Walton Goggins Is Unrecognizable As The Ghoul In Fallout TV Series First Look

Video game adaptations are having a bit of a moment in the zeitgeist. HBO's "The Last of Us" was an acclaimed critical hit, and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" blew up at the box office. Gamers hope the streak continues with Amazon Prime's new series based on the Fallout franchise. 

Promotion for the show is ramping up as it marches toward its premiere date of April 12, 2024. Vanity Fair offered a first look at some of the characters, including one of the most intriguing figures — The Ghoul, as played by Walton Goggins. In the games, ghouls are mutated humans who wander the post-apocalyptic landscape and mostly function as disposable entities for the player to shoot. However, Goggins' Ghoul will have a bit more characterization, as he's the third lead of the series. 

Vanity Fair offers a first look at The Ghoul, with Goggins missing his nose and sporting some irradiated skin. The outlet mentions how the character will be somewhat of a legend, having existed for centuries. Jonathan Nolan, who developed and wrote for the series, spoke about what fans can expect from this ruthless force: "He's got a lot of mileage on him, but he's still got a swagger and kind of a charm to him."

Players may only see ghouls as something to shoot in the Fallout games, but Walton Goggins' character will enjoy greater depth in the Prime Video series. For starters, viewers will learn some of his backstory. According to Vanity Fair, his name before the apocalypse was Cooper Howard, a husband and father. However, exposure to nuclear radiation turned him into something twisted, doomed to pretty much live forever while constantly appearing on the verge of death. 

As such, The Ghoul will serve as something of a connecting string to the time before nuclear war transpired. Jonathan Nolan even compares the character to Virgil in Dante's "Inferno." "He becomes our guide and our protagonist in that [older] world, even as we understand him to be the antagonist at the end of the world."

Anyone who's played the Fallout games will likely see the influences of the ghouls on Goggins, but a concerted effort was made to ensure the prosthetics, which come courtesy of Vincent Van Dyke, didn't overshadow the actor's performance. As Nolan put it, "I need to be able to see Walton and his performance, he needs to look like a Ghoul from the game, and he needs to be kind of hot."

The Fallout games feature fantastic world-building, and The Ghoul should encapsulate much of that for the Amazon series. Walton Goggins has experience with both dramatic and comedic roles, so the character is likely to become a standout.