Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix is a French–American adult animated television series produced by Ubisoft Film & Television, Bobbypills, and Bootleg Universe.[1] It is inspired by the 2013 video game Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, while amalgamating elements and characters from several other Ubisoft franchises. Created by Adi Shankar, the series was released on October 19, 2023 on Netflix and received generally positive reviews from critics.
Premise
The series is set in 1992, in an alternate history in which the United States has become Eden, a dystopian technocracy controlled by the megacorporation of the same name and populated by humans and artificially created anthropomorphic animals called "Hybrids". Dolph Laserhawk, a supersoldier modified by Eden Tech Military, escapes and becomes a fugitive alongside his boyfriend Alex Taylor. During a final heist, Taylor betrays Laserhawk, who is captured and incarcerated in Eden's black site prison, Supermaxx.
Under the direction of Supermaxx's warden, who has implanted an explosive device inside him, Laserhawk is selected to lead a team of other captive rebels, known as the Ghosts, on a series of covert operations to undermine Taylor's plans.[2]
An anti-Eden revolutionary and Dolph's ex-boyfriend, who becomes his enemy after betraying him during a heist. Based on the character of the same name from The Crew.[4]
An alien from the parallel world of Dimension X who becomes an Eden newscaster and media personality. Based on the eponymous character from the franchise of the same name.
Story by : Adi Shankar Teleplay by : Samuel Laskey
October 19, 2023 (2023-10-19)
3
"Episode 3"
Mehdi Leffad
Story by : Adi Shankar Teleplay by : Samuel Laskey
October 19, 2023 (2023-10-19)
4
"Episode 4"
Mehdi Leffad
Story by : Adi Shankar Teleplay by : Alex Larsen
October 19, 2023 (2023-10-19)
5
"Episode 5"
Mehdi Leffad
Story by : Adi Shankar Teleplay by : Craig Coyne
October 19, 2023 (2023-10-19)
6
"Episode 6"
Mehdi Leffad
Story by : Adi Shankar Teleplay by : Alex Larsen
October 19, 2023 (2023-10-19)
Production
The show was first unveiled by Ubisoft in October 2019, by its former title Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Vibe, with Castlevania showrunner Adi Shankar helming the project albeit no distributor was announced.[5] In June 2021, during Netflix's "Geeked Week" virtual event, Shankar revealed that he is producing the series based on the vibe of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon under the title Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix.[6] The show is being helmed by Shankar with Paris-based animation studio Bobbypills handling the production.[6]Balak serves as creative director with Mehdi Leffad as director.[7] Gérard Guillemot, Hélène Juguet and Hugo Revon, serve as producers from Ubisoft Film & Television.[7]
Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix was released worldwide in October 2023 on Netflix with six episodes.[9][10]
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 89% based on 9 reviews, and an average rating of 6.70/10. Hayden Mears of IGN gave the show a 9.0 out of 10 'Amazing' score, stating that it is "as brutal as it is heartfelt, Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix never feels robbed of clever ways to mesh an eclectic group of Ubisoft favorites into a single madcap story."[11]The Verge's Charles Pulliam-Moore states that the show "plays like a joyride through Ubisoft's vast library of classic video game IP".[12]
Other media
A hardcover art book, titled Captain Laserhawk: Blood Dragon Remix – The Art of the Animated Series, published by Dark Horse Books was released on October 24, 2023.[13]
A yaoimanga prequel adaptation by Ben Kahn, and published by Tokyopop, was released on January 23, 2024.[14] It features the relationship between Dolph Laserhawk and Alex Taylor.[14]
Captain Laserhawk: the G.A.M.E.
A web3 sequel game,
[15]Captain Laserhawk: the G.A.M.E. launched in December 2024. The game is a top down shooter which requires connection to a cryptocurrency wallet and the purchase of one of the character NFTs. Rayman is the announcer for death matches.[16]
The game received overwhelmingly negative reception. Time Extension described it as "painfully basic", and lamented the use of Rayman to promote the game.[17]Polygon journalist Stephen Totlio found that he was the tenth highest ranked player globally after playing only three matches; this was due to extremely low player uptake. As of the time of publication only 94 players had played the game. It launched with many limited-run NFTs; these sold poorly and were still available in large quantities.[16]
