TheFalloutvideo game series may be set in a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland full of horrifically mutated creatures and people, but it never takes that bleak setting deathly seriously. There’sa sense of absurdityanddark humoras colorful oddballs inhabit New Vegas, the Capital Wasteland, The Commonwealth, and beyond in this ruined world. The retro-futuristic angle only compounds that with silly additions like the cartoon mascot Vault Boy paying homage to the era. As far asWalton Gogginsand showrunnerGraham Wagnerare concerned, Prime Video’s television adaptation of the franchise will be focused on directly translating that natural comedy the series is known for, rather than beating people over the head with quips and one-liners.
During a group interview, including Collider’sSteve WeintraubatCCXPin Brazil, Goggins and Wagner talked about their approach totranslatingFallout’s humor to television. The key to everything for Wagner was to not let comedy dominate the series. Everyone who worked on the show, includingJonathan NolanandLisa Joywho adapted the games for television, still wanted to tell a compelling science fiction storyrevolving around its main charactersplayed byElla Purnell,Aaron Moten, and Goggins. The showrunner, whose previous experience includes comedy hits likePortlandia,Silicon Valley, andThe Officefelt, however, that it didn’t need to be crafted around comedy for viewers to laugh at the absurdity involving experimental vaults, noseless ghouls, and a paramilitary organization that practically worships the war-ready armor they wear:
“I wouldn’t call this a comedy-forward show. I come from comedy, and I was probably the most annoying guy in the edit room, being like, ‘Take that out. Take that out,’ because it’s science fiction. So, a suspension of disbelief is already an uphill battle. We’ve got a 200-year-old Ghoul without a nose; we’ve got a lady who lives in a home and all of her roommates wear blue jumpsuits together; another guy, he wants nothing more than to wear a two-ton power armor set and blow s— up.
These are already pretty big ideas and I just don’t think zingers and one-liners help with that buy-in. So, we were pretty grounded because I think the conceit of the show is fundamentally humorous, which is what happens when you outsource the survival of the human race to a private corporation. Things get weird. We kind of felt like we needed to just service those darkly committed premises with pretty much a straight face as often as we could.”
‘Fallout’ Will Eagerly Embrace Absurdism With a Straight Face
Again,the word Goggins returns to when describingFalloutis “absurdist.““Yeah, it’s absurdist, right?” he added. “In a lot of waysit’s subversive, the themes that it really kind of talks about.” Prime Video’s take onFalloutwill similarly try to draw a bit of hilarity by treating the strangest happenings of the wasteland seriously and deliveringviolence that also evokes comedy. “It’s, I guess, winking at the audience through the violence as much as it is the comedy, but the comedy, as is in the game, for me is deadly serious. It’s situationally funny.”
Wagner admits that riding that line betweenhumor and seriousnessis no easy feat.Falloutwon’t be like his previous comedic work, but it hopes to land a few laughs by keeping its characters off-balance withmoments that leave them questioning exactly what’s going on with this world and the people in it:
“Yeah. There are no one-liners, there is not like, ‘Look at me now, I think you should laugh.’ I don’t know, for me, I think comedy… I’m mean, guys,PortlandiaandThe OfficeandBasketsandSilicon Valley, and all the rest of it. What I find funny is watching people in situations where, ‘What the f— is going on right now?’ And you’re a little on your heels. And that’s how I feel about watching this show. It was a hard tone, I think, for these guys to crack and for Jonathan to capture visually, but they did the hard work for us.”
Falloutpremieres exclusively on Prime Video on July 12, 2025, in the U.S. Readour guide herefor everything you need to know about the video game adaptation.
In a future, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles brought about by nuclear decimation, citizens must live in underground bunkers to protect themselves from radiation, mutants and bandits.
