The Big Picture

• 2024 is a bright year for Austin Butler with hits like Masters of the Air and Dune: Part Two under his belt.
• The Shannara Chronicles may have been short-lived, but showcased Butler's talent.
• Austin Butler's emotional depth made Wil's struggles believable in MTV's adaptation of The Shannara Chronicles.

2024 looks to be a fantastic year for Austin Butler. Not only has he had a hit show with Masters of the Air, but his performance as the psychotic Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Dune: Part Two was one of the standout moments of the film. June brings a leading turn in The Bikeriders, the period drama that examines the highs and lows of 1960's-era biking culture. But before all of that, he played the lead in the short-lived fantasy series The Shannara Chronicles.

The idea of an actor making the rise to film via a television show isn't a new phenomenon; Ryan Gosling started out on Young Hercules, George Clooney popularized the "heartthrob doctor" with his role in E.R. and Chris Pratt launched a blockbuster career off of Parks & Recreation. Butler's case is rather different, as The Shannara Chronicles only lasted two seasons, but it's still a great showcase of his acting talents.

What Is 'The Shannara Chronicles' About?

The Shannara Chronicles is based on the Sword of Shannara novels written by Terry Brooks, which chronicle the legacy of the Shannara family. More specifically, Season 1 takes the bulk of its plot from the second novel, The Gemstones of Shannara. Wil Ohmsford (Butler) learns that he is one of the Chosen, a group of beings destined to save the Four Lands from utter destruction. On his quest, Wil's joined by the druid Allanon (Manu Bennett), the elf princess Amberle Elessedil (Poppy Drayton) and thief Eretria (Ivana Baquero). Season 2 brought a new threat in the form of the Crimson, a group who made it their mission to wipe out all traces of magic in the Four Lands, and a new ally in the form of Mareth Ravenlock (Malese Jow), who claims to be Allanon's daughter.

In addition to a talented young cast, The Shannara Chronicles also featured plenty of power behind the scenes. It was developed by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the masterminds behind Smallville and Wednesday; Jon Favreau also served as a producer on the series. Terry Brooks had a hand in producing The Shannara Chronicles and praised the work Gough and Millar put into adapting the series for a modern audience. "I think I was concerned about what it would feel like to an audience seeing it for the first time. Would they think it was strong enough? Wonderful and awesome enough? And they did," he told Paste Magazine following the Shannara Chronicles panel at San Diego Comic Con 2015.

Austin Butler Plays a Different Type of Fantasy Hero in ‘The Shannara Chronicles’

Both The Shannara Chronicles and the books it's based on manage to sidestep a few fantasy tropes. For example, there's not just one "chosen one" — there's an entire group. But more importantly, these characters often resist the roles fate carved out for them. Nowhere is this more prominent than with Wil. Rather than fighting demons and saving all of mankind, he wants to be a healer — a far cry from young adult protagonists like Percy Jackson or Harry Potter. What makes Wil's struggles believable is Butler's acting; he's great at playing a conflicted young man, and dialogue that would seem hokey in anyone else's mouth feels natural coming out of his. Case in point: During the Season 2 premiere "Druid," Wil rattles off a bit of exposition about the Crimson. Butler dashes from annoyed to sarcastic to intrigued within the space of a few minutes, easily drawing in the audience's attention — and that's before he removes his shirt. (This was an MTV production geared toward young adults, after all.)

The real star-making performance came in the Season 2 episode "Amberle." During the Season 1 finale, Amberle sacrificed her life to stop the demon invasion of the Four Lands. This took a toll on Wil because he was in love with Amberle. He decided to pursue the path of a healer but abandoned the rest of his friends in the process. In "Amberle," he has a chance to reunite with Amberle, which leads to a heartbreaking performance from Butler. When Wil confesses to Amberle that he misses her, the pain rolling off Butler's words is palpable. He'd bring a similar intensity to his big screen roles, particularly in Masters of the Air's dogfight scenes.

Waning Interest in YA Stories and a Network Shift Led to ‘The Shannara Chronicles’ Cancellation

Despite the pedigree of its source material, The Shannara Chronicles had an uphill battle from the start. Young adult adaptations struggled after the Divergent franchise sputtered out at the box office. It also didn't help that early reviews of Season 1 drew some rather unfavorable comparisons to Star Wars and Game of Thrones; the knife only twisted further as Star Wars: The Force Awakens reignited the former franchise. But the biggest blow came from the series switching networks. While Season 1 debuted on MTV, Season 2 moved to Spike. Spike was in the middle of being rebranded as the Paramount Network, leading to a shift in its programming. Shows like The Shannara Chronicles wound up being phased out, leaving fantasy fans to get their fix elsewhere.

Finally, The Shannara Chronicles was canceled in 2017. Despite efforts to find a new home, the series wound up ending on a major cliffhanger as Wil sacrificed his life to stop the Crimson and ended up in another realm of existence. Despite this, it's still worth a watch, not just for its astonishingly stunning visuals, but also for how it manages to play with the expected fantasy tropes. Butler's meteoric rise in Hollywood can be traced back to The Shannara Chronicles, which allowed him to flex a number of dramatic chops.

The Shannara Chronicles is available to stream on Tubi in the U.S.

Watch on Tubi