The popular tabletop game, "Dungeons and Dragons," or "D&D," was first released in 1974. Since then, it has accumulated a wide number of fans and players that participate in campaigns, telling unique stories and going on spontaneous adventures. Because of its popularity, many films and television series have been made adapting elements from the game, and more appear to be coming soon.
D&D past and future
Dungeons and Dragons was first released in the '70s by the gaming publishing company Tactical Studies Rules, with rights eventually going to Wizards of the Coast, a branched-off group from Hasbro. The gameplay, created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, was heavily inspired by "Chainmail," another role-playing tabletop game where players control an army.
D&D was then created with more focus on players controlling individual characters, and fantasy elements were added into the gameplay. The universe of D&D was also influenced by mythologies from around the world, as well as history and contemporary fantasy novels of the time.
The world of D&D has also been adapted to numerous films and series since its release. First, there was an animated television series that released between the years of 1983 and 1985. The series was generally well-received, though some found the level of violence to be alarming for children that often viewed the program.
Later, from 2000 to 2012, a loose trilogy of films adapting D&D were released, which were generally received poorly by both critics and the public. A more mainstream reboot film, "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves," was released in 2023. The reboot was generally well-received, though it did qualify as a "box office bomb" in terms of ticket sales.
D&D has also recently been featured heavily in the Netflix series, "Stranger Things," a massive success for the streaming service. Audiences may recognize that many of the names of the villains in "Stranger Things" were taken from Dungeons and Dragons.
Shawn Levy, a producer and director for "Stranger Things," is also attached to develop an upcoming live-action series for Netflix based on D&D titled, "The Forgotten Realms," which supposedly will also be the setting for the series. However, are audiences interested in revisiting the world of Dungeons and Dragons yet again?
Opinions from players and students
With a new adaptation of D&D on the horizon, some new and old players of the game are voicing their opinions. Xavier Prenatt, a "somewhat new" player of D&D, expresses an interest in a new adaptation, saying that he has learned about the lore of the universe through podcasts, such as the one he mentions, "Dungeons and Daddies," and that he would be interested in a new adaptation because of the attachment of Levy to the project.
"Shawn Levy has...proven himself to be good at handling action in his films, so that is promising to me that there will be decent and, hopefully, creative fight scenes," Prenatt says.
He also expresses an interest in humor being a part of the adaptation.
"More than anything, I want a funny adaptation. I really liked the humor in the 2023 film," Prenatt said.
Newcomer to D&D, Jacob Nolin, also expresses an interest in more adaptations.
"The most I'm familiar with is [the 2023 film, and] I do think I'd be interested in D&D adaptations," Nolin said.
Nolin also adds that while he was unaware of the tie in with "Stranger Things," he does recall Dungeons and Dragons being played by the cast of the Dreamworks animated reboot of "Voltron."
Avid, longtime player, Amber Nguyen, voices an interest in more adaptations of D&D, though also critiques Netflix as a whole.
"Netflix, though, sometimes [is] a hit or miss, depending on how much the core concept of D&D is showcased," Nguyen says. Nguyen also discusses the gameplay of D&D in her hopes for the adaptation.
"What makes 'D&D' so fun is that rolls [of the dice] can be a hit or miss; it's a 1/20 luck, and they form a story around that," Nguyen explained.
It is currently unknown who will star in the adaptation, and a release date has not been announced. What will be the fate of this adaptation? Will it rise to glory, or crash and burn in a fiery abyss? Let us see how this game plays out.
