Tim Miller and Dave Wilson have brought their video game expertise and experience toSecret Level. While most audiences today knowMiller for directingDeadpool(2016), the filmmaker’s first couple of decades in the entertainment industry existed almost exclusively in the world of video games. Miller co-founded Blur Studio, a visual effects production company that developed cinematic trailers for hot gaming franchises likeBatman: ArkhamandHalo. Wilson has been working with Miller under the Blur Studio banner for over 20 years, having served as a cinematic director on the likes ofBioShock InfiniteandStar Wars: The Force Unleashed II.
Secret Levelserves as a cinematic love letterto the various video game franchises that Miller and Wilson have worked on or admired as fans. Comprised of 15 anthology episodes, the show offers original takes on a large range of iconic titles, including a dark and gritty twist on Bandai Namco’sPac-Man, a stylish recreation of Sloclap’sSifu, an action-packed vision of FromSoftware’sArmored Coreand gritty reboot of Capcom’sMega Man, among others.
Is Secret Level Connected To Love, Death & Robots?
Secret Level has a lot of similarities with animated anthology Love, Death & Robots, and the two shows share a surprisingly close connection.
Secret Level’s castalso unites the vocal talents of one of television’s largest rosters, some of whom include Keanu Reeves, Kevin Hart, Gabriel Luna, Ariana Greenblatt, both Arnold and Patrick Schwarzenegger, iconic video game star Laura Bailey, Michael Beach, Emily Swallow and Claudia Doumit. With creative and gorgeously animated approaches to some of the most iconic gaming franchises, Miller and Wilson’s show proves to be a thrilling venture.
In celebration ofSecret Level’s streaming premiere on Prime Video,ScreenRantspoke with Miller and Wilson about their trials and tribulations in developing the series, how the famedDeadpooltest footage laid the groundwork, bringingWarhammerto life ahead of Prime Video’s live-action plans, and what video game franchises they want to integrate in a hopeful second season.
Secret LevelWent Through A Lengthy Process To Come To Life
“Nothing that was easy is anything I remember…”
ScreenRant: I really, really enjoyed theSpelunkyepisode, specifically the kind of themes that it conveyed. It was talking about the task of failure and going through that, but finding the adventure that comes in failures. I want to flip that theme to you guys as creatives. I’m sure throughout this process of bringingSecret Levelto life, there were a lot of trials and tribulations to getting to the final product. Did you also kind of find the magic and the adventure in those failures?
Tim Miller: I like the way you did that. That was the best set up all day. I feel like we’ve talked a lot about in the CG industry. You have these projects that are epic burns or really hard ones, and anytime I hear the artists talking about that, like, “Oh, I had to work overnight,” or, “I had to work weekends,” or something, when I think back on my time in the trenches, nothing that was easy is anything I remember. I only remember the really hard ones. The ones that were an effort, the one that you had to fight to make [are the ones you remember].
Dave Wilson: My fondest was we did this Warhammer: Dawn of War cinematic 20 years ago. Typically, they would take three or four or five months, and we did it in three or four weeks. Tim turned it down, and I made him get back on the phone and tell them we would do it. But yes, I agree. I would agree there are many failures along the way to success. I think it’s some Jordan commercial, “I’ve failed over and over and over again. And that is why I succeed.” It is not easy and we’re very lucky.
Tim Miller: Yeah, I was going to say, on the other hand, we’re the luckiest nerds in the universe because we get a chance to make this. It’s really great to be in a position where you may do these types of projects where you suggest it, you put it out in the ether and someone actually gives you money to do it. It’s crazy.
Dave Wilson: You hope you succeed enough so that someone will take another risk with you. And I remember, I think it was, and I’m going to f–k this up, I think Tim, but on the success of Deadpool, Tim and David Fincher had been trying to get what you know is Love, Death, and Robots going for ages, and on the success of Deadpool, Fincher was like, “Alright, let’s take Love, Death, and Robots out now.” And that’s where that series exists. And on the tail end of that, I think we sort of proved that adult animated anthologies can work and now let’s try and do it with some incredibly meaningful IP. And so, I think the success of Blur and the success of that series ultimately is why we’re sitting here today. Lucky enough to do this.
Tim Miller: Actually, what [Fincher] said was, “Congratulations motherf–ker. We’re going to use your newfound popularity to get [Love, Death, and Robots] made.” And then he said, “F–k it, let’s just go to Netflix and get it to do this show because we can.”
DeadpoolTest Footage Laid The Groundwork For The Show
Wade Wilson’s Cinematic Showcased How to Capture Tone in Limited Runtime
When I was watching this show I was like, “Where have I seen this kind of directorial style from specifically Tim Miller before?” And I think of theDeadpooltest footage because it feels like an episode of secret level when you go back and look at it in that context: the animation, the story jumping right into an adventure. Do you feel like that Deadpool test footage was almost like a spiritual pilot to what Secret Level would become?
Tim Miller: Well, I actually feel like the studio’s work doing Game Sit Matters and trailers was a spiritual precursor of Deadpool. It gave us, Dave and I both, a lot of experience in packing a lot of story in a short amount of time, which is a unique kind of creative exercise.
Dave Wilson: But mostly I think that test in particular, it’s not just the story. It’s how can you encapsulate the tone in five minutes? Can you spiritually get the audience to understand what these characters are and that world feels like? I think that’s what that test did. That test was created all by Blur, the same artists that make all the game trailers and cinematics that Blur made over the last 30 years are the same artists who made that trailer. Yes. We spent way more money than we were actually given.
Secret Level’s Warhammer Began Development Before Universe Plans
Prime Video Is Developing A Cinematic Universe With Henry Cavill
You guys nailed the tone completely in the show, especially with theWarhammerepisode. We have so many biggerplans forWarhammerunder that Amazon MGM umbrelladown the line. I’m curious, did Henry Cavill himself have any input on the episode?
Dave Wilson: No, he didn’t. We have multiple times wanted to bring Henry into the fold.
Tim Miller: That’s a blanket invitation.
Dave Wilson: Secret Level started, I think, before any of the larger universe plans [for Warhammer] had been announced. When I came onto the show over three years ago, Warhammer was already on board on Secret Level. I think my hope is with a universe as vast as Warhammer, what we would love to do and what Henry wants to do, sort of all can all coexist. There are certain IPs that I’m interested in from a live-action standpoint and others in animation, but for whatever reason, since that Dawn of War trade 20 years ago and this episode now, I’ve always loved representing Warhammer in the visual style that exists in Secret Level. That’s not to say it can’t exist elsewhere. It’s the same way Spider-Man exists in the Spider-Verse and in the live-action films. I think, if anything, it’s proven the point that the audiences will consume all of that.
Tim Miller: Oddly enough, when we did the Dawn of War cinematic 20 years ago, we became friends with the Games Workshop guys, and they said, “Hey, maybe we should make a movie of this. Do you want to take us?” So we took ‘em around to some other studios and I got to hear them pitch the company and their franchise. And it was really interesting, even though I worked in the game industry, to realize just how big a business the games are. And so they’re making replica toys and publishing books and making video games. Them doing a movie is just not the big thing that Hollywood thinks it is. It’s like, “Now Hollywood’s coming to call, let’s go!” But in fact, they have this whole universe and millions of fans, and they make quite a good living off of all their other things that we were then just riding the tails of.
Dave Wilson: With all those things. I think a franchise as storied as Warhammer, all we’re doing is borrowing it with the hope that we leave it in a better state than we found it, right? It belongs to the creatives and the craftsmen in Nottingham who have kept that franchise along and thriving for 40 years. We just borrow it for a small moment of time and, man, it is intimidating. It is a big franchise and the only thing I want less than no Warhammer content is being the a–hole that f–ks it up.
Wilson & Miller Have A Long List Of FutureSecret LevelEpisodes In Mind
There Are 2 Games, In Particular, Each Would Like To Adapt
I know some properties were left on the cutting room floor. When season 2 comes around, because I know this thing’s going to get the green light for more, what’s the one that you want to ensure makes the cut?
Tim Miller: Man, there’s so many. There’s so many.
Dave Wilson: The one I know I want to do is if we can figure out a way, the sort of granddaddy of all video games, I need to find a way to make a Pong episode. I don’t know what it will be-
Tim Miller: But it could be equally disturbing as Pac-Man.
I’m just holding out hope for aFortniteepisode. Maybe we can get that down the line. The lore is expansive.
Tim Miller: That’s like the Moby Dick of video games.
Dave Wilson: We love those guys. We worked a lot with ‘em.
AboutSecret Level
Secret Level is a new adult-animated anthology series featuring original stories set within the worlds of some of the world’s most beloved video games. From the creative minds behind LOVE, DEATH + ROBOTS, each of the 15 episodes is a celebration of games and gamers.
Check out our previousSecret Levelinterview with Tim Miller & Dave Wilsonat NYCC 2024!
Secret Level
Cast
Secret Level is an adult animated series exploring original short stories set within the worlds of popular video games. Each episode introduces new adventures, delving into iconic gaming classics and forthcoming titles to unlock captivating narratives and immersive experiences. Created by Tim Miller, the series celebrates gaming culture.
