The Tomb Raider franchise is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. After her debut in 1996, Lara Croft quickly became a pop culture icon. Since then, she has starred in many Tomb Raider titles, the latest of which came out in 2018. While the gameplay has changed quite a bit since the first game, the series is very much still loved by fans. Since the last game ended with no clear direction, many people may be wondering where the series will go next.
Even though it has been almost three years since Shadow of the Tomb Raider released, it doesn’t look like Lara will be returning any time soon. To kick off the 25th anniversary celebrations this year, the Tomb Raider game director at Crystal Dynamics discussed future games. The team plans on uniting the Tomb Raider storylines from both the classic and reboot games. With 25 years of storytelling to look over, creating a cohesive timeline seems like quite a task. A Tomb Raider anime coming to Netflix, announced earlier this year, could be the key to doing to just that.
The most recent Tomb Raider games were not a continuation of the series but a sequel. They were meant to show how Lara became the Tomb Raider, in the first place. The developers also took her character in a different direction than the original games. She was much less confident in her abilities, especially in Tomb Raider (2013), and was a good deal more comionate and caring for others, while the original Lara was very self-assured and a lone-wolf. As her character developed through the reboot trilogy, Lara did begin to develop that confidence, though it sometimes led to disastrous mistakes. Her intelligence definitely remained the same between the two timelines, but reboot Lara was considerably more naive.
How The Tomb Raider Series Could Continue
By the ending of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Lara has learned quite a bit. She learned the consequences of being careless and selfish in dangerous situations, and that the pursuit of knowledge is not more important than people’s safety. This is quite a distinct change from the classic Lara. To be fair, this Lara wasn’t ever put in the types of situations her newer counterpart was. The reboot games definitely put a greater emphasis on Lara as a person. She interacted with a lot more people, and while she was alone for most of the gameplay, she had friends around that ed her.
By the end of the reboot trilogy, Lara is still not the standoffish lone wolf of the original games. She cares quite a bit for the people around her, and it shows. When it comes to uniting the two stories and timelines, it will be interesting to see how the developers handle her personality. It is possible that they could convincingly the two by meeting in the middle, but how well they can achieve this will depend on what they do with the story.
Because the most recent games were prequels, their storylines have nothing to do with that of the classic Tomb Raider trilogy. There are some references thrown around here and there nodding to the first games, but the reboot trilogy is its own thing. There are a couple ways that the developers could the two. The first option is to redo the classic titles. While the team no longer appears to be taking that route, it did look like they may have planned on it originally. At the very end of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Lara is at home in Croft Manor sitting in her study. The camera pans around the room showing various artifacts from the previous games. What is notable is that one of these details was patched out the day of the game’s release, but not before someone saw what they changed. Originally, there was a postcard from Jacquline Natla addressed to Lara. This could have simply been a nod to the older games, but because it was taken out, it looks like the developers initially wanted to retell that story but changed their minds.
Because there is no longer going to be a remake of the original trilogy, it looks like the next Tomb Raider game will have a significant time jump. But this transition from the Lara fans have come to know, to a new Lara that has gone on the adventures from the classic trilogy, could be rather abrupt and clumsy if fans don’t get to see the change happen. It is understandable why the Tomb Raider team at Crystal Dynamics doesn’t want to touch the older games, since many people consider them classics. But there still needs to be something that shows how Lara grows as a character. Fortunately, an opportunity presented itself earlier this year when the Tomb Raider animated series was announced.
Though there are few details about this Netflix show - or even a release date - a Tomb Raider show would provide the perfect opportunity for reboot Lara and classic Lara to unite. Instead of remaking the older games, this show could retell the story but through the lens of the new Lara. The Tomb Raider trilogy of the '90s are classics, but not everyone has access to them now, so new fans may not have ever experienced them in the first place. Retelling that story through a Netflix show would be the perfect way to introduce these fans to the story without having to remake the games.
How The Tomb Raider Animated Series Could Help Merge Timelines
If, however, the developers don’t want to revisit any of the old adventures, the Tomb Raider animated series could still be useful in bridging the gap between the two timelines. Instead of adapting the original trilogy, the show could tell Lara’s story right up until the 1996 game. That way fans can still see how Lara began to change, while also taking fans on a new adventure. The graphic novels did something similar in how they filled in the gaps between the reboot games. The anime could do the same, but with the two timelines.
Any new Tomb Raider games could follow the animated series, either directly or not, with a new story and a more mature Lara. Considering the developers don’t have the game's release planned anytime soon, this would also give them plenty of time to properly make one, especially because the show is still a ways out. Once all the gaps have been filled in by the series, they would be able to tell a new story much more seamlessly, without having to backtrack or explain anything. And the possibilities are truly endless with where they could take the franchise. Whatever the developers decide, the Tomb Raider series is beloved by many fans, who will be more than happy to follow Lara Croft on more adventures.
