Todd Howard says everything in the Fallout TV show is canon

Fallout
(Image credit: Amazon Prime Video)

Bethesda director Todd Howard has revealed that everything in the Fallout TV show is canon. . 

"We view what’s happening in the show as canon," Howard told Vanity Fair. "That's what's great, when someone else looks at your work and then translates it in some fashion."

Plus, it sounds like the TV show is so good that Howard is actually jealous of its take on the source material. "I sort of looked at it like, 'Ah, why didn't we do that?'" he admitted. 

Westworld's Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy are adapting the game series into a new TV show for Amazon Prime Video. The games focus on a post-apocalyptic version of America, following a nuclear war (hence the name). Howard is executive producing.

This isn't the first time Howard has been approached about adapting the Fallout games, either, but, as he told the publication, this is the right project. "I've taken countless meetings with producers, or heard pitches, and nothing ever felt like the right fit," he commented. "Or maybe I was [wondering] a little, How will it affect the franchise? I took a very cautious approach."

By all accounts, then, the franchise is in very safe hands. The show will see a global nuclear war break out in 2077, with the story then jumping forwards by 219 years and focusing on Ella Purnell's Lucy, who has lived her entire life in a vault deep underground. Lucy is eventually forced to go up to the surface, which has turned into a nightmare of mutant creatures, massive insects, and nasty human survivors. 

Along with Purnell, the show stars Walton Goggins, Kyle MacLachlan, and Johnny Pemberton, and is set for release April 12, 2024. 

As for Bethesda, the company's most recent release is the spacefaring Starfield

While you wait for Fallout, check out our guide to all the best TV shows on Amazon Prime Video to stream now. 

Molly Edwards
Entertainment Writer

I'm an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.