It’s officially the end of the road for Hayley Atwell’s run as Lara Croft. According to Variety, Season 2 of Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, available in its entirety on Netflix, will serve as the final chapter of the animated series, closing out a uniquely ambitious corner of the long-running Tomb Raider franchise. The news arrives as fans prepare for Lara’s next slate of adventures within the brand-new unified timeline, which will merge decades of Tomb Raider mythology into a single cohesive canon for the first time.
The Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness actress' take on Lara has already earned praise for tapping into the character’s most vulnerable and complicated layers, pushing her far beyond the artifact-snatching archaeologist many grew up with. With Season 2 confirmed as the end, fans are bracing for an emotional sendoff to a version of the heroine shaped by trauma, growth, and deep personal accountability.
When Does Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft Take Place?
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, written and executive produced by Tasha Huo for Legendary Television, picks up where the gaming franchise’s Survivor trilogy left off, continuing the storyline established in 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot, 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider, and 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
This era introduced fans to a younger, unpolished adventurer forced into violence and survival before she grew into her status as a globe-trotting legend. The Legend of Lara Croft is the first project set within Tomb Raider’s Unified Timeline, merging the Classic, Legend, and Survivor continuities into a single narrative.
In this series, Atwell voices a Lara still haunted by Yamatai, the island that nearly broke her in the 2013 game. Season 1 follows her attempts to navigate the lingering psychological fallout while reconnecting with friends she’d once shut out. Season 2 sees a more confident Lara square off against an enigmatic billionaire who’s hunting down African Orisha masks with mystical powers. As Lara does so, she must decide what kind of legacy she wants to build going forward.
How Hayley Atwell’s Lara Croft Redefined a Classic Hero
While several actresses, most notably Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander, have stepped into Lara Croft’s combat boots across films, games, and animation, Hayley Atwell brought something unusually real to the character. Her Lara is a blend of Camilla Luddington’s emotionally raw Survivor-era incarnation of the character and the confident, competent, and quippy Lara from the original '90s games.
But what makes Atwell’s incarnation especially unique is the character’s shifting relationship with the artifacts themselves. For the first time in Tomb Raider history, Lara shows genuine concern for cultural ownership, ensuring that relics return to the communities from which they came, rather than ending up in a private collection—or her own backpack. That’s a sharp break from the franchise’s early incarnations and similar franchises like Uncharted, where artifact hunting is more about thrill-seeking than ethics and the lingering echoes of colonization.
By grounding Lara’s missions in responsibility rather than spectacle, the series leans into the Survivor era’s realism while still honoring the mythology-heavy spirit of previous games.
What the Final Season Means for the Future of Tomb Raider
So, what does Netflix’s decision mean for the franchise at large? On one hand, ending the series after just two seasons may disappoint fans who hoped Atwell’s Lara would anchor a longer animated run. But the move also aligns with Crystal Dynamics’ broader plan to streamline its storytelling across future games, shows, and potential films.
With cameras set to roll on a live-action Tomb Raider streaming series starring Sophie Turner and action icon Sigourney Weaver in January 2026, Atwell is seemingly passing the torch to other actors. Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft’s job was to cement Lara’s transformation from traumatized survivor to a more confident and culturally aware adventurer ready for a new era of storytelling.
If Season 2 sticks the landing, Hayley Atwell’s tenure could be remembered not just as another interpretation of an iconic hero but as the pivotal version that redefined who Lara Croft is allowed to be going forward.
