Arcane‘s Amanda Overton Talks Love, Conflict, and All Things CaitVi

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Arcane‘s 2nd and last play has not lone meant a batch to its fans and League of Legends-maker, Riot Games, it’s besides meant a batch to the radical down the scenes who brought the Emmy award-winning animated bid to light. Moreover, the show, which is wide regarded arsenic 1 of the best video crippled adaptations ever, besides has the added payment of centering its epic communicative astir a queer couple, Vi and Caitlyn Kiramman.

To summation insights into the intimacy, love, and struggle successful Arcane‘s last play (and get juicy details astir the CaitVi vessel consecutive from the source), we spoke with pb writer Amanda Overton and asked her however she, Riot Games, and Fortiche worked unneurotic to bring the show’s astir resonant moments to life.

The interrogation has been edited for brevity.

Isaiah Colbert, io9: Video crippled adaptations often locomotion the enactment for fans with however good they travel their root worldly and whether oregon not they spell to the bushed of their ain drum. What was your guiding rule for penning Arcane’s 2nd and last season?

Amanda Overton: The guiding rule was ever to marque the champion TV amusement possible. We were truly fortunate that Riot was down america successful saying, “We cognize this is simply a TV show, not a game. You bash you erstwhile it comes to making the champion TV amusement you can.”

Christian [Linke] and Alex [Yee] had been astatine Riot Games since determination were lone 40 radical astatine that company. Alex really helped make a batch of the champions that everybody loved. And they truly loved the game, truly loved the fans. We ever wanted to beryllium inspired by the game, and determination was an constituent of however overmuch of the crippled and the lore we could gully from truthful that fans would admit things that they loved successful the amusement arsenic well.

One of the funniest examples for maine is creating the Z-Drive for Ekko successful occurrence seven. He had this lore of having crafted the Z-Drive, the magic from these antithetic shards of magic crystals, and we were like, “Oh, we person shards of magic crystals that mightiness beryllium near successful the partition of that breathtaking lawsuit successful our series.” We thought it would beryllium amusive if it was thing that ended up successful that alternate world sidesplitting Vi, 1 of our favourite characters, past it would instrumentality Powder overcoming her affectional trauma successful bid to assistance him with that. It was a mode to beryllium inspired by the lore and adhd that affectional magnitude we had crafted successful the tv series.

Caitlyn Kiramman Arcane League Of Legends Netflix

io9: Arguably, 1 of Arcane’s astir gratifying moments was the canonization of Caitlyn and Vi. In a mean that’s often been accused of queerbating, fetishizing, burying its gays, oregon outright censoring them, arsenic was the lawsuit with The Legend of Korra’s Korrasami, queer animation fans person gotten utilized to getting the abbreviated extremity of the instrumentality with their romances either being heavy implied oregon flatly denied. Online, you’ve go known arsenic a soothsayer with your credits connected shows similar Monarch and Severance, with their queer representation. What went into your caput erstwhile penning an explicitly queer practice successful 1 of the astir salient video game-adapted tv shows betwixt Caitlyn and Vi?

Overton: In the precise archetypal week of the writer room, I was like, “OK, where’s the romance successful the show?” And [Link and Yee] were like, “It’s going to beryllium Cait and Vi. They’ve been hinted astatine successful the game, but they’ve ne'er been made canon. So we privation our amusement to marque them canon.” And I was like, “I tin assistance you with that” due to the fact that I ever loved video games my full life. I loved these big, monolithic IP shows and stories. And I deliberation the archetypal clip I saw [The Last of Us:] Left Behind, I sobbed. I sobbed for similar 24 hours consecutive due to the fact that it felt similar a queer narration successful a abstraction that I had loved truthful overmuch for truthful long. It’s truly hard to admit the lack of a thing, but past erstwhile you yet spot it for the archetypal time, that makes a immense quality to maine to spot and consciousness that.

For me, it was conscionable a immense work to archer an epic series-long romance. We were going to marque them endgame. So we had to make, for me, the astir satisfying things are the journeys that are astir hard to travel by. I was like, “Well, we’ve got to marque this arsenic hard arsenic possible. If Caitlyn’s an enforcer, what if enforcers killed Vi’s parents?” That was thing we invented successful the archetypal week of the country truthful they would person the hardest imaginable travel to travel together.

But we besides needed to recognize however they could autumn successful love. That needs to beryllium based connected communal respect. The archetypal hurdle we had was Caitlyn. She’s an enforcer [with] a beingness of privilege. She didn’t person to fight, but she chose to fight. Whereas Vi, for her full life, felt similar to get anything, she ever had to fight. So, she could look astatine idiosyncratic who didn’t person to combat and chose to combat anyway. That was the kernel of, “Oh, she could respect that successful Caitlyn.” If we could find immoderate crushed that these 2 precise other radical could respect each other, past we could find a mode to marque them autumn successful love.

queen of queens pic.twitter.com/E4IJpcM5FU

— mey (@cupc444it) December 4, 2024

io9: Can you picture what it was similar seeing the elephantine CaitVi mural successful Brazil?

Overton: No (laughs)! It was truthful overwhelming. I couldn’t adjacent find words for it. It truly was. The mural astatine the finale lawsuit erstwhile the country of them getting unneurotic yet happens—the enactment scene—the instrumentality absorption was the loudest of the full extremity of the series. It was arsenic large arsenic a pitchy engine, the dependable feline told me.

To spot radical cheering truthful overmuch for 2 queer characters to get together, that’s ne'er happened to maine before. You spot a elephantine mural of 2 women successful emotion successful the halfway of a elephantine city. That’s ne'er happened to maine before. My 16-year-old self, who felt awkward and weird and loved video games and Star Wars, and ne'er felt similar she belonged. If she saw this, she would consciousness similar she belonged. That’s the crushed I constitute stories now, truthful it means the satellite to me.

io9: One constituent of contention fans person had with the play is its pacing successful the 2nd act. Many fans were hoping Caitlyn’s crook to fascism would past longer and beryllium challenged successful a large way—likely by Ekko (though he’s noticeably absent). Caitlyn does travel to grips with her autumn from grace by saying “I know” alternatively than “I’m sorry” erstwhile Vi holds her feet to the occurrence successful their confrontation successful enactment three. What does Caitlyn’s “I know” signify to you?

Overton: I deliberation we ever effort to amusement with actions—I deliberation actions are acold much almighty than words. So we ever knew that Caitlyn’s apology to Vi would instrumentality spot successful the mode she was capable to forgive Jinx. She had Jinx successful custody. She could person gotten the justness that she ever wanted. Instead, she chooses Vi. In letting Vi flight and person the key, there’s a satellite wherever Vi and Jinx disappear, and she ne'er sees either of them again. So she precise selflessly gave up thing she wanted astatine that infinitesimal to effort and instrumentality an enactment that would beryllium doing the close thing—that would beryllium atoning for those mistakes.

Like she says, you tin ne'er instrumentality backmost the mistakes. You tin lone effort to marque up for them. And so, I deliberation that “I know” is her acknowledging to everyone that “I made mistakes, and I can’t instrumentality them back, but I tin surely instrumentality enactment to effort and hole that.” And successful the end, she gives her eye. She’s consenting to dice and springiness her oculus to effort again, to effort and support making up for those mistakes.

io9: Maddie was a quality Arcane fans loved to hatred this play due to the fact that she served arsenic Caitlyn’s rebound from Vi. From a writer’s perspective, was Maddie’s intent successful the show—to springiness fans thing to hate, oregon was determination an added furniture of reasoning to enactment her arsenic a foil to Caitlyn and Vi’s romance?

Overton: The biggest romances request obstacles. One of the things that Caitlyn was struggling with this play was, “Who americium I present that my mom’s gone and I’m the caput of the Kiramman family? Do I person to bash what my ma wanted maine to do? Do I person to unrecorded the Kirraman sanction similar my ma did, oregon tin I marque it my own?” And so, successful the beginning, she leans into the assembly and the enactment that her ma did. I didn’t conscionable privation it to beryllium professional, I wanted it to besides beryllium personal. What would it look similar if she dated idiosyncratic her ma might’ve approved of? And so, I deliberation for her, she’s trying connected things to spot if they acceptable and realizes they don’t. And that helps her recognize what she truly wants.

io9: Obviously, this interrogation has go the CaitVi interview, truthful I’ve got you cornered present to inquire immoderate of those questions. It goes without saying that Caitlyn and Vi ever dug each different successful the archetypal season, whether it beryllium done ocular tells similar their galore microexpressions, stolen glances astatine each other, match-frame shots. This play ramped things up successful a large mode successful a country wherever Caitlyn held Vi captive and—instead of whipping Vi’s spit distant from her rima similar a mean person—Caitlyn wiped it crossed her lips. It behooves maine to ask, did you person a manus successful concocting that scene? And if so, what was going done either person’s caput astatine that moment?

Overton: The spit country oregon the enactment scene?

io9: The spit scene. We’ll get to the different one.

Arcane Caitlyn Kiramman Vi Caitvi Netflix

Overton: I deliberation a storyboard creator oregon an animator did that. That’s not thing that I had a manus in. The full squad knew from the opening that this mates was gonna beryllium the endgame. There were 400 radical moving connected the show, pitching ideas and figuring retired ways to marque them unneurotic from the magnitude of clip they clasp to which absorption they determination their hands. Every azygous idiosyncratic was successful connected this together. That’s different crushed determination are truthful galore peculiar small moments betwixt them: due to the fact that it was specified a squad effort to bring this to life.

io9: Now we’ve arrived astatine the enactment talk! Arcane’s eighth occurrence sees Caitlyn and Vi yet culminating their romance. Were determination immoderate hard lines oregon notes you had arsenic woody breakers for however the intimacy of the emotion country would beryllium depicted, and what it perfectly needed to person incorporated into it? If so, what and why?

Overton: Another idiosyncratic that truly helped bring that to beingness was the storyboard artist, Silvia [Martelossi]. She, similar everybody, enactment each of their ideas of what they wanted to spot successful there. Our guiding airy was that this was the culmination of emotion and a romanticist narration successful our series, truthful it had to beryllium amended than that Jayce and Mel enactment scene. It had to amusement more. It had to bring to beingness everything that these characters were and had done.

I ever attack penning a enactment country the aforesaid mode I attack penning an enactment country [and] a dialog scene. There person to beryllium melodramatic twists and turns that hap successful that enactment that reveals thing astir the characters, from however playful they are, however susceptible they are, and the mode they look astatine each other. Every azygous infinitesimal of that, you had to larn thing caller astir their relationship. It says a batch astir the enactment of the apology, the enactment of Cait having regret for having deed Vi astatine the extremity of occurrence three. All of that is successful there. That’s wherefore I’m truly arrogant of however overmuch that country says astir them, the climax of their arcs, and the forgiveness that they’re some consenting to person for each different successful that moment. To me, that the astir important happening to do.

And again, that full squad came together. Our storyboard artist, Silvia, truly worked hard. She crafted a batch of fantastic beats, [and gave them] a batch of texture there. The episode’s directors besides helped. Christian, Alex, everybody had a say. They besides truly listened to me. They’re like, “Amanda, what bash you think?” And I was like, “Well, arsenic the lesbian successful the room, what astir this?” And they respected, helped, empowered, and rallied astir maine to marque it consciousness arsenic authentic arsenic it could. I cognize everyone has a antithetic perspective, but to me, it felt similar thing the satellite hadn’t seen earlier successful a communicative similar a large video crippled IP. They conscionable didn’t exist. I deliberation we were capable to enactment each azygous happening into that country that we wanted to enactment into it.

Netflix Arcane Vi Caitlyn Kiramman Fortiche

io9: What is the value of their archetypal clip being successful a jailhouse cell?

Overton: Honestly, the archetypal clip that was pitched to me—it wasn’t my archetypal idea—I was like, “Really, the jailhouse cell?” Whenever you powerfully respond to something, I deliberation that’s an denotation that you request to thin into it and explore. That’s what storytelling is: having beardown affectional reactions to thing and past figuring retired why. And I was like, “Oh, well, this could beryllium a mode for Vi to reclaim that abstraction for herself and usage that to enactment done immoderate of her past trauma oregon to reframe things that had been antagonistic successful her beingness to thing positive.” I was like, “We’re gonna person to enactment truly hard, you guys, to marque this the close spot for this moment.” I deliberation with the lighting, the framing, and the mode that the directors orchestrated everything felt beautiful.

When we got to spot her tattoo for the archetypal time—everyone wanted to spot her full tattoo— I was like, “Well, that’s gonna hap successful that scene.” The mode we uncover that got to beryllium truly beauteous and peculiar for some of them—Cait’s absorption to seeing my tattoo [and] Cait’s absorption to everything successful that moment. Everybody worked truly hard to marque that determination enactment and I deliberation everyone has a visceral absorption to that. That’s what you privation arsenic a writer. You privation your assemblage to consciousness thing visceral erstwhile they spot something. So I was truly arrogant of the squad for making that work.

io9: Aside from CaitVi, Arcane play 2 has besides done stellar enactment with different dynamics—with confirmed ships similar Jinx and Ekko oregon an implied alt-universe romance betwixt Silco and Vander. But 1 of the biggest ships to travel retired of Arcane extracurricular of CaitVi is simply a vessel betwixt Jayce and Viktor, acknowledgment successful large portion to the intimacy of their penning passim the amusement and however they spell out, arsenic the fans say, successful a “cosmic yaoi” style. Was the penning of Jayce and Viktor’s narration intended to beryllium strictly platonic, oregon are fans justified successful speechmaking it arsenic romantic?

Overton: Fans are ever justified successful speechmaking things the mode they privation to due to the fact that that’s portion of making art. When you bash a happening for it based connected you, it doesn’t really person meaning until different radical springiness it their ain meaning. My backstory is precise antithetic from your backstory and my experiences are precise antithetic from yours truthful I tin lone talk from my experience. When I enactment a happening that I’ve written retired successful the world, past everyone brings their ain antithetic experiences to it.

We were penning them arsenic a loving, brotherly narration that unambiguously [had] emotion betwixt them. When it got to that last moment, it was truthful romanticist and beauteous to maine erstwhile I saw it for the archetypal time—the mode Fortiche enactment it together—I was like, “Oh, good possibly determination is anticipation [for] these guys to person immoderate aboriginal beyond what the amusement intended.” That was truly chill for maine to see. If radical privation to ideate that, I deliberation they can, and that’s wonderful. Now that the amusement is over, if there’s the imaginable for that retired there, past that’s imaginable that our fans tin recognize for themselves.

io9: On Twitter, you mentioned that occurrence seven, “Pretend Like It’s the First Time,” was your favourite episode. Going by the outpouring of instrumentality creation and Stormae’s opus topping the planetary charts, it’s harmless to accidental the feeling is mutual. What makes the occurrence specified a standout for you arsenic a writer?

Overton: What makes it specified a standout is that you truly tin lone bash a standalone oregon an occurrence that exists extracurricular the operation of a amusement erstwhile you successfully found the operation of a show. We were capable to travel up with a precise accordant mentation of however Arcane feels, however Arcane is paced, and the stories that we’re telling. Then we were capable to measurement extracurricular of that for 1 occurrence and marque thing a small spot antithetic than what Arcane is: thing much hopeful, thing much colorful, and thing benignant of much of a rom-com. It inactive has each the seeds of Arcane, but I ever called it the ’90s romance occurrence of Arcane. I was like, “Yes, that’s thing I tin wholly do. Teen romance, I emotion it.”

We’ve seen a batch of alternate universes present and however drawstring mentation has percolated with the Marvel infinite beingness tv shows doing that. We said, “Let’s instrumentality that and bash our version.” Because everyone’s truthful acquainted with this close now, we don’t person to walk overmuch clip explaining the multiverse. People volition conscionable instantly get “multiverse,” which means we tin thin into what the imaginable of this narration could be.

Ekko gets to spot Benzo again; helium gets to spot Vander again, and helium gets to spot Milo and Clagger if they grew up. And astir importantly, helium gets to spot a mentation of Powder who grew up not becoming Jinx. I deliberation [that’s] what was large astir that episode. We got to spot and ideate a aboriginal for each these characters that didn’t person 1 successful our series. For Powder successful particular, we got to amusement that there’s ever immoderate Jinx successful Powder. Which is important due to the fact that successful the different timeline we got to amusement that there’s ever gonna beryllium immoderate Powder successful Jinx.

That was breathtaking for us, to beryllium capable to springiness much extent to some of those characters and springiness Ekko everything helium needs successful the different timeline to benignant of implicit his arc. He got disillusioned with the acheronian of Zaun and from having to combat truthful long. We were capable to usage the romance and emotion successful that occurrence to bring anticipation backmost into Ekko’s beingness truthful that helium would beryllium warring from a spot of anticipation again.

io9: Endings are hard, though it’s a testament to the amusement and your penning that the large ailment from a bulk of fans is that they privation they had much clip with the show. If you could grow thing from the show, what constituent of the amusement would you person liked to person had much clip exploring and why?

Overton: The 2nd play took 4 years for america to constitute and produce. So, we combed implicit and spent a batch of clip putting successful each country we thought was important, tracking each arc [and] storyline that we could. We’re precise arrogant of however overmuch each of those stories landed for radical and however radical felt affectional transportation and knowing of the arcs that we chose to tell. It’s fantastic to perceive that people’s biggest ailment is they privation they had much clip with these characters. That’s a precise flattering, humbling happening for a writer to consciousness similar we’ve crafted characters and stories that radical resonate with truthful overmuch and truthful deeply.

If I could conscionable constitute a caller oregon constitute thing other extracurricular of the discourse of Arcane, I truly loved Viktor’s character. He had 1 of the biggest arcs successful the full series. I would privation to dive into his mindset a small spot much and his past. We had a batch of ideas astir who helium was erstwhile helium lived successful Zaun, who his parents were, [and] however that shaped who helium was. So, possibly the Viktor backstory caller would beryllium thing that would beryllium interesting.

Arcane Vi Netflix Caitlyn Kiramman Riot Games

io9: What does Caitlyn’s question astir Vi “still being successful the fight” mean to you?

Overton: I deliberation the champion endings person ever near things unsaid and unfastened to interpretation. Those are the endings wherever I’m like, “But what did they mean by that?” I was like, “Ooh, we nailed that last line.” So galore radical deliberation 1 thing, but different radical tin deliberation different happening astir Jinx’s destiny and things similar that, and wherefore they made the choices they made. But I deliberation what Caitlyn [said], what I took distant from that was, the things that they person to bash are conscionable opening alternatively than being over.

The characters are rather young successful our series. They’re similar successful their aboriginal 20s oregon 20 years old. And maine being successful my 40s, I’m like, “That’s a full ‘nother beingness with things that you guys person to bash together.” And the things that I’ve learned successful the past 20 years, I’d accidental that’s astir of what I’ve learned successful my full life. So we wanted to accidental that their stories are conscionable opening unneurotic and what they’re going to bash adjacent is—it’s benignant of present up to the assemblage to determine and imagine.

io9: You’re acceptable to develope Fortiche’s upcoming sci-fi Greek mythology story, Penelope of Sparta. What should fans expect retired of the bid fixed what you’ve accomplished with Arcane?

Overton: We’re trying to usage that the signature Fortiche benignant to make a caller IP that they bash connected their own. This was an thought that Fortiche had that they came to maine and pitched. They wanted to bash a prequel to The Odyssey. They wanted to bash thing acceptable successful a Greek mythology-inspired world, but with the Fortiche twist connected it.

We’ve been moving connected that task present for a year, processing what’s the communicative that we similar successful a antithetic satellite that isn’t the Runeterra and League of Legends universe. I deliberation you tin expect romance, you tin expect trauma, and tragedy. Like each bully Greek epics, it is astir however a idiosyncratic household communicative affects the governmental connected a large scale. You tin expect a batch of calamity with a small spot of hope.

io9: With Arcane bookended, what are your hopes moving guardant for aboriginal penning projects? Are determination immoderate imagination projects successful the wings?

Overton: Obviously, Arcane was a imagination task for me, to get to enactment connected a video crippled adaptation being specified a large video crippled fan. [Arcane is] specified a immense expansive monolithic world-building show. Those are things I emotion to bring to life. Getting to person that canon queer mates arsenic astatine the halfway of the show, those are each my boxes checked disconnected successful 1 project. But I deliberation moving forward, I would similar opportunities to archer much stories successful spaces similar that. There’s been a batch of truly large adaptations of video games coming retired recently. I’m truly excited by the imaginable aboriginal storytelling for those adaptations and I anticipation that Arcane tin benignant of pave the mode and unfastened the doorway to get to bash much stories similar that.

All episodes of Arcane are streaming connected Netflix.

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