Age Of Legends - What We Know So Far
The fantasy genre is having a major moment right now. Whether you're binging "The Witcher" or "Shadow and Bone" on Netflix, eagerly tracking the progress of the upcoming "Dungeons & Dragons" movie starring Chris Pine, or counting down the days until the premiere of Amazon's "Lord of the Rings" TV show, there's no time like the present to be a fan of epic fantasy tales. This week, fantasy lovers got some exciting news when it was revealed that Amazon's "Wheel of Time" series would be getting a three-movie prequel spin-off.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the first movie in this prequel trilogy will be entitled "Age of Legends." Screenwriter Zack Stentz ("The Flash" TV series, "Fringe") will write the "Age of Legends" script and will base it on the high fantasy world created by late author Robert Jordan in his "Wheel of Time" book series. One of the most exciting details about the news is that "Age of Legends" and its two sequels will "complement the storylines soon to be featured in a TV series from Sony Pictures Television and Amazon Studios," teasing the possibility of the "Wheel of Time" franchise expanding even further in the coming months.
No studio is attached at present to serve as partner or distributor for "Age of Legends," so at the moment the project is highly speculative. Further confusing matters, the production company behind "Age of Legends" is not in any way affiliated with either Amazon or Sony Pictures Television, and the team behind the forthcoming "Wheel of Time" series has been seeking to distance themselves from the announced prequel. That said, the attachment of Stentz suggests "Age of Legends" is actually in active development, and that should be good news for fans of Jordan's rich fantasy world.
Here's what else we know so far about "Age of Legends," including the release date, cast, and plot.
What is the release date of Age of Legends?
There is no official release date for "Age of Legends" at the time of announcement. However, the announcement of the movie allows us to at least figure out a reasonable time frame for when the movie could be released, barring any major production or release-related delays.
Zack Stentz, who penned the similarly epic first "Thor" movie, will need some time to write the fantasy tale "Age of Legends." In the case of Amazon's "Wheel of Time," showrunner Rafe Judkins and his room had 15 novels to use as source material. No one's suggesting the "Wheel of Time" isn't a beast to adapt — it surely is — but it's also a story already thoroughly told. "Age of Legends," on the other hand, purports to take place thousands of years before even the events of the prequel novel, "New Spring." The only extant material to adapt for these films includes two companion sourcebooks, a very short story about Lews Therin Telamon that takes place in the final moments of the titular Age, and a few scattered flashbacks from the series proper. In some ways, the lack of source material might be creatively liberating, but this film series is set in a time period that "Wheel of Time" fans have been discussing and hypothesizing about for decades. Stentz certainly has his work cut out for him.
There is also the matter of casting, planning a shooting schedule, location scouting, and other necessary production tasks to factor in, as well as the very essential matter of finding a studio who will serve as a partner or distributor. All of these essential moviemaking to-do's will go on for varying lengths of time. Right now, it is best to hope for a 2023 release, which would be the earliest release year if the "Age of Legends" production is able to get on the rails quickly.
Given the potential scale of "Age of Legends," this could turn into a tentpole feature at a studio and be given a summer or holiday release, too.
Who is in the cast of Age of Legends?
Contains potential spoilers for "The Wheel of Time"
No casting announcements have been made for "Age of Legends" yet. With the project officially announced to the press, we should expect to see some big casting news emerge in the next month, with the first bit of news revolving around the lead or leads of the film.
One of the key canonical figures from the Age of Legends is Lews Therin Telamon, who is reborn thousands of years later as Rand al'Thor, one of the main protagonists of "The Wheel of Time." He and his wife Ilyena seem like potential lead roles if Stentz chooses to focus his series around the twilight years of the Age and the ensuing War of Power. If Stentz does dare to broach the War of Power, and the Breaking of the World that followed, casting work will be complicated by the need to feature villains who will also play prominent roles on the Amazon Studios' series. It will be hard to satisfy Robert Jordan fans without featuring the critical Forsaken like Demandred, Lanfear, Graendal, and Ishamael — all of whom will no-doubt eventually be cast for Amazon's series.
With a plethora of characters set to be introduced in "Age of Legends," the door for casting is wide open. As we've seen with the "Wheel of Time" casting announcements, this is a world where there is plenty of opportunity to make diverse casting choices and also invest in up-and-coming actors to lead what will eventually become a three-movie franchise.
What is the plot of Age of Legends?
The general plot of "Age of Legends" was included in The Hollywood Reporter's announcement. Per THR, "Age of Legends" will take place "several millennia before" the events depicted in the "Wheel of Time" book series and will depict "a futuristic utopia powered by a magical force shared by men and women known as the One Power."
The synopsis continues, revealing the inciting incident that sets the action of "Age of Legends" into motion: "When an unspeakable evil is unleashed upon the world and men using the One Power become insane and destroy much of the planet, a small band of women unite under the White Tower and are humanity's last hope of survival."
What this synopsis strongly implies is that "Age of Legends" will reveal the origins of the Aes Sedai, the all-female order of channelers who can wield the One Power in the "Wheel of Time" books (via Fandom). If you've been following developments for Amazon's "Wheel of Time" or have read the books, then you'll know that Rosamund Pike's character, Moiraine Damodred, is a very powerful member of the Aes Sedai.
The logline above is almost certainly speculative, since Stentz has only barely commenced work on the script. That said, it's been troubling to readers in several ways, since it seems to conflate the canonical timelines established in the books. The "unspeakable evil" mentioned is likely the Dark One, Shai'tan, a primordial force that gains access to the world after a group of arrogant researchers at the Collam Daan University attempt to drill a hole into his cosmic cage in an effort to tap his power. This event is established canon, but it's also entirely unrelated to the founding of the Aes Sedai. The Aes Sedai are arguably in a golden age at the time the "Bore" is drilled into the Dark One's prison. Lews Therin Telamon is an Aes Sedai, and it's the actions he takes to ultimately end the War of Power and reseal the Dark One's prison that causes the Aes Sedai to forsake all male membership.
Perhaps we'll see this story play out in Stentz's film trilogy, or perhaps he will condense and shift events to suit the change in medium. Either way, he's got a lot of reading to do.