Arcane

TV Show
STUDIO Netflix
RELEASED 2021

The delicate balance between the rich city of Piltover and the seedy underbelly of Zaun. Tensions between these city-states boil over with the creation of 'hextech', a way for any person to control magical energy in Piltover, and in Zaun, a new drug called 'shimmer' transforms humans into monsters. The rivalry between the cities splits families and friends as Arcane brings life to the relationships that shape some of League of Legends' famous champions including Vi, Jinx, Caitlyn, Jayce, Viktor, and Ekko.

Knowledge

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Arcane Source

'Enemy' Cracked the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10

The Arcane theme song didn't just do well for a TV tune, it genuinely blew up. 'Enemy' hit number one on Billboard's Top TV Songs chart, climbed into the Hot 100's top 10, and gave JID his first ever top five single in the US.

Arcane Source

Arcane Knocked Squid Game Off the Top Spot

Within just three days of dropping, Arcane had already dethroned Squid Game as the most-watched show on Netflix worldwide, debuting at number one in 37 countries. Not bad for a show based on a video game most non-players had never even heard of.

Arcane Source

Season Two Beat Season One's Numbers by a Mile

According to Netflix's own engagement reports, season two racked up 234 million hours watched in its first 28 days, well ahead of season one's 166 million over the same window. That makes it one of the biggest jumps in viewership between seasons for any Netflix original.

Arcane Source

Season Two Reportedly Cost $250 Million

Arcane's second season carried a reported budget of around $250 million, which puts it up there as one of the most expensive animated series ever produced. Given how hand-crafted the animation is, with animators acting out scenes themselves rather than relying on shortcuts, it's not exactly a shock.

Arcane Source

Casting News Landed the Same Day as Hawkeye's Trailer

When Riot Games announced the Arcane voice cast in September 2021, it happened to land on the exact same day as the trailer for Marvel's Hawkeye, which stars Hailee Steinfeld, the same actor voicing Vi. Total coincidence, but it made for a pretty big week for her.

Arcane Source

JB Blanc Voices Both Vander and Warwick

JB Blanc doesn't just voice Vander, he also plays Warwick once the transformation happens, meaning the same actor carries the character all the way through his tragic arc from father figure to feral weapon.

Arcane Source

Fortiche's Animators Acted Out the Fights Themselves

Rather than lean on motion capture or shortcuts, Fortiche's animators regularly filmed themselves acting out scenes with household props standing in for guns and hammers, then used that footage as reference. It's part of why the fights and small facial moments feel so lived-in rather than stiff.

Arcane Source

Arcane Was Announced at League's 10th Birthday Party

Riot first teased Arcane back in October 2019, dropping it as a surprise during League of Legends' 10th anniversary celebrations. CEO Nicolo Laurent said at the time they were already planning for multiple seasons, which is a bold claim to make before a single frame had aired.

Arcane Source

The Show Was Originally Meant for 2020

Arcane was supposed to land a full year earlier than it did, but COVID-19 pushed the release back to November 2021. Given how hands-on the animation process is, with real actors filmed as reference for nearly every scene, a pandemic delay to that kind of workflow makes a lot of sense.

Arcane Source

The Concept Existed Years Before Production Started

Christian Linke and Alex Yee first pitched the idea for a League of Legends show back in the mid-2010s, and Riot's own founders were reportedly hesitant at first since it was a big risk for a game studio. Riot ended up quietly funding concept art and even a test pilot episode in 2016 before the project got the proper greenlight.