Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is the new Netflix animated series based on the iconic video game series following the adventures of British archaeologist Lara Croft. Voicing the titular character is Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger), with Earl Baylon (Tomb Raider Survivor Trilogy) reprising his role as Jonah Maiava. The story takes place after the events of the video game reboot trilogy where Lara learns to become a hardened warrior.

Showrunner Tasha Huo wanted to pay homage to both the Survivor Trilogy and the classic Tomb Raider games by incorporating Lara’s past adventures in Yamatai island (as seen in Tomb Raider 2013) and characters from the older games. The show even incorporates outfits from her old and new games including the iconic shorts and tank top.

During a roundtable interview, Nerd Reactor had the chance to chat with Huo about the animated series.

Nerd Reactor: And watching this, I was curious on the setting for the show, right? I was like, “Is this going to be like a reboot of the game?” Is it going to continue on? And as I’m watching this, I’m learning, like, “Oh, it’s right after Shadow of the Tomb Raider.” And so what was it like getting to continue on with the story, with the characters like Jonah and Roth, etc?

Tasha Huo: It was super cool not to feel beholden to who we met or who we saw in the Survivor Series, or even who we met in those earlier games. Kind of we got to, in a way, create our own universe, but pick people that I remember really loving. Like Zip makes an appearance, right? And he’s from those older games, and I just missed him so much that I wanted him to be a part of the show.

But also loved Jonah so much. And these are all people who know Lara. Why not put them in the same universe? So it’s super cool, and yes, no one should expect it’s just a rehash of a video game. It’s its own Lara. It has its own story. It fits in the canon in a really cool way, and hopefully, we do something both new and also something that we all remember loving.

Nerd Reactor: I want to talk about the design for Lara Croft because, like you mentioned, you’re paying homage to the the OG games and the new stuff. And then we get to see her different outfits from the newer games and the old stuff. So what was that like in terms of balancing that out?

Tasha Huo: Yeah. I mean, one of my favorite parts about the series in general is how many outfit changes we get. You know, we get to go to the Arctic, and we get to have those cool jackets, and a lot of the designs were homages to outfits that we all loved from the game but also trying to take it a step forward and trying to explore this is a new Lara. She’s going to pick new outfits. We don’t want to see her in all the same stuff. So it’s fun to sort of give everybody a taste of both, because that’s what I wanted. I’m servicing myself as a fan, I think in that respect.

About Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

Synopsis: Following the events of the Survivor series, Lara Croft has abandoned her friends to embark on increasingly more perilous solo adventures. But she must return home when a dangerous and powerful Chinese artifact is stolen from Croft Manor by a thief with an uncanny personal connection. Her daring pursuit will take her on an adventure around the world and to the depths of forgotten tombs, where she will be forced to confront her true self, and decide just what kind of hero she wants to become.

The all-new animated Netflix series features the voices of Hayley Atwell (Lara Croft), Allen Maldonado (Zip), Earl Baylon (reprising his role as Jonah from Tomb Raider video games).

From Legendary Television, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is executive produced and written by Tasha Huo (The Witcher: Blood Origin, Red Sonja). Executive producers include dj2 Entertainment Founder and CEO Dmitri M. Johnson (Sonic the Hedgehog, Life is Strange), along with Timothy I. Stevenson; Jacob Robinson (Skull Island) under his company Tractor Pants; and Dallas Dickinson and Noah Hughes for Crystal Dynamics; as well as Howard Bliss and Jen Chambers. Powerhouse Animation is the Animation Studio with Brad Graeber serving as executive producer.

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is now available on Netflix.