Skip to main content

Amazon’s Fallout series adds Walton Goggins to its cast

There’s a very familiar face coming to Amazon Prime Video’s adaptation of the video game series Fallout. But if the rumor is true, we’ll have trouble recognizing Walter Goggins under heavy makeup. Deadline is reporting that Goggins has been cast in the live-action Fallout series, and “he is believed to be playing Ghoul.”

The Fallout video games are a hit franchise that was created by Bethesda Softworks in 1997. The games take place in a uniquely envisioned postapocalypse that mixes a 1940s vision of the future with a grim wasteland created by a nuclear war in the year 2077. In the games, ghouls are people who have been horribly mutated due to overexposure to radiation. They could pass for zombies, but they aren’t actually members of the undead. It’s unclear if Goggins’ character will have a proper name.

Goggins has a long history of playing bad guys who have interesting or compelling personalities. He memorably played Shane Vendrell for seven seasons on FX’s The Shield before landing another leading role as Boyd Crowder on Justified, also on FX. More recently, Goggins had a starring role on HBO’s Vice Principals, and he currently recurs on The Righteous Gemstones.

Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder in Justified.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

To bring Bethesda Softworks games into live-action, Prime Video has recruited Westworld showrunners and co-creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy to executive produce the series through their Kilter Films production house. Nolan will direct the first episode of the series.

Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner have been signed to serve as showrunners and executive producers of Fallout. They will be joined by executive producer Athena Wickham from Kilter Films, Todd Howard from Bethesda Game Studios, and James Altman from Bethesda Softworks.

Fallout will begin filming later this year. A premiere date on Amazon Prime Video has not yet been announced.

Editors' Recommendations

Blair Marnell
Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…
Why the Fallout TV series cast kept the games (and Todd Howard) at arm’s length
Aaron Moten stands next to someone wearing power armor in Fallout.

Following the mainstream success of HBO’s Last of Us TV series, Amazon is looking to land a hit video game adaptation of its own with Fallout. Releasing next year on Amazon Prime Video, the original series will bring Bethesda’s postapocalyptic vision to life with a star-studded cast that includes Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, and Walton Goggins. The show isn’t a direct adaptation of any one game, but rather an original story set in the universe that’s looking to capture the series’ darkly satirical tone.

Fallout - Teaser Trailer | Prime Video

Read more
Forget Loki; Invincible is the best superhero show you’re not watching right now
Mark as an Invincible flying above the cityscape.

Invincible - Season 2 Official Trailer | Prime Video

Against all odds, Prime Video has made a strong name for itself in the world of streaming. From movies to television shows, the service has become a bonafide competitor in the industry, thanks to a healthy and remarkably diverse library. The best shows on Amazon Prime Video include critical darlings like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, pop culture phenomenons like The Boys, and acclaimed underrated gems like Upload. However, I would argue that Prime Video's strongest offering is the animated superhero show Invincible, returning for its second season today.

Read more
How the hit sci-fi show Silo paves the way for Amazon’s Fallout adaptation
silo apple tv plus standard for fallout amazon prime video series rebecca ferguson

Between Star Wars' humanized approach in Andor and the acclaimed adaptation of The Last of Us, sci-fi has flourished on TV recently, and Silo has recently cemented how high the standards are for the post-apocalyptic subgenre. An adaptation of Hugh Howey's series of books, the Apple TV+ original wrapped up a riveting first season balancing drama, gripping stakes, and a fascinating mystery to carry the intrigue well into its already-announced second season.

There's another similar series on the horizon, at least in terms of the premise, in the form of Prime Video's Fallout adaptation, and showrunner Graham Yost's Silo arguably just set the standard and laid out a blueprint for it. It undoubtedly needs to stand on its own merits, but the upcoming Fallout series would do well to look at the Apple show's worldbuilding and production value for inspiration.
Post-apocalyptic worldbuilding

Read more