Tomb Raider Anime Shares First Look At Hayley Atwell's Lara Croft

Summary

• A new anime based on the Tomb Raider franchise is coming to Netflix later this year on October 10.
• On Thursday, fans got a first look at Hayley Atwell's portrayal of Lara Croft via a Netflix sizzle reel.
• The upcoming anime series will follow the Survivor Trilogy games, the franchise's most recent series of games.

It's been quite the year for every gamer's favorite treasure hunter. No, we're not talking about Nathan Drake. We're talking about Lara Croft, also known as gaming's most iconic character ever. Between the anniversary collection, news of a live-action series on Amazon Prime and an upcoming anime series, longtime Tomb Raider fans and newcomers alike have been pretty spoiled.

On Thursday, fans got a first look at Hayley Atwell's portrayal of Lara Croft via a Netflix sizzle reel. Previous teasers conspicuously did not have any actual lines outside of some grunts, so this is the best preview of Atwell's take on the character yet.

Thursday's teaser revealed her voice in full, and it is majestic. Granted, it's only two lines of dialogue and just eight seconds of footage, but Atwell has certainly nailed her portrayal Croft.

That teaser was immediately met with praise from fans of the series. "Hayley sounds fab as Lara," wrote one user on Twitter. Another chimed in, writing, "Y’all need to get her into the booth for Tomb Raider 12."

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As for the anime, it will pick up after the events of the Survivor Trilogy. The Survivor Trilogy, of course, is the group of games that were released across two console generations; Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Those games all received definitive editions for modern hardware. The official plot synopsis is as follows:

Following the events of the Survivor Trilogy, Lara Croft (voiced by Hayley Atwell) has abandoned her friends to embark on increasingly more perilous solo adventures. But she must return home when a dangerous and powerful Chinese artifact is stolen from Croft Manor by a thief with an uncanny personal connection. Her daring pursuit will take her on an adventure around the world and to the depths of forgotten tombs, where she will be forced to confront her true self, and decide just what kind of hero she wants to become.

Thursday's reveal is a welcome bit of news for the franchise, though details on the next game are still sparse. A new Lara Croft design popped up in February, showcasing a unified look for her between the original and reboot trilogy, though some Crystal Dynamics employees reportedly refuted that image as being Croft's new look. Instead, they deemed it just "a vision." Elsewhere, it's been rumored that the next game is "well into full-scale development." Perhaps news of a new game will coincide with the anime's release. Here's hoping.

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