It’s certainly a good day for fans of Ubisoft’s hugely popular historical action-adventure franchise Assassin's Creed, as the Animus is officially online at Netflix, with production on the upcoming live-action series now under way in Italy.

Ad

Along with news that the adaptation has started filming at the storied Cinecittà Studios in Rome, the streaming service has also confirmed exactly which time period the series will explore.

So far, the game franchise has spanned more than 2,000 years of history, immersing players in the shadowy battle between the Order of Assassins and the Knights Templar across the medieval and Renaissance periods, as well as the early modern, colonial, industrial and revolutionary eras – and even ancient history.

However, the latest adaptation will take viewers to 64 AD in the heart of the Roman Empire, with Netflix teasing “an original story” rather than a direct adaptation of one of the existing games.

The franchise has previously explored Italy during the Renaissance period with fan=favourites Assassin's Creed II, Brotherhood, and Revelations. These games centred on protagonist Ezio Auditore da Firenze of the Italian Brotherhood of Assassins, and his struggle against the Templar Order and the corrupt Borgia family.

But the latest adaptation - following the 2016 live-action film starring Michael Fassbender – will take a completely different direction, travelling nearly 1,500 years before the events of Brotherhood to a defining event in ancient Rome.

Under the rule of the tyrannical Emperor Nero, the fifth Roman emperor, the Eternal City endured a devastating disaster in 64 AD – the Great Fire of Rome, which raged for six days and destroyed around 70 per cent of the city.

This tragic event proved a significant turning point in the city’s history, leading to the first major persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, as Nero sought to deflect blame.

As of writing, exact plot details are still being kept tightly under wraps, but the official logline describes the show as a “high-octane thriller” centred on the secret war between the two factions, with “one set on determining mankind’s future through control and manipulation, while the other fights to preserve free will.

Following news of the show’s first series regular – Euphoria star Toby Wallace – Netflix has since revealed that Claes Bang, Lola Petticrew, Zachary Hart, Laura Marcus, Tanzyn Crawford, and Nabhaan Rizwan will also star as series regulars.

Meanwhile, Noomi Rapace, Ramzy Bedia, Sean Harris, and Corrado Invernizzi are set to appear in recurring roles, alongside Sandra Guldberg-Kampp, Youssef Kerkour, Mirren Mack, and Louis McCartney.

Westworld and Halo creatives Roberto Patino and David Wiener are spearheading the series – the first live-action entry of Netflix’s partnership with Ubisoft. The project was initially announced in 2021 and was officially confirmed to be moving forward at the streamer back in July 2025.

"We've been fans of Assassin's Creed since its release in 2007. Every day we work on this show, we come away excited and humbled by the possibilities that Assassin's Creed opens to us," Wiener and Patino said in a joint statement.

“We've got an amazing team behind us with the folks at Ubisoft and our champions at Netflix, and we're committed to creating something undeniable for fans all over the planet."

Fans had better start practising their leap of faith in the meantime!

Assassin's Creed will be available to stream on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

Ad

Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Authors

Nicola AustinFreelance Writer

Nicola Austin is a freelance journalist who loves sci-fi, fantasy and animation. Nicola has written about TV and film for a wide range of publications including Empire, Digital Spy, Radio Times, SciFiNow, Girls on Tops and more. She will always stand by The Mummy as a 90s movie masterpiece.

Ad
Ad
Ad