Amazon’s Fourth Wing Show Finally Gets Some Good News, 2 Months After Major Setback

Just two months after a major setback, fans of Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing are getting major good news when it comes to Amazon’s upcoming television series adaptation of the hit novel. Back in July, it was announced that the highly anticipated series had lost its original showrunner, Anne With an E creator Moira Walley-Beckett after Walley-Beckett had initially been attached to the project since July 2024. Now, the series is back on track with the announcement of a new showrunner, one with experience in the fantasy genre.

According to Variety, Locke & Key co-creator Meredith Averill has signed on as the new showrunner for the romantasy adaptation. The series, which was first announced as being in development back in October 2023, is produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier society. As of this time, the project remains in development and has not yet been ordered to series nor does it have a cast attached.

Fourth Wing Could Be Prime Video’s Big Fantasy Hit

This latest update on Amazon’s Fourth Wing adaptation is a step in the right direction for the platform’s latest foray into fantasy and, if things continue, could lead Prime Video to a massive hit. Based on Yarros’ smash hit romantasy Empyrean series, Fourth Wing is set in a brutal, fictional world at Basgiath College where the students learn to become Scribes, Infantry, Healers, or the most dangerous and exciting of all — dragon Riders. The story follows protagonist Violet Sorrengail, a Rider who has to overcome overwhelming odds to survive all while uncovering dark secrets that threaten the fate of the entire world. 

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Prime Video’s Most Exciting Upcoming Fantasy Show Could Be the One That Finally Works

The book was a massive hit when it debuted, quickly becoming wildly popular thanks to social media and has a huge reach among readers, becoming a case where a novel transcends merely the world of readers and becomes part of a larger pop culture experience. Fourth Wing has been followed so far by two additional books in the series, Iron Flame in November 2023 and Onyx Storm this past January, and two more books are on the way. The hype and anticipation for these stories hasn’t slowed down, which bodes well for Amazon’s adaptation. The streamer’s previous fantasy adaptations — such as The Wheel of Time — base themselves upon that are popular, but aren’t quite as current or, as in the case of The Rings of Power, has less direct source material to work with. Fourth Wing has the perfect storm of current material and current fanbase, both of which could propel the series to be a massive hit.

That said, Fourth Wing does still have challenges to overcome. The series remains in development with no cast attached and when it comes to books that have the level of cultural awareness and hype that the Empyrean series has, getting the casting right will be key. There have also been other wildly popular romantasy series that were set to have much-hyped adaptations but never got off the ground. Hulu, for example, tried for years to bring a live action adaptation of Sarah J. Maas’ massively popular A Court of Thorns and Roses to life only for that series to be officially shelved earlier this year. With A Court of Thorns and Roses arguably the largest series in the genre, that series not coming to fruition casts a bit of a shadow and it remains to be seen if Amazon’s dragon riders can soar above it.

Fourth Wing is currently in development at Prime Video.

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