter his physicality to get the job done. He’s also attached to star alongside Lizzy Caplan, whose work I’ve loved since her epochal turn in the original Mean Girls movie. Caplan has total authority, incredible comic timing and a style similar to Mac’s screen partner and wife Kaitlin Olsen. Both are hyper articulate, completely unwilling to stand nonsense and have the same willingness to commit as Mac.

Now they’ve been joined by a legitimate legend, Steve Buscemi. He’s been in everything and he’s always great. Remarkably funny, terrifying when needing to be. If I had to guess I’d say Buscemi is the villain this time around. In the games they include Giancarlo Esposito and Michale Mando, who we’ll see shortly in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

The series, like the games, is planned as an anthology which also seems to be a smart way to cancel proof it. It’s also a style of work Buscemi is used to, having done four seasons on the excellent Miracle Workers.

Far Cry is gearing up for production now.