Although the recently announced showrunner for Amazon’sMass Effectshow doesn’t have a great deal ofsci-fiexperience, his underrated web series from 2012 teases a promising adaptation of Bioware’s iconic games.Mass Effectstands a very good chance of being one of thebest shows on Prime Videoif it’s done correctly, and the showrunner quietly and unofficially auditioned to take on the space opera over a decade ago.
Mass Effectshowrunner Daniel Casey is perhaps most well-known for penning the script for 2021’sFast & Furious 9. Although being trusted withFast 9provesCasey is more than capable of stepping into established franchises, it’s still somewhat worrying that the movie is so vastly different from whatMass Effectwill end up being. TheMass Effectgamesare hard sci-fi, and therefore use almost all the genre’s conventions. Although Casey’s work onFast 9doesn’t particularly set him up to create one of thebest video game adaptationsof all time, another of his past projects does.
Daniel Casey’s Drone Series On YouTube Proves He Can Do Sci-Fi Well
Casey was one of the writers on 2012’s Drone
Casey helped write the scripts for all four episodes ofDrone- stylized asDr0ne. The web series aired weekly in 2012, uploaded to YOMYOMF’s YouTube channel. Although the show’s premise isn’t the same asMass Effect’s,there are various elements ofDronethat would fit right in withMass Effect’s toneand overall aesthetic. So, Casey can draw on the quality ofDronewhen working on hisMass Effectadaptation - although the latter will require much more thought and a far more layered storyline.
Dronewas created by Robert Glickhert, who worked as part of the larger crew for 2007’sTransformersand 2008’sIron Man.
Casey’s limited filmography offers up only one other example of his sci-fi experience.2018’sKinis visually in line with whatMass Effectcould be- at least loosely - but the movie flopped financially as well as with critics. Hopefully, Daniel Casey’s work onDroneis more influential onMass EffectthanKinis. Otherwise, the choice of Casey asMass Effect’s showrunner will look pretty misguided in retrospect.
Amazon’s Mass Effect Adaptation Will Presumably Have A Much Bigger Budget Than Drone
Drone looks great for a four-part web series
Dronelooks every inch the slick sci-fi production it’s intended to be, but the nature of the studio making the show means the budget can’t have been that high. The CGI shots weren’t too extensive, but the ones that featured looked great, and the practical effects were equally brilliant. The show’s budget makes how wellDroneturned out all the more impressive and suggests thatMass Effectwill be even better given how much money Amazon will presumably put into adapting the source material into a live-actionsci-fishow.
