Netflix's Tomb Raider Anime Casts Hayley Atwell As Lara Croft
From one British heroine to the next. Hayley Atwell is no stranger to portraying gun-wielding action heroes thanks to her turn as Peggy Carter in the lovely "Captain America: The First Avenger," her tragically short-lived ABC series "Agent Carter," and most recently reprising her role in the world of animation with the first episode of "Marvel's What If...?" series on Disney+. Between that and a handful of other roles, Atwell has proved to be an exceedingly capable voice actor (a completely different skillset than more conventional acting, it should be noted!) and will be continuing as such with Netflix's "Tomb Raider" anime series. Atwell will be voicing Lara Croft herself in the series that will follow the events of the popular video game.
Taking Over as the Tomb Raider
Netflix and Legendary Television have jointly announced that Hayley Atwell, known for "The Duchess," "Captain America," and an episode of "Black Mirror," has been recruited to voice the character of adventurer Lara Croft in the new anime series. It's almost unbelievable that it's taken this long for the ever-popular character to make the leap to anime, having starred in several video games amounting to over 84 million copies sold since her first blocky appearance in 1996 and launched two separate film franchises: one led by Angelina Jolie, and most recently by Alicia Vikander in 2018's "Tomb Raider." Netflix has clearly picked up on the untapped market for anime, having greenlit multiple "He-Man" shows, a "Terminator" anime series, "Godzilla," Pacific Rim," and even one based on "Kong: Skull Island."
Having played all three games in the recent "Tomb Raider" trilogy, actor Camilla Luddington ("Californication," "True Blood," "Grey's Anatomy") has done an impeccable job in helping bring Lara Croft to life. The games themselves reached something of a ceiling in terms of finding ways to keep Lara's nearly unhinged passion for jumping headfirst into danger as interesting as possible, but it's exciting to know that her previous journeys and experiences won't simply be dismissed or unacknowledged. Carrying on in the same continuity is definitely the right call and getting an actor as talented as Hayley Atwell to take over as her voice is nothing short of a coup.
Tasha Huo ("The Witcher: Blood Origin," "Red Sonja") will write and executive produce the new series, joined by executive producers Dmitri M. Johnson ("Sonic the Hedgehog," "Life is Strange"), Howard Bliss and Stephan Bugaj, and Jacob Robinson.
Here's the official logline for the "Tomb Raider" anime series:
Lara Croft, one of the video game world's most iconic adventurers, makes her anime debut in an all new series. Picking up after the events of the highly successful Tomb Raider video-game reboot trilogy, the animated series will chart the globetrotting heroine's latest, greatest adventure. Twenty-five years after her first game appeared, Lara continues to explore new territory.