Hayley Atwell’s Lara Croft Is Different From Other Tomb Raider Versions In 1 Huge Way

Unlike earlier adaptations of the iconic video game series, Netflix’s The Legend of Lara Croft shared its canon with the source material. The Lara Croft franchise has a more complex history than readers might assume. The multimedia franchise began with 1996’s PC game Tomb Raider, which was followed by three sequels in 1997, 1998, and 1999.

In 2001, the movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider cast Angelina Jolie as the title character, and its box office success resulted in a 2003 sequel, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life. However, despite what readers might reasonably assume, these movies weren’t based on the original games in the series.

Instead, Jolie’s Lara Croft movies were loosely adapted from Top Cow’s Lara Croft comic series, which ran from 1999 until 2005. There were a lot of differences between the comic version of Lara Croft and the game’s version of her, some minor and some fairly important to the character and her story.

The Legend Of Lara Croft Shares A Universe With The Games

As such, it is notable that star Hayley Atwell’s animated Netflix series The Legend of Lara Croft shared a universe with the games themselves, rather than their spinoff comic books. Since there are over a dozen official Lara Croft games, it can be tricky even to keep up with the canon of the games alone.

To be exact, The Legend Of Lara Croft was a sequel to the Survival game trilogy, which began in 2013 with the simply titled reboot Tomb Raider. That was followed in 2015 by Rise of the Tomb Raider, and the trilogy concluded in 2018 with Shadow of the Tomb Raider. However, the Netflix show didn’t just link up to the game trilogy’s canon.

While Jolie’s movies were based primarily on the comics, 2018’s live-action Alicia Vikander movie Tomb Raider was a direct adaptation of the 2013 reboot game. Although 2018’s Tomb Raider reboot earned mixed reviews, the movie could not be faulted for its fidelity to the source material, something that Netflix’s series than ably built upon.

Although 2018’s reboot movie Tomb Raider incorporated some elements of Rise of the Tomb Raider, the movie mostly adapted the 2013 reboot game directly. As such, The Legend of Lara Croft was perfectly positioned to continue the story of the Survivor trilogy when the show debuted on Netflix in 2024.

Should The Legend Of Lara Croft Be Considered Canon?

Lara Croft in Netflix's Tomb Raider The Legend of Lara Croft — Lara Croft in Netflix’s Tomb Raider The Legend of Lara Croft

While The Legend of Lara Croft might share a universe with the source games, this doesn’t mean that the show’s events are canon to the series as a whole. Effectively, the games are part of the show’s canon, meaning viewers familiar with the Survivor trilogy know Lara’s backstory and can follow where the story is heading.

The original Tomb Raider game series consisted of nine titles released between 1996 and 2003.

However, the show isn’t necessarily canon to the games, meaning the series can change the story after the Survivor trilogy without impacting The Legend of Lara Croft‘s plot. This makes sense, since the Netflix series lasted only two seasons between 2024 and 2025, while the game series has regularly released new titles throughout this period and still has new games upcoming.

Tomb Raider “Survivor Trilogy” Game	Original Release Date
Tomb Raider	5 March 2013
Rise of the Tomb Raider	10 November 2015
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14 September 2018

Although the storyline of The Legend of Lara Croft effectively bridged the gap between the end of the Survivor trilogy and the beginning of the original series, the show still has story elements of its own that aren’t found in the source games. These might occasionally contradict the lore of the original games, but mostly serve to deepen the fictional universe.

Another element that makes it somewhat tricky to follow the show’s canon status is the fact that there are numerous other competing screen adaptations of Tomb Raider on the way. Now that The Legend of Lara Croft has ended after two seasons, it is perhaps unsurprising that Fleabag showrunner Phoebe Waller-Bridge is working on a live-action reboot of the franchise starring Sophie Turner.

Tomb Raider Is Getting Another TV Show Soon

Sophie Turner as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider Prime series

Turner and Waller-Bridge’s Lara Croft show comes from Amazon, rather than The Legend of Lara Croft’s distributor, Netflix. The upcoming show doesn’t seem like it will be a direct adaptation or sequel to any of the existing screen adaptations or franchises, but rather a unique original story that combines different influences from various iterations of the franchise.

With a starry cast that includes Sigourney Weaver, Celia Imrie, and Jason Isaacs, as well as Turner, the live-action series promises to move away from the series in contrast with the way that Netflix’s The Legend of Lara Croft stuck closely to the Survivor trilogy’s established story. While surprising, this might be a good move.

Hayley Atwell as Grace in Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning

Hayley Atwell Becomes Lara Croft In Netflix’s 10/10 Tomb Raider TV Show

Hayley Atwell became Lara Croft in one of Netflix’s most underrated animated TV shows in recent years, which, unfortunately, ended too soon.

The Legend of Lara Croft gave viewers a version of Croft’s story that was not only faithful to the original games but even managed to link the reboot trilogy to the original games in the process. In contrast, the next show in the series after The Legend of Lara Croft’s cancellation will offer viewers something totally new, as opposed to another reboot.