The final day of Netflix’s “Geeked Week” began with some very welcome news. The team behind the Castlevania anime is officially, thankfully, and wisely returning to the world of the video games for another series, this time starring fan-favorite characters Richter Belmont and Maria Renard.
For those of you not up on your Dracula-slayer lore, Richter is a descendent of Trevor Belmont, star of Netflix series, as well as Simon, star of the very first Castlevania game. (Humorously, Netflix accidentally stated he was the son of Trevor and Sylpha on Twitter, but corrected itself—see below.) Richter was the star of Rondo of Blood, a Japanese PC Engine title from 1993 which was released in the U.S. as Castlevania: Dracula X. After he’s resurrected (yet again) in the 18th century, Dracula steals Richter’s girlfriend Annette, so he teams up with his sister-in-law Maria Reynard to take down the vampire and his minions, as Belmonts are wont to do.
However, Richter is also a major character in arguably the best and most popular game in the Castlevania series, Symphony of the Night, as an antagonist. After defeating Dracula in Rondo of Blood, Richter disappears for five years, eventually showing up as the new lord of Dracula’s castle with plans to resurrect the vampire himself. (He’s under a dark priest’s spell.) The game follows Dracula’s half-vampire son Alucard, who played a major role in the previous Castlevania show, as he enters the castle to save—or at least defeat—Richter. While the original Castlevania didn’t exactly hue directly to a specific story from the games, the potential with Maria, Richter, and especially Alucard to both bridge the past series and play out some of the most beloved games in the franchise as a show could be extremely compelling.
Netflix didn’t announce a release date or a voice cast, but at least it’s nice to know there’s officially more Castlevania in the pipeline.
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