- Riot Games has released a new in-game cinematic for its next League of Legends season
- The five-minute video also appears to act as a prologue to Arcane's Noxus-set sequel show
- Mel Medarda is seen alongside other iconic Noxus characters, including Darius and LeBlanc
A new in-game League of Legends (LoL) cinematic appears to have teased our first look at one of Arcane's sequel projects.
The five-minute-long video, titled 'Welcome to Noxus', which was released yesterday (January 7) is, first and foremost, a fully CGI flick that markets the impending arrival of LoL's first season of the year. However, while the promo video has been created to increase the hype ahead of season 1's debut on January 9, it simultaneously acts as an epilogue to Arcane season 2 and/or a prelude to the highly-rated Netflix show's first follow-up.
Set to Teya's 'Bite Marks' track, the cinematic, which was developed in partnership with Fortiche – the French animation studio that made Arcane alongside Netflix and Riot – is filled with references to the trio's first animated LoL adaptation. The most obvious of those call-backs is Mel Medarda, the daughter of Noxian warlord Ambessa. As I mentioned in my Arcane season 2 act 3 ending explained piece, the series' final episode revealed Mel was traveling back to her homeland of Noxus to seek answers to, well, everything that happened to her in season 2. That includes how she acquired mage powers, why her now-deceased mother left Noxus with the aim of returning to conquer it with Piltover's Hextech, and what role The Black Rose has in the Medarda family's past, present and future.
Speaking of The Black Rose, there are numerous references to the clandestine organization throughout LoL's latest trailer. We get glimpses of LeBlanc, Vladimir, and Elise – three of The Black Rose's four most infamous members – and shots of Mel fighting off some of the cabal's dark magic-wielding magicians. Oh, and don't overlook LeBlanc's comment about "Piltover being a lesson" for The Black Rose to learn from. Clearly, this is a nod to events that transpired in Arcane seasons 1 and 2, so there's no denying that the Netflix series' storyline is reshaping, and maybe even retconning aspects of, the wider LoL universe.
There are plenty of other Noxian characters shown throughout the teaser, too. The assassin known as Katarina is the individual who spars with the arachnid-like Elis, while the hulking Freljord troll called Trundle is seen squaring off with, and then being defeated by Darius, who's one of the most iconic Noxian champions in LoL. The latter duel certainly suggests that Noxus is continuing its global expansion by trying to conquer the Freljord, which could be a secondary location that's explored in future spin-offs of Arcane, aka one of the best Netflix shows ever made.
Curiously, there's no mention or look at Noxus' Grand General Swain, who was teased in Arcane's last-ever episode by way of the six-eyed raven. Over on LoL's official Reddit page, some fans have been left baffled by his absence from the teaser, especially with how integral he is to this Runeterran region. Nevertheless, you can be sure that he'll be part of season 1 of LoL's 2025 calendar.
Ever since Arcane season 2 ended last November, fans have been clamoring for more information on the projects that Riot, Netflix, and Fortiche are cooking up. Right now, there's very little we know about these productions, which are still in the early stages of development, but some details have been revealed by Arcane's co-creator Christian Linke since the show's run on the world's best streaming service came to an end.
Speaking exclusively to TechRadar before season 2's debut on November 9, 2024, Linke and fellow co-creator Alex Yee claimed it'll be a long time before the next League of Legends adaptation lands on Netflix. In a separate interview with TechRadar that took place after its final chapter, Linke also denied that three Arcane spin-offs were in the works, before adding that he couldn't say when they'd be released or which LoL champions would appear in future projects. Thanks to this new LoL cinematic, it seems we may have some answers concerning the latter.
I covered Arcane season 2 extensively before, during, and post-release, so be sure to read more exclusives from yours truly about the series and its sequels in the section below.
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