Eragon Disney+ Series Announced

Television

The next in Hollywood’s long line of bastardized beloved young adult book series has been announced: Eragon, book 1 of The Inheritance Cycle, is coming to Disney+. This report comes exclusively from Variety. Above all other Hollywood companies, Disney has the worst track record for faithfully adapting beloved franchises. One must only look at Disney’s upcoming treatment of the Percy Jackson series to know that there is no hope for an accurate adaptation of this story. As such, fans cannot doubt that this show will mock and destroy the characters for which this series is known. No announcement of writers, cast, or footage is necessary for fans to know that this will share nothing in common with the incredible story it is adapting. Disney is incapable of telling good stories or even adapting them these days.

Eragon fans have suffered enough after the abysmal 2006 Eragon movie, which, in many ways, was far worse an adaptation than even M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender. A horrific Disney+ series is not what they need. The issues raised by current woke Hollywood aside, Disney has a history of making properties overly innocent and child-like. Eragon may be a YA series, but it is an incredibly mature one meant for older teens. If this series is “Disneyfied” and sanitized for a more family-friendly audience, much of the story’s weight will be lost. A censored and homogenized Disney version of Eragon will be but a poor shade of the thrilling and gripping story that the books detailed so well. Even in the best of times, Disney would be far from a good option to adapt this story.

Despite Disney’s involvement, two pieces of good news came with this announcement. Reportedly, the author of the books, Christopher Paolini, will serve as co-writer of the series. Even with Paolini’s involvement, Disney will not likely allow an accurate retelling of this story. The position is most likely honorary; even if it isn’t, studio interference will plague this production and prevent Paolini from telling his story. There will, without a doubt, be race swaps, gender swaps, the degradation of male characters, and the propping up of female characters. Under such overbearing studio requirements, how can Paolini truly tell the story of Eragon again? The truth is, it will be impossible. Additionally, inspired by #ReleasetheSnyderCut, a fan movement to #RemakeEragon online is what fueled this announcement. Praise must be given to Disney for unexpectedly listening to their fans. However, they likely only saw the dollar signs that accompany this movement.

No amount of fan enthusiasm or author involvement can save a Disney+ adaptation. These two pieces of good news are far from enough to give fans hope for this upcoming TV series. If fans believed the movie was bad, they can’t fathom how corrosively abysmal this series will doubtless be. This project is still in its infancy, so the depths of depravity the show will sink to are only beginning. More announcements will likely come in the coming months to smother any hope derived from the fan movement and the author’s involvement. Writers, showrunners, and cast have yet to be announced. Those announcements will surely signal how farcical this adaptation will end up being.