Nearly 5 years after having its reputation sullied by a lackluster, straight-to-streaming movie adaption on Disney Plus it looks like the beloved young adult book series Artemis Fowl is getting another chance with the recent announcement of a new animated series( although a videogame or comic series would have been nice too)

For those readers who are unaware Artemis Fowl is a series of 8 books (not counting the 3 follow-up Fowl Twins books) that follows a teenage criminal genius and his dealings with the fairy people. It started with the first book in 2001 which dealt with the title character trying to steal gold from the technologically advanced races of fairies which include elves, dwarfs, and even trolls that secretly live in underground cities.

Nearly 20 years after the first book and years in development hell a live-action film adaption was finally released, but unfortunately it made many unnecessary changes from the source material and managed to alienate both fans of the book and potential new fans. Hopefully this new animated series can right these wrongs. Here are a couple of ways how.

Ignore the Movie:

This is a given as the movie managed to stray too far from the source material, most egregiously trying to change the main character Artemis too much. Instead of anti-social and cunning genius from the books we got the studios’ definition of a “cool” kid who surfs despite the book version being very much unathletic.  It would be much better to ignore pretty much everything the movie tried to do and stick more closely to the books, although there is some room to perhaps adapt things more for an animated series and newer fans. The one thing I might keep from the movie is the casting of Colin Farel as Artemis Fowl Sr and Dame Judy Dench as a gender-swapped version of Commander Root. Then again, I would not be too upset if they were recast either. Also, Artemis’ mother, Angeline Fowl, should be alive as she played an excellent supporting role in the book

Get the Casting Right

Despite a weak script the casting for the movie was most serviceably but it would still be best to start things from scratch and cast mostly unknowns at least for the main roles. I do think JK Simmons would make an excellent Commander Root, and he even has voice acting experience as the voice of the yellow M and M and Omni-man in the Invincible series. The fact the series is animated also allows for casting based on vocal acting ability and not necessarily just looking like the part.

Decide on an approach and stick to it

The movie tried too hard to present an alternate version of the Artemis Fowl story and turn it into an action movie, but here are a couple ways the animated series can approach the story

Straight-up adaption:

This is probably the most likely scenario, but there are 8 books in the main series so there is potential for 8 seasons. The first book only has 9 chapters so it would be perfect for a short season of perhaps 30 minutes episodes. The beauty of it potentially being on Disney Plus is it would not be confined to a certain time limit so they could vary in length like the chapters themselves

Prequel:

Not as likely, but perhaps some backstory could be added in addition to a straight retelling. Perhaps down the line a prequel dealing with Artemis Fowl Sr or one dealing with Holly Short’s early days with LEPrecon (we never do fully learn what happened during the Hamburg Affair). There are also two prequel short stories in the companion book The Artemis Fowl Files that could make for good one-off specials

Continuation:

This scenario is very unlikely and we already kind of got a continuation of the Fowl family story with the Fowl Twins series following Artemis’ younger twin brother Myles and Beckett, which could perhaps be adapted down the road. Maybe we could see a framing device in the animated series with an older Artemis telling of his adventures either to his children or someone else, although the narration in the movie by Mulch didn’t work out that well.

Spin-off:

Also unlikely as the main story of Artemis Fowl should be told first, but the world of Artemis Fowl is rich with characters and ideas that could be explored in the future including Mulch Diggums, the kleptomaniac dwarf, the other officers of LEPrecon and even the Fowls’ bodyguards, the Butlers.

Those are just a few ideas for a potential Artemis Fowl animated series. What would you like to see for the animated series and do you have any casting suggestions? Let us know in the comments