A Horizon Zero Dawn Series Is Coming From The Umbrella Academy Creator

Today Netflix announced that Umbrella Academy has been renewed for a fourth and final season. Which begs the question: What is the show’s creator up to next? The answer is he has something very queer and dystopian on the, ahem, Horizon.

Next up for Steve Blackman is a Netflix series adaption of the video game Horizon Zero Dawn.

For those unfamiliar with the source material, the Horizon game series is set thousands of years in the future following a calamity that nearly wiped out the planet. It’s a new world in which humans live in a primitive, yet beautiful environment among the ruins of the old world — and alongside massive dinosaur-like robots. Aloy (voiced by queer actor Ashly Burch) is a young woman who’s drawn into a battle to save the planet when she discovers that the cause of the old world’s extinction remains a threat, and that she’s quite literally the only one who can stop it.

Best of all, the games are so, so queer. While romance isn’t a central theme — to the point where for many Aloy reads as either asexual or aromantic — there are love stories peppered throughout the games and many of them are queer, as are many of the characters that Aloy meets in her journey to save all life on the planet.

The sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, in particular, has a tragic queer love story that is central to its climax. We won’t spoil it here, but we will say actor Carrie Anne Moss voices and does motion capture for the role. Gay girl squeal. May we suggest casting her in the live-action role as well?

Blackman also announced a second project in the works entitled Orbital, which is reportedly a thriller set on the International Space Station.

“Horizon Zero Dawn and Orbital are elevated, event-level projects grounded in characters that fans will love and relate to, which are hallmarks of Irish Cowboy productions,” said Blackman of the two projects. “We’re thrilled to be working with Netflix and all of our partners on developing these ground-breaking stories.”

With Umbrella Academy, Blackman showed that he’s very interested in telling nuanced and inclusive queer stories. We can’t wait to see what he does with this brand new world.

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