I’m not the biggest gamer in the world, but Assassin’s Creed has long been one of my favorites to see get a video game adaptation. We've gotten our first major update on the television series that will eventually be available with a Netflix subscription. The show, which will be the first adaptation of the popular game franchise since the 2016 movie starring Michael Fassbender.
It's safe to say that fans of the franchise didn't exactly love that movie, but hope springs eternal with a new adaptation, that we'll hopefull see sometime on the 2026 TV schedule.
It's still early days, but we do have some casting news and some filming location news, so here's everything we know about the Assassin’s Creed TV show, as well as a bit of history about the video game franchise.
When Will The Show Premiere On Netflix?
This is the biggest question of the day. Now that Deadline has officially announced the show is going forward after years of discussions, when will we actually see the show? Well, the release date is unknown at this point. The maker of the game, Ubisoft, and Netflix first announced a deal to develop an Assassin’s Creed universe in 2020.
The first attempt to develop a show was announced in 2021, with Jeb Stuart, who wrote Die Hard and created Vikings: Valhalla for Netflix, set to be involved, but nothing seemed to come of that. Since then, and until the announcement early in July 2025, there was very little news on a potential show, with a brief update in 2022 that didn’t yield much info.
There hasn’t been any news thus far about when production will officially start, though according to a report in Deadline, production is expected to start in 2026.
Here's The Cast
We are starting to get some casting news which is exciting. The first three cast members were announced by Netflix in December 2025. There is likely to be a lot more news soon, including, hopefully, some hints about who each cast member is playing. That might also give us some hints as to when and where the story will set.
Toby Wallace
One of the first cast members announced is Pistol star Toby Wallace. Wallace recently wrapped on Season 3 of the steamy HBO show Euphoria, which he joined this season, and this looks like Assassin's Creed is the next project he is slated for. The Netflix press release revealed nothing about who Wallace would be playing in the new show.
Wallace doesn't have the same recognition of some of his fellow Euphoria stars like Sidney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, or Zendaya, yet, but Season 3 drops in January and he's sure to have a much higher profile after that!
Zachary Hart
Zachary Hart, who appeared in a small role in another video game adaptation, The Witcher: Blood Origin has also been announced. Hart's credits are minimal, but his star is on the rise, having also appeared in the Apple TV hit Slow Horses in Season 4.
Lola Petticrew
Lola Petticrew is probably best know for their roles in Say Nothing and Bloodlands. This will be their most high-profile role outside of the U.K. and Ireland. Again, like the others in the cast, we don't know who they are playing yet, but all the casting news is exciting.
Two Veteran Showrunners Will Be In Charge Of The Show
Roberto Patino and David Wiener are the creators, showrunners, and executive producers of the Assassin’s Creed show for Netflix. Patino was an executive producer for the first two seasons of Westworld (by far the best two seasons of that show) and created DMZ, both for HBO. He also has written for shows like Sons of Anarchy and Prime Suspect.
Wiener brings previous video game adaptation experience, having been the showrunner on Season 2 of Halo, which you can watch now with a Paramount+ subscription. He was also the showrunner on the underrated Brave New World series on Peacock. Before that, he was an executive producer on Fear the Walking Dead.
I think both Patino and Wiener bring a lot to the table here, and it seems like the show is in capable hands. As they said in their press release,
Beneath the scope, the spectacle, the parkour and the thrills is a baseline for the most essential kind of human story — about people searching for purpose, struggling with questions of identity and destiny, and faith.
Before adding a little tease about the kind of show it might be,
It is about power and violence and sex and greed and vengeance.
It will be exciting to follow the development of the show, especially with who the producers add to the cast in the coming weeks and months. One casting possibility that I think would be really fun is Kristen Bell, who played a voice role in the first three installments of the video game series, but that is just wishful thinking on my part.
I Can’t Wait To See Where The Series Takes Us
For me, the most exciting news from the latest report is that filming will take place in Italy in 2026. We don't know what time period the show will be set in, but the location certainly gives me hope that the it will be during the Italian Renaissance. My favorite game of the series is Assassin's Creed II, which takes place primarily across two cities in modern-day Italy, Florence and Venice, plus the small town of Monteriggioni, during the Renaissance. This is the game I would love to see the series be based on.
One of the reasons I got hooked on the Assassin’s Creed video games is the rich history it incorporates into each game. If you’re not familiar with the franchise, the lore is that the Order of Assassins is locked in a centuries-long, secret war with the Knights Templar. Both secret societies are based on real historical groups, but from there, the story is highly fictionalized, though some actual events and figures from history do make appearances.
Each game in the series (there have been 14 games thus far) takes place in a different time and place in history. Those points in history are reached through a time machine of sorts, called an “Animus,” which simulates the past and allows the user to tap into his or her genetic code and physicality of an ancestor, reliving the past. Yeah, it’s a little confusing, so that’s one thing I’m excited to see the show tackle.
From there, the sky is the limit as to when and where the Animus could take us on the show. The first game was set during the Third Crusade in the Holy Land, for example. The franchise has also had games set in Ancient Greece, the American Revolution, and the Viking invasion of 9th-century England, for example.
We don't know what the show will be about yet, of course, but I've got my fingers crossed it will be the same period as the second installment of the franchise.
This Isn’t The First Adaptation Of The Video Game Franchise
In 2016, director Justin Kurzel teamed up with Michael Fassbender to bring Assassin’s Creed to the big screen. The movie took place in a time and place that had never appeared in the game franchise, which I was disappointed in, but I didn’t hate the movie like some critics did.
As a fan of the games, I was intrigued by the new story, and I thought the action was fantastic, but it wasn’t a perfect representation of all the game can be. Even Michael Fassbender was critical of it, saying it wasn’t fun enough. The critical and box office failure of the movie doomed the potential franchise then, but I think a TV show actually makes a lot more sense, because so much more story can be developed.
Like most games these days, there is a lot to the story, and a movie maybe wasn't the right medium to build the kind of story these games have, and deserve. It's still early days, but frankly, I'm just glad this show doesn't look like it'll get stuck in production hell like some of the other attempts at developing adaptations.
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