The fact thatHelldivers 2is a Sony-published game makes it all the more unsurprising that it has an official live-action adaptation in development. Not long ago, there was a time where video game adaptations were a dead-in-the-water proposition; however, adaptations have been fairly popular for a while now and PlayStation seems to be doling out its first-party games like hot cakes—Uncharted,The Last of Us,Twisted Metal,Until Dawn, orGhost of Tsushima, to name a handful. Therefore, the likelihood that other upcoming AAA titles and franchises will be considered with a cinematic future in mind is severely high.
Fortunately, that’s not an issueHelldiversever would’ve had. Essentially aStarship Troopers-adjacent romp,Helldiversand its sequel are perhaps the perfect candidates for a live-action adaptation since their moment-to-moment action against unique robot, bug, and alien factions can and has made for spectacular science-fiction. Plus, even if aHelldiversmovie’s story was paper-thin, it could easily entertain some of the most pivotal and profound events from recent memory inHelldivers 2.
Helldivers 2’s Galactic War is a Perfect Framework for PlayStation’s Live-Action Adaptation
Helldivers 2has had no shortage of grandiose tales to regale Super Earth with in the year-and-some-change since its launch. Indeed, most ordinary encounters on any planet will result in highly cinematic set pieces whether players extract successfully or not. How players interact with one another goes a long way in making trivial missions substantial and memorable, but somemajor orders inHelldivers 2and the Galactic War-defining events enveloping them have laid a bountiful foundation for Sony’s adaptation to possibly take inspiration from, including:
Whether it deals withTerminids, Automatons, Illuminate, or a mixture of all three, theHelldiversmovie has a deep well to draw from with so many notable wartime efforts to commemorate. It’s unknown how much the movie plans to run parallel with the game, much less its sequel, though considering the popularityHelldivers 2still boasts it would probably be a missed opportunity for an adaptation not to touch on what’s made the IP so beloved in its contemporary era.
Funny enough, anyone who’s been playingHelldivers 2since launch and has memories of its remarkable, game-changing moments can reflect on them like actual veterans in the Galactic War, and the movie emulating that by iterating on these events could be a phenomenal way to engage its democracy-loving audience.
Helldivers 2’s Hilarious Friendly Fire Can’t Be Dismissed in the Movie
If it has its priorities in order,Helldivers’ movie should turn out to beHelldivers 2’s opening cinematicstretched into a one-and-a-half to two-hour feature. AHelldiversmovie obviously won’t have the charm that comes with player-to-player interaction, and yet it could emulate the same experiences with scripted dialogue and the inevitable woes that accompany the profuse and indiscriminate detonation of Hellbombs and Orbital nukes.
Players’ Helldivers have probably perished by their teammates’ hands as much as they have to Terminids, Automatons, and the Illuminate, and that’ll need to be represented faithfully somehow. TheHelldiversmovie focusing on a single protagonist may not allow that character to be vanquished so unceremoniously, but there will hopefully be many characters who, unable to Reinforce, would surely kick whoever threw theEagle 500Kg Bombthat killed them if they could.
