Rumour: Warren Ellis Might Not Return To Netflix's Castlevania Beyond Series 4

Maybe this time we won't have a weird fanfiction but an actual Castlevania season instead !

@JokerCK I mean, it is a pretty good series over all. You could in no way make it a carbon copy of the games as they were made to spoof the horror genre in the first place.

It's a shame Warren Ellis is allegedly a scumbag as his writing is usually fantastic.

@JokerCK Indeed.

wait stop don't go

Allegations aren't proof so I'll wait until this gets proven before I talk about him. That's unfortunate though as I heard the series was pretty good.

@jump morality and talent are rarely, if ever, related in any way.

Makes it frustrating when it’s known a fantastic piece of art or story telling comes from the mind of a terrible person, since usually consuming such content puts money on their pockets, perpetuating whatever form of abuse they might be responsible for.

I guess it’s why some just don’t want to know about it and prefer to dismiss it, easier to just enjoy things they like if they don’t have to think about that.

Easier to just defend the abuser and blame “cancel culture” or say “they are just unproven accusations”, that way they can feel better about putting money on horrible peoples pockets.

Wait people there are allegations that have to be proven.

I've only read 6 testimonials (some very long) but I haven't read anything that he was doing as illegal - maybe sleazy and cheating on partners etc. He obviously had lots of female fans going from those testimonials and used his position to hook up, but unless it was s. abuse, and proven that it wasn't consensual - he shouldn't lose work about of this. Innocent until proven guilty - something that isn't happening in today's cancel culture.

@Kalmaro IKR, I hate this stupid cancel culture. He's been ACCUSED.

ANYBODY can accuse ANYBODY of ANYTHING.

Let it be proven before pitchforks are raised and the persons whole life gets cancelled... Innocent until proven guilty.

I don't care that much to the NetFlix series... I want a Castlevania GBA/DS collection! And SotN

Not guilty until proven. And most of those cases are online chats, which is basically BS.

I've enjoyed his works like Planetary (amazing) and the Authority. Sometimes its too quipy and edgy, there are times where it makes fun of those over the top aspects, but largely his work was quite good. I also heard Transmetropolitan was great though I have not read it.

Sad to hear he's not that decent of a person, but unless he's destroyed other people's livelihood/lives probably shouldn't do the same to him. I can see companies wanting to distance themselves to him though, bad pr is bad pr.

I remember when people were well aware of how atrocious some artists were, but bought their work anyway. Courtney Love with her band Hole, Charles Bukowski books based on him being a sleaze ball, and so on. But people knew that they weren't ashamed of being horrible individuals.

Some people it's easier than others--I can't watch Bill Cosby the same way because he's not the family humor guy he portrayed himself as.

In the case of Warren...Initially, I was angry that CastleVania won't finish with him writing the script for the next season after 4, but then remembered a lot of his ideas were stolen from his fans/accusers.

@graysoncharles “what if”

These people not getting fired just on “we heard.” You can be sure they get investigated enough. In many cases, everyone knew about their track records.

In this case? The guy basically admitted it himself in his response. Of course he does not think he coerced anyone, in his mind, his only wrongdoing is just a master in the set of seduction.

The linked article in question shows not just a vague accusation, but almost 20 years worth of accusations, 37 in total and that’s just the ones that have come forth.

@Edu23XWiiU Patrice O'Neal has a lot to talk about with false accusations--he made his stand-up career entirely on offending people after he had a revelation about false accusations when someone fingered him as a teenager and decided to play with it.

@Judgedean I think that there's a lot of gray areas between an innocent person and a criminal. He kind of acknowledged that his behaviour was toxic on his statement. I think it's better for everyone if he's out of the spotlight for a while.
And for people complaining about cancel culture, it's not only about the morality part of it, it's also a business decision. Why would you risk your brand by being linked to a possible s. abuser (not really this case)? No one will praise you in the future if he's innocent, but they kill you if he's guilty.

@Kalmaro its mediocre at best. As a castlevania fan I hate it. It's just extremely disappointing and had so much potential

Why are literally all of the major people in different industries I used to follow predators

Warren Ellis was such a great freaking writer and wrote some of my favorite comic storylines like Iron Man Extremis, Gotham Knights and Detective Comics #1000. His writing on Castlevania was also really solid and it sucks that he's exhibited this kind of behaviour.

@RCGamer same! We need games not shows!

So many abuse accusations this year and in a short span. Has it ever been this bad?

@PickledKong64 That's honestly a first. Every one of my friends who are Castlevania fans actually really loved the show.

@TheFrenchiestFry definitely not a first. Me and a few of my buds are big castlevania fans and all kinda hate it. Trash animation, terrible dialogue, not true to the series, and just season 3 in general is what made me hate it. Also I never understood its anti religious messages when castlevania (while not pro religion) showed religion as a good thing.

I mean take this with a grain of salt but season 5 is already written, I have a friend who already animated a few scenes on it.

@PickledKong64 I'm interested in your take because I wouldn't exactly call the animation "crappy". It was really jank during the first season but the end of S1 onwards were pretty stellar imo, and as an adaptation I don't think its intention was to follow the source material super closely and adhere to the game's lore. The show's job was to basically give an 8-bit game a story and have it feel grounded in its tone while weaving any sort of reference to the games organically within the world. If you were going in expecting a straight adaptation of Dracula's Curse I think that's probably where most of the disappointment would stem because it definitely didn't look like it was attempting to appeal to hardcore fans in that specific area.

@jump RED is another one that I think is super underrated and the film adaptations don't do the story much justice. Sucks too because I was really looking forward to his contribution to that Dark Nights Death Metal anthology comic DC has been teasing

if warren ellis isnt returning, then I wont either. I stand with Warren against cancel culture and the social vengeance mob.

the social vengeance mob will not stop erasing everything until all that isnt "pure" or "correct" or submissive is cancelled.

@mattmanvsuperman it's cancel culture, driven by people craving revenge for warren not being able to provide them the fame and career they expected out of him. they want his job, so theyre working to destroy his career so that they may take it from him. own it.

People on here seem confused, he's not being accused of a crime, so far as I know, he's being accused of being a ***** person and co-worker.

At least some of the allegations in that page are not harassment or assault in any way. They dilute the ones that could actually be real concerns. That's the problem with this movement. It's hard to take it seriously when so many potentially false or overreaching accusations are quickly bandwagoned, treated and punished the same way as the real ones that should be pursued.

@Zuljaras The sad thing is that real victims and predators are not going to get the actions necessary because too many of the allegations made are full of holes...the people I know who think most of the cancel culture is atrocious are ACTUAL victims and survivors who think most of it is disingenuous or an attempt to gain attention.

It makes all the serious things look meaningless as people make trivial things a bloody murder trial.

Got to love the amount of people taking his side with 0 proof while dismissing the testimonials saying they have 0 proof. Go figure.

@nessisonett pretty much. Everyone banks on hearsay or being contrarian rather than actual cynics who simply await facts to illuminate the situation.

@TheFrenchiestFry I wasnt expecting a straight adaptation. And season 2 was definitely fire. But season 1 and 3 left a really bad taste in my mouth. Especially with Lenore and Alucard not going into his 300 year slumber. Should've moved on to the next belmont.

@Zuljaras while I dont like him personally, I agree. So many people get cancelled for something that "could be" true. Its disgusting

@PickledKong64 I feel like after Season 4 they have no other choice but to adapt another Belmont's arc considering Curse of Darkness is the last major thing in Trevor's story that doesn't have any sort of direct presence in the series. My money is on either Christopher, Simon or Richter. Although they did plant the seeds for Leon with his portrait being in the Belmont house in S2.

@graysoncharles read my other comments above first and then I’ll respond. This was already addressed and you seem to be responding to only one post.

@Blizzia Anybody can acuse someone of anything, but when lots of people acuse someone of similar behavior over a decades long timespan, you kinda have to take it seriously. Especially in the entertainment industry where PR is everything.

Also, Ellis ain't going to jail here, he's losing a job. Government needs hard evidence, but a private company can fire you for just about any reason.

And really, I don't think Warren's career is over. He should lay low for a bit, make some appologies, maybe get a "real" job for a few years, but I think he would be welcomed back by at least parts of the industry after a while.

Cue the bad takes.

@TheFrenchiestFry if they do a Leon flashback I'm down, but as of now they ruined all hope for me

@judaspete Absolutely, it’s like when people complain that their racist meme was taken off Facebook, private companies can do whatever they want if you’re reflecting badly on them as a brand. It’s why so many of these allegations go to civil court, it’s so hard to prove that somebody assaulted you in criminal court, especially with the years and years of gaslighting and toxic culture towards women who speak out, resulting in most evidence being gone by the time it comes to light.

@PickledKong64 I think Lament of Innocence has enough material to cover a full 8-10 episode season of the show so I wouldn't be surprised if Leon's major story beats get covered at somepoint considering he's literally the benefactor of all the Belmonts as vampire killers.

There are some garage comments on here.

100 femme-presenting persons have stepped forward, with 30+ written testimonies published online. Additionally, Ellis has basically admitted to having done it, though claiming he didn’t realize that he was being a scumbag in his non-apology. What the hell more do you people need to believe the words of the victims?

As far as I’ve seen, Ellis has been pulling himself off these projects, not being fired/released. I’m hoping he’s taking the time to seek help, and to cut himself off from temptation to continue to prey on colleagues/fans.

Castlevania: Crescendo of the Cancel Culture

@graysoncharles no worries, dude. Context is key and actually goes well with your stance on evidence to prove guilt while presuming innocence first.

This is why it’s hard for me to get riled up anymore because it’s all The Boy Who Cried Wolf now and the real wolves are getting away. Hopefully, this zeitgeist will end as fast as the beanie babies craze and tickle me elmo fad both did in the 90s.

such a shame if this is true, better just end the dang thing with season 4 and forget about there being anything else after it

We need the law to take it's course.

His statement indicated "bad choices in the past" and being "ignorant where he was operating from". We'll find out what that all means in due course either way.

As for the series. I loved it.

@TheFrenchiestFry oh when I meant flashback I didnt mean like one scene. A whole season would be fire.

@LEGEND_MARIOID Is the law getting involved with this? I don't think it's going much farther than HR departments.

Good news, not even because of the allegations, but because the quality of the writing will probably improve

These people not getting fired just on “we heard.” You can be sure they get investigated enough. In many cases, everyone knew about their track records.

@Tharsman Sources, attribution, proofs for this sweeping generalization, please.

@TheFrenchiestFry If guilty, I hope that he is punished severely in court, be that civil or criminal. Accusations have no value to me or any other sincere student of history, given medieval witch hunts, Soviet gulags, or the many innocent men railroaded by police in my own country.

I will nonetheless say that I was uncomfortable with Ellis even in the 1990s, when his public behaviour was indeed already questionable.

@COVIDberry you the one doing the accusation of them being unjustly fired. YOU need to come up with proof of people being unjustly fired.

As for the case in question: links on the frigging article. Rinse and repeat for every article of its kind.

@Tharsman ROFL - this from the one who makes sweeping assertions, saying in effect that "all accusations are true, and are automatically and sufficiently investigated". Here's the standard of work and evidence that people would have us accept. Rinse and repeat indeed.

Sorry. Too much respect lost to continue. Ignored.

@COVIDberry no, you and those with your mindset make the sweeping assertions. Every single time these articles are posted with links to sources, and every time you all protect abusers.

I have never said all accusations are true, but all should be taken seriously and investigated, and when the accusations are a steady non-stop stream over 20 years, you got to get off your mártir spotlight and accept something is wrong.

Well... there goes an incredible show. It’s going to be hard to find someone that can make the following seasons just as good.

Also feel bad for those effected by the abuse as that is psychologically destructive.

An unfortunate thing all across the board.

That said, i do wish companies would wait until the investigations are complete though before they fire someone. There really should be a law against dropping someone like a rock too soon before everything develops. There are certainly many accusations that have been true, but we also need to leave the door open for the possibility of something being false as well. Both DO happen, and it’s better to not pull the trigger too quickly so that you don’t take out the wrong person.
If the professionals find him guilty, then take him down by all means. But jumping the gun early does exist so people really should wait until everything develops and is investigated by professionals.

The guy used his fame to pull women. Morally it’s poor but it’s not illegal. People really need to be careful about what they label as abuse as it’s insulting to victims. Most of the testimonials seem to only be sorry that he stopped getting in touch and having interest. Guys a creep but doesn’t deserve to lose his life and career over it.

@Mr_Pepperami I dunno, I’ve been reading the testimonies. It’s less that he used his fame to pull women and more that he used his fame to create a culture of sexual harassment and generally disgusting behaviour all under his name and the Warren Ellis Forum. Like a nerdy Playboy Mansion, with all that entails.

@TheFrenchiestFry Dracula's Curse had a very basic plot that you could revamp with little effort. Even so, they choose to do a series that mostly ignored the original game and where they spent more time talking than fighting. They forgot Grant Danasty but added a lot of useless original characters.
Also, I find rather ironic that someone like Ellis, which pushed so much Girl Power rhetoric into the show, got fired for such accusations. Karma at its finest.

@Leriel Oh he does the whole Girl Power rhetoric thing outside the show as well. He's also written a crap ton of comics with ensembles of characters where he also depicts women in a similar fashion like Astonishing X-Men and The Thunderbolts for Marvel

Honestly, im unsure where all this hate for the show comes from. Ive heard and seen mostly praise for the show since it began. In fact i recall the main controversy being the amount of swearing and/or gore in the first series (which again i didnt really think was ‘excessive’).

It was never going to be 1:1 to the original game as liberties were always going to be made. Thats part of the interesting thing about the show imo. What will be adapted and where. Treating it as its own thing, ive felt it good and its kept me interested. They been faithful to some key elements at least.

@DarkScythe13 I think all the hate comes from the treatment and portrayal of Hector in the Netflix series. Hector is supposed to be badass on Netflix Trevor's level, but the Netflix portrayal makes him a sniveling and weak coward. Also, everyone expected an adaptation of the Curse of Darkness game in Season 3, rather than a completely pointless season. Especially with Alucard and those Japanese hunters.

@judaspete I honestly don't know but even that has to be done within a strong legal framework anyway (?)

@BoyfriendOfDeath Thats understandable. But season 3 doesnt doesnt necessarily undo the other seasons.

I expected season 3 was just setting up for a follow up series. The japanese hunters could probably have been skipped i guess. Im kind of interested to see what happens with Alucards feelings upon being betrayed though. Im also interests to see what happens to Hector - there could very well be a turning point for his character.

I suppose im just saying that i would like to see where they take it.l before judging. Season 3 ended relatively bleak for all characters involved. Ill be disappointed if it all goes nowhere but i want to see if it pays off.

@judaspete In a lot of cases, losing your job is the same as losing both livelihood, home, and the life you have.

Nobody should be punished for something they've not yet been convicted of.

Maybe in the past it was fine immediately punish someone for a lot of accusations, but not today. Bandwagoning and malicious agenda is rampant, and as long as a single person accuses someone of sexual assault, you'll have droves of people coming forward to jump on the bandwagon with or without actually having had any interaction with the accused at all.

It's almost the norm nowadays - you get accused, your life is basically over. And it is stupid AF.

So yes, it has to be taken seriously - IN A COURT OF LAW. NOT OUTSIDE IT. If they've got beef, they drag him in court. Simple as that.

Everyone else should mind their own business until a verdict is in place.

From what I understand, nobody actually accuses him of any illegal behavior, but that he might be an ***hole, that uses his influence to possibly extract some sexual favours from female fans and upcoming female writers. Although most of what I read seemed to suggest he kind of had a bunch of mistresses over the years, which understandbly is unpleasant, but hardly a crime.

It's also worth pointing out that several of the women that came forward, were explicit in stating that they don't want to see him "cancelled", but that they want to see a conversation happening and changes to underlying structures. It's also worth noting that Ellis did help several women break into the industry, and make a career for themselves, which is no small feat in comics. That does not give him license to create "a harem" for himself obviously, but I am still hard pressed to believe that a large part of this is not just a fan being infatuated with an idol.

@jump "allegedly" is apparently enough these days.

@Blizzia Society has to be able to sanction illegitimate behavior as well. Not everything legal is legitimate. The state could not and should not regulate and police every tiny piece of human behavior, because that is a recipe for utter disaster. Maybe with technological progress, we will get to the point of "could" (just look at China's social credit system), but that would STILL NOT mean we should!

Stupid allegations; I highly doubt he’s guilty of such behaviors. Throwing false accusations must be a social trend of sorts and that In of itself is despicable. The American judicial system is a feckin’ joke...

@Entrr_username People are feeling comfortable enough to speak up about their abusers. Those abusers stayed hidden for so long because the victims felt like no one would believe them for speaking out.

@DoktorTotenKopf You obviously were never a member of his message boards over the past 20 years to be able to say you "highly doubt he's guilty of such behaviors." And how does this have anything to do with the American judicial system?

@madmatt213 I don’t care for your input.

Innocent until proven guilty.

Fly away now, little moth.

I honestly thought this was a terrible adaption of Castlevania anyway and never understood why so many people apparently liked it. I don't care if he's innocent or guilty, he's guilty of producing a trash series as far as I'm concerned. His punishment should be 10 years of being forced to play Lords of Shadow 2.

Who the, fk is, Ellis anyway?

This is why i prefer watching the Japanese pros, they stick to their guns all the time and never change, unless they die.

I hate articles like these.

End of his career from the sounds of it.