When Riot announced they would be wrapping up Arcane with a second season, they slightly alleviated our broken hearts with the promise of future League of Legends spin-offs. In an interview with Twitch streamer Necrit94, co-creator Christian Linke teased that the future spin-offs would explore more regions of Runeterra, including Noxus, Demacia, and Ionia. As such, excitement for the franchise is drummed up again as Riot and Fortiche collaborated and released a pre-season cinematic called “Welcome to Noxus.” Though Riot insists that it is only related to the upcoming League of Legends season set in Noxus, where Mel Medarda will be introduced as a champion, there are nods to Arcane that leave the show’s fans excited.
Only Mel (Toks Olagundoye) from the original Arcane characters appears in the trailer as she arrives at her hometown, curiously inspecting inscriptions and fighting her way to a towering, mysterious castle. With Noxus already being teased as a location for a future spin-off, it’s difficult not to associate the League of Legends trailer with the cinematic universe — so let’s go through the characters and storylines that could join the franchise.
Will the “Welcome to Noxus” Champions Appear in ‘Arcane’s Spin-off?
Impressive battles make up the main component of the Noxus trailer. It is exciting to see the characters rendered in Arcane’s signature style, especially as it reminds us that future spin-offs will still retain that stunning yet brutal flair from Fortiche to the action-packed scenes that we drooled over in the original show. Two main conflicts occur in the trailer, each indicating a specific political tension within Noxus’ power structure and further setting up the messy world Mel is about to step into, especially as the daughter of a deceased Noxian General.
One takes place in a lavish ballroom, filled with red, masked Noxians as they dance and sway in the opulent hall. An assassin steals her way through the crowd and launches an attack, only to be stopped by a defender with an affinity for arachnids. The assailant is identified as Katarina, who is a deadly assassin affiliated with Swain, the current Noxian leader. She eliminates his political enemies, and in the trailer, she is fighting against Elise, a human-turned-arachnoid-creature, after a bite from a spider-god, who is also a part of the mysterious Black Rose. It seems Noxus is plagued by civil unrest, and the contentious relationship between Noxians and the Black Rose is still ripe.
At the same time, we witness a jaw-dropping battle on an icy landscape between a Noxian warrior and an inhuman entity. Darius is a widely feared Noxian commander who believes Swain will change Noxus for the better. If he appears in the spin-off, then perhaps the Zaunite inventor Singed (Brett Tucker) will, too, as in League of Legends lore, Singed was hired by Noxus to construct a chemical bomb to be used against Ionia. This act disillusioned Darius’ partner, Quilletta, from the Noxians’ merciless philosophy, but her outcries led to her being murdered by their daughter Invetia, who used the ruthlessness she learned from her father. In the trailer, we see him savagely fighting against the Troll King Trundle, suggesting the militant nation is also being threatened at the border.
Mel Could Face The Black Rose in ‘Arcane’ Spin-off
The most intriguing appearance is that of LeBlanc and Vladimir in the ending, who are the founders of the Black Rose, an underground witch syndicate that wreaked havoc in the second season of Arcane. Between trying to assassinate Ambessa (Ellen Thomas) and instigating Mel’s journey to tap into her powers, the covert group remained a lurking mystery throughout the season. LeBlanc is a powerful witch who created an alliance with Vladimir, a mage who is able to revitalize himself (and essentially live forever) after killing and absorbing the power of a god-warrior creature known as Darkin.
The scene itself suggests a tense relationship between the two, as Vladimir believes LeBlanc isn’t taking Mel’s arrival in Noxus seriously enough. This may hint at Vladimir intending to break away from the Black Rose like in League of Legends lore, as he creates his own inner cult called the Crimson Circle. With LeBlanc hauntingly declaring to go “bolder, not safer,” Mel seemingly taking up her mother’s fight against the syndicate, and the inter and intra-political tensions showcased in the battles, “Welcome to Noxus” promises trouble encroaching on our favorite Noxian magic-wielder in every direction. Whether or not these game updates inspire the show’s future spin-off, we can’t help but hope after the anticipation Arcane left us with.
Arcane is available to stream on Netflix.
WATCH ON NETFLIX
Set in Utopian Piltover and the oppressed underground of Zaun, the story follows the origins of two iconic League Of Legends champions and the power that will tear them apart.
- Release Date
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November 6, 2021
- Seasons
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2
- Franchise(s)
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League of Legends
- Directors
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Pascal Charrue
, Arnaud Delord - Showrunner
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Christian Linke
, Alex Yee