- Amazon has confirmed who’ll play Lara Croft in its Tomb Raider TV show
- The live-action series will start filming in early 2026, too
- The fan reaction to Prime Video’s top pick for its lead character has been mixed
Amazon MGM Studios has revealed Sophie Turner will portray Lara Croft in its forthcoming Tomb Raider TV adaptation.
Turner, who’ll be immediately recognizable to fans of Games of Thrones and 20th Century Fox’s second X-Men film franchise, was publicly announced as the show’s lead yesterday (September 3).
Sophie Turner set to star as Lara Croft in upcoming Tomb Raider series from Amazon MGM Studios.Phoebe Waller-Bridge serves as creator, writer, executive producer and co-showrunner.Jonathan Van Tulleken set as director and executive producer and Chad Hodge joins as… pic.twitter.com/m7aaaZH9SkSeptember 3, 2025
In a press release accompanying the announcement on tombraider.com, Amazon also confirmed production would begin on the Prime Video TV Original in January 2026. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who’s been attached to the project since January 2023, will serve as series creator, producer, head writer, and co-showrunner. The Fleabag and Killing Eve alum will be joined in co-showrunning duties by Chad Hodge, while Jonathan Van Tulleken is its primary director.
“I am thrilled beyond measure to be playing Lara Croft,” Turner said in a statement. “She’s such an iconic character, who means so much to so many – and I am giving everything I’ve got. They’re massive shoes to fill, following in the steps of Angelina and Alicia with their powerhouse performances, but with Phoebe at the helm, we (and Lara) are all in very safe hands. I can’t wait for you all to see what we have cooking.”
In her own statement, Waller-Bridge said: “I’m so excited to announce the formidable Sophie Turner as our Lara alongside this phenomenal creative team. It’s not very often you get to make a show of this scale with a character you grew up loving. Everyone on board is wildly passionate about Lara and are all as outrageous, brave, and hilarious as she is. Get your artifacts out… Croft is coming…”
Why Turner’s casting hasn’t been universally well-received by Tomb Raider devotees
Even though Waller-Bridge, Amazon executives and Turner herself are excited about the latter being set to portray one of the most iconic video game characters of all-time, there are some Tomb Raider fans who aren’t as enthused.
As soon as the news dropped, various threads, which sprouted up on numerous Reddit pages, were mostly filled with negative reactions to Turner’s casting.
One of the most immediate concerns fans have is the fact that Turner is a natural redhead. Considering Croft sports brown hair, some have suggested this is a major oversight on the show’s executive team’s part. But, hey, wigs exist for a reason…
That observation is small fry compared to other criticisms that have been directed at Amazon for hiring Turner, though. Threads on r/television and r/tombraider are full of people suggesting Alicia Vikander, the most recent actor to play Croft in a live-action capacity, should’ve been Prime Video’s top pick. Meanwhile, others suggested Marvel star Hayley Atwell, who voices Croft in Netflix’s animated take on the action-adventure video game franchise, is a better option.
Some comments were purposefully directed at Turner. Indeed, reactions ranged from “such weird casting” and being a “terrible choice”, to the fact that Turner is a “charisma vacuum” and doesn’t have the “bad ass vibe you need to play Lara Croft”. In a thread on r/entertainment, one disgruntled user even went as far as to cruelly write: “Looks like they’re trying to be as faithful to the original games. Because Turner’s got the acting range of a 1990s polygon video game character”. Ouch!
There are those who believe Turner is a good fit for Croft, with some Redditors wishing her well in the role and/or indicating they were cautiously optimistic about her casting. Others said they’ll withhold their verdict until a trailer, which isn’t likely to hit the web until late 2026/early 2027, is released.
By and large, though, it seems most fans aren’t happy with this announcement. We’ll see if they were right to be skeptical once Amazon’s Tomb Raider TV show is eventually here.
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