Rome in 64 AD is a dangerous place to set an Assassin’s Creed story. It was the year of the Great Fire, an event that devastated large parts of the city and left questions about power and blame in its wake. For a series built on hidden motives and struggles over who controls the future, that sounds almost suspiciously perfect.

Netflix’s live-action adaptation will tell an original story set in Rome that year. Production began in Italy, with filming primarily taking place at Cinecittà Studios. The setting is confirmed; the characters’ identities and most of the plot are still secret. That distinction matters, because the obvious possibilities are already tempting enough without treating any of them as announcements.

Rome Gives the Series More Than a Backdrop

Assassin’s Creed works best when history creates problems for its characters. A powerful city offers places to hide, people to answer to, and consequences that extend far beyond one assassination. Rome gives the writers all of that before anyone reaches for a hidden blade.

The Great Fire makes the year especially intriguing, but Netflix has not said the series will depict it. If the show does use the fire, its strongest question would be less “Who started it?” than “Who gets to decide what happens afterward?” A catastrophe can expose how power works: whose account is believed, who loses a home, and who has the means to rebuild. That is an opportunity for the story, not a prediction of its plot.

There is another reason an original story makes sense. The series does not have to squeeze a familiar game protagonist into a new format or spend its first season recreating scenes fans already know. It can give viewers a reason to care about someone living through this version of Rome, then let the wider conflict find them.

A Hidden Blade Cannot Do the Writing

Ubisoft describes the show as a thriller about two secret factions: one seeking control over humanity’s future, the other fighting to preserve free will. That gives the adaptation its central conflict. It does not, by itself, give us a character worth following.

The easiest version of Assassin’s Creed television would look the part. There would be a crowded street, a hooded figure above it, a target surrounded by guards, and an escape across the rooftops. Those images belong to the franchise, but they become routine if every mission leads only to another mission.

The harder and more interesting task is making each choice cost something. Why does a person join this fight? What would they sacrifice to stay in it? What happens when protecting someone means leaving a target alive, or completing a mission means betraying someone who trusts them? The games can give players the feeling of carrying out a plan. A series has to make us live with the person who made it.

The Original Story Has to Earn Its Place

There is plenty of room in Assassin’s Creed lore for a story set after the formation of the Hidden Ones, the group that would later become the Assassins. Ubisoft traces their beginnings to Bayek and Aya in Assassin’s Creed Origins, set decades before the show’s 64 AD setting. That connection gives longtime fans a timeline to think about, though it does not confirm that either character will appear.

It also gives Netflix a useful kind of freedom. The show can explore what belonging to a secret cause means to people who were not there at its beginning. A creed may sound noble when spoken aloud. It gets interesting when two people who believe in it disagree about what it demands.

Netflix has announced an ensemble cast, including Lola Petticrew, Toby Wallace, Nabhaan Rizwan, and Claes Bang, but has not revealed their roles. There is no announced release date. For now, casting theories and guesses about historical figures should stay exactly that: theories and guesses.

History Should Put Pressure on the People

Ancient Rome can make this series look enormous. The danger is that its scale becomes the whole attraction. An audience can admire a reconstructed street or recognize a historical reference without feeling anything when a character walks into danger.

The best case for Netflix’s Assassin’s Creed is an intimate story inside a city with enormous power. Let Rome shape what its characters fear, what they believe, and how far they are willing to go. Then the rooftop chase will mean something: someone made a choice down on the street, and now they have to live long enough to face it.

— Sushi