In July 2017, Netflix premiered the first season of Castlevania, an animated adaptation of Konami’s iconic NES game, Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse. For the next four years, viewers were enthralled and captivated by Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades, and Alucard’s adventures to put an end to Dracula’s reign of terror on the human world. In later seasons, the series pulled characters and plot points from other games such as Curse of Darkness, cameos of iconic monsters seen in various Castlevania games, as well as some original characters. Overall, the series was a wonderful combination of creative influence and rolled out to be arguably one of the greatest game-to-screen adaptations of all time.
The series ended with its fourth season just a little over a year ago.
For four years, the series maintained a consistently high rating. Season one remained in the top 20 Netflix shows for over an entire year, and seasons two and four both attained 100% approval ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Overall, Castlevania became one of Netflix’s most successful shows of all time.
Season four’s teaser trailer was revealed alongside the announcement that it’d be the final season, but after the season aired on Netflix, it was revealed that a sequel series had been green-lit. It’s sad to say goodbye to Trevor and Sypha. However, those who are long-time fans of the series can expect to see Alucard remain, this time fighting alongside one of the most beloved protagonists of the Castlevania franchise. In June 2021, Richter Belmont was announced to be the star of a new series alongside Maria Renard in a story set to take place during the French Revolution.
Earlier this year, Netflix revealed they’d be introducing commercials and advertisements into the services for the sake of ad venue which resulted in hundreds of users canceling their subscriptions. In response to this, Netflix cut their budget to their animation department, resulting in over one hundred people losing their jobs, and three projects being outright canceled. For some, the fate of the Castlevania franchise may have been brought into question, as there had been almost no news on it since the announcement back in 2021. Today, Netflix shed some light on the situation with a new teaser trailer for the series.
Introducing, Castlevania: Nocturne.
Those who played the games might know what to expect. Richter first appeared in the PC Engine game, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, quite possibly a contender for the greatest Castlevania game in the series. Directly taking place five years after the events of Rondo was the best-selling, and long-time fan-favorite game, Symphony of the Night. This was titled Nocturne in the Moonlight in Japan. Coincidence? Definitely not. Besides Richter and Maria, both games introduced a sub-villain, later turned primary villain, known as Shaft to act as Dracula’s priest and leader of the cult that worships him. No doubt, Shaft is excepted to be the main antagonist for Richter’s story, alongside Dracula.
Currently, the premier date has yet to be determined.
