Fallout TV Series Release Date, Cast, Plot, Teaser Trailer And More Details

Power up your Pip-Boy because we're taking a trip to the Wasteland. Bethesda is partnering with Prime Video on adapting the blockbuster video game franchise "Fallout." If that's not exciting enough for you, the series is being developed by Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, the creators of HBO's "Westworld." If that doesn't have you ready to break out of your vault, we don't know what will. 

Bethesda, Joy, and Nolan have expressed plenty of excitement over the project. Bethesda's executive producer, Todd Howard, said, "It was clear from the moment I first spoke with Jonah and Lisa a few years ago, that they ... were the ones to do it right." Meanwhile, Joy and Nolan called "Fallout" "one of the greatest game series of all time," adding that playing the games "cost us countless hours we could have spent with family and friends."

Now that the show is on its way, let's discuss everything we know so far about the upcoming "Fallout" series.

Anyone who's played Bethesda's "Fallout" games knows that they are massive, immersive, and complicated entertainment experiences. The same can be said for HBO's "Westworld," and it seems likely that's one of the reasons that Bethesda feels confident in Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan's ability to tackle their series. Having a "Fallout" show with an expansive scope will no doubt thrill fans of the games, and now we know exactly when we'll get to visit that world.

Three years after announcing the project, Amazon's Prime Video revealed when we'll see all the video game-based madness play out. On October 23 — aka "'Fallout' Day," as that's when the Great War kicks off in the games — the official "Fallout" account on X, formerly Twitter, released a video announcing that the show would debut on Prime Video around the world (in 240 geographical territories) on April 12, 2024.

When it comes to potential storylines, it looks like the upcoming "Fallout" video game adaptation will very much be its own thing. Per the official Amazon press release, "Set in the future post-apocalyptic Los Angeles and the world of 'Fallout,' the series is an original story based on 'Fallout' that will be part of the canon of the games." 

For the uninitiated, the "Fallout" games take place hundreds of years after a nuclear apocalypse destroys a United States that resembles the cute and corny futuristic ideal of the mid-20th century. The Prime Video series is specifically set 219 years after the radioactive devastation of 2077. Several generations of privileged survivors have lived a calm, well-appointed, and utopian life inside of the safely sealed Vault 33. Awaiting the day when the planet is finally free of radiation and they can emerge, the timeline is sped up a bit when a Vault Dweller named Lucy must leave the confines of home and head into the violent, nightmare world known as the Wasteland — a place full of mutants, huge bugs, criminals, ne'er-do-wells, and scrappy survivors who've adapted to life in a toxic environment.

More than a year after Amazon announced the development of a streaming TV adaptation of Bethesda Games' "Fallout" series, the company started to fill in the cast list. The first actor announced for the project was Walton Goggins, best known for his work on beloved TV series like "Justified" and "The Righteous Gemstones." Goggins will play The Ghoul, a frightening, radiation-twisted, enigmatic bounty hunter who roams the Wasteland. Ella Purnell, recently a cast member on the teen survival drama "Yellowjackets," landed a prominent role on the similarly-themed "Fallout" as Lucy, a naive and hopeful Vault Dweller heading out into the post-apocalyptic remains of America for a reality check and a rescue mission. 

She'll be joined here by Kyle MacLachlan ("Twin Peaks"), who plays the supporting role of Overseer Hank, leader of Vault 33 and Lucy's crusading father. Aaron Moten of "Emancipation" costars as Maximus, a young man with a sad past looking for answers while serving in an order-obsessed militia called the Brotherhood of Steel. Other members of the cast include Michael Emerson of "Lost" as mysterious researcher Wilzig, Moisés Arias of "The King of Staten Island" playing Lucy's brother, and Sarita Choudhury of "Homeland" as a heroic Wasteland leader, as well as recognizable names such as Leslie Uggams of "Deadpool," Zach Cherry of "Severance," Chris Parnell of "30 Rock," and Johnny Pemberton of "Superstore."

The last notable small-screen project for Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy was "Westworld," the ambitious HBO sci-fi series that adapted a 1970s film. Nolan also created the sci-fi thriller series "Person of Interest," and he's worked on scripts for titles like "Interstellar" and "The Dark Knight," which were directed by his brother, Christopher. Now, Nolan and Joy will turn their creative attention to "Fallout," adapting and developing the series via their Kilter Films production company.

Nolan directed the first three episodes, but he and Joy will cede day-to-day control on "Fallout" to a duo of showrunners: Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner. Together, they bring significant experience to "Fallout" when it comes to comedy, science fiction, and video game adaptations. Robertston-Dworet wrote the screenplay for the 2019 MCU entry "Captain Marvel," as well as the script for the 2018 franchise-rebooting "Tomb Raider" film. Wagner most recently wrote for "Star Trek: Short Treks," following stints on "Portlandia," "Baskets," and "The Office."

On December 2, 2023, at Brazil's CCXP extravaganza, Amazon unveiled the first substantial look of its upcoming "Fallout" adaptation via a teaser trailer for the streaming series. Cast and crew have seemingly crafted a series that's visually and thematically faithful to the source video game while also expanding its world into something new and multi-faceted. 

The trailer starts at the beginning, with Vault Dweller Lucy (Ella Purnell) emerging out of a safe bunker into the bright lights and unknown of the outside world for the first time — a sandy, desolate landscape dotted with tumbleweeds, remains of long-destroyed buildings, and human bones. A figure shrouded in darkness (Michael Emerson) warns Lucy to head back underground, as her people aren't safe and she's not "willing to do what it takes to survive." 

To the ironically juxtaposed strains of Nat "King" Cole's standard "I Don't Want to See Tomorrow," viewers see a lot of what Emerson's talking about — an aggressive police-militia patrols the deserts, gigantic, radiated bugs roam around, and flesh-hungry mutants maul animals and robots alike. The trailer also includes brief glimpses of the all-star cast including Chris Parnell, Kyle MacLachlan, Zach Cherry, and Walton Goggins, both pre-apocalypse and post-apocalypse, where he engages in a gory gunfight.

Hailing from Bethesda Game Studios, the "Fallout" video game series has grown into a sprawling franchise filled with mysterious vaults, horrific monsters, and jaunty 1950s tunes. But will Prime Video's TV series be adapting a specific game?

Well, as Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard (and executive producer on the show) told Vanity Fair, the series is its own thing. "I did not want to do an interpretation of an existing story we did," Howard explained, going on to say that when various creators were pitching ideas for the series, many of them were wanting to straight-up adapt specific games. That's why he jumped at the pitch from Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, as they had their own ideas for where they could take the show.

However, Howard assured Vanity Fair that it's all connected in one big nuclear tapestry. "We view what's happening in the show as canon," he said. In fact, the TV series will even delve into one of the most iconic bits of the "Fallout" mythos — we'll actually be getting an origin story for the smiling, thumbs-up-loving Vault Boy.