Let's Talk About the FBAA Amazon Show

As most of you have probably seen, we're getting a From Blood and Ash streaming show on Amazon! And I have some thoughts since it's my favorite series. Most of my thoughts are good, but like any fan of the source material, I am uber nervous. I don't want them to mess up my favorite characters and scenes. And while some people say that they're totally separate things and you can still love one without loving the other, it's hard to separate the books from the adaptation once you get on-screen versions. Like Katniss and Peeta or Bella, Edward, and Jacob. I can usually go back to picturing the author's representation, but it's difficult. You have to actively remember these aren't the actors from the adaptation.

So I'm actually pretty happy with the show rights going to Amazon Studios. While I would have loved an HBO version, since they do GoT-level fantasy productions, I can understand why HBO wouldn't be shopping for more fantasy competition. Amazon on the other hand, seems to be going all in on the fantasy shows with The Rings of Power and The Wheel of Time on their current roster. I'm not a book purist for either of those, so I can't judge the shows based on that. I will say, I did like The Wheel of Time show, though the very last episode of season one was a bit of a dud. The writer/producer working on FBAA is from The Boys, which is another show I enjoy, so that's good news. Also, JLA will be producing as well, which means she'll have say on major changes. Thank the gods.

Now, let's talk casting. Poppy is probably going to get the most criticism in casting, as no one has a set definition of what her description is beyond being curvy, which could mean many-a-thing. JLA wasn't super clear on that and there have been tons of online arguments about it. All of which I find ridiculous. But anyway, someone with obvious curves will be necessary in the role. I've seen Danielle Rose Russell's name floating around as a fancast, and I think she could definitely do it. She's 23 years old, which is a bit older than Poppy, but I think they'll need to age up the characters anyway. I haven't seen her act before, so I'll have to look into that, but if they can get someone like Danielle, I think in appearance, they'll be golden. BUT, they need to have the obvious romantic tension with the actor playing Hawke.

Hawke is someone I can't imagine as any actor I know of. His fancasting is just super hard. He needs to have the gruff demeanor that Henry Cavill gives off playing Geralt in The Witcher, but the romantic tension and sexy banter with Poppy needs to be present, along with the friendship between him, Kieran, and his other group members. The closest representation of that I can think of is Ian Somerholder from The Vampire Diaries. Now, obviously both of these actors are too old, and also, Hawke has a darker skin tone. I believe JLA said he has a light brown skin tone, like someone from the Middle East would have (if Hawke lived on Earth). Also, I don't want a skinny, short guy playing Hawke. Make sure he's solidly built and over 6-feet tall please. The art shown here is by Jeleynai, and it was featured in The War of Two Queens book, so JLA must think it's fairly accurate to his representation. Its not quite what I imagine, but it's not a bad look for Hawke.

Now, let's talk about my favorite character, Kieran Contou. The casting must be perfect, or I will blow a gasket. I've seen two different major actors fancasted for Kieran, and while neither fits exactly as I see him, they are good representations of what I think Amazon should be looking for. I've seen Rege-Jean Page from Bridgerton and the actor from The Rings of Power, Ismael Cruz Cordova, mentioned. Both of whom are too old anyway. But, my major concern regarding Kieran is if they will keep to the source material with the trio's dynamics. Obviously, this is going to need to be a mature show, and if that joining doesn't happen (if the show is even renewed for a fourth season), I will be livid, especially if they turn Kieran into a Jacob-like character. He's so much more than that. Oh, and the wolven better have great CGI. I love them too much for bad CGI.

And the last thing I'm going to talk about is the setting. I think book one is fairly easy for a show's first season, since about 70% of it takes place in one area. As long as they have a pretty castle with some high walls, they should be good to go. They can build or CGI larger walls outside of the castle for Rise scenes. I imagine the inside-the-castle scenes kind of like the CW show Reign, with better acting and more expensive costuming of course. The Blood Forest will be interesting to see on screen. Will they use regular trees and give them a red filter? Create red trees? I'm very curious to see how they do it.

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Well, those are my thoughts on the FBAA Amazon show. I hope it's great, and I hope the books are finished before the show comes out. I want to have Poppy, Hawke, and Kieran as they are for the books and then have the TV show afterwords to ease my post-book-series pain and keep the characters alive a little longer. So how do you feel about an FBAA adaptation? Have you read the books? Let me know in the comments.