Geralt of Rivia recasting from Henry Cavill to Liam Hemsworth, which was surprising for fans of the franchise, to say the least. Even before the season 4 changes, The Witcher has not always received the best reviews from critics and fans.
There are some notable story problems in The Witcher that festered long before the news of Cavill leaving the show broke. While the series has its detractors, it certainly still has its ers, and with a fourth season on the way, there's clearly a big enough group of people interested in the show that Netflix is willing to gamble that a cast change won't affect viewership. However, if you want to see a really well-done adaptation of a fantasy series on Netflix, this multi-season show is just what you're looking for.
Castlevania Is One Of Netflix's Most Underrated Fantasy TV Shows
The Series Has Four Seasons And A Spinoff
Castlevania is the underrated Netflix fantasy TV show that everyone needs to watch, and that isn't just because it has a 94% on Based on the video game series of the same name, Castlevania premiered in 2017 and ran for four seasons, following the Belmont clan, an excommunicated family of monster hunters who are the last line of defense between Vlad Dracula Țepeș and his demon minions and the people of the former medieval country of Wallachia.
The Fantasy Show Henry Cavill "Couldn't Stop Watching" Is Even Better Than The Witcher
Henry Cavill, who plays Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher, revealed that there's a Netflix original fantasy show that he couldn't stop watching.
A second sequel series premiered in 2023, titled Castlevania: Nocturne, and is set centuries later in during the French Revolution. Castlevania is a spectacularly animated series that does its colorful characters, settings, and action sequences justice. The expansion of vampiric lore in later seasons only made the show better. It also managed to find the right balance of violence, humor, horror, and drama to satisfy all fans.
What Makes Castlevania A Better Adaptation Than The Witcher
Castlevania Captures The Spirit Of The Video Game Franchise
Castlevania is an excellent series on its own, and it also shows The Witcher how you're supposed to do a fantasy adaptation. Both shows are based on fantasy franchises, but Castlevania tells its own original story. Because it's based strictly on a video game franchise, Castlevania ittedly has some leeway in how it tells its story. That ability to tell its own story is a boon for Castlevania. The showrunners are not beholden to storylines and plot points, and can add flourishes and critical details where needed.
At the same time, Castlevania completely embraces its source material. Castlevania is a fantastical and oftentimes strange world, and the show does not shy away from those bizarre aspects. It respects the source material without being a carbon copy of it. The Witcher, on the other hand, is a direct adaptation of the book series by Andrzej Sapkowski. Despite having specific storylines to follow, the show lacks focus on what it wants to be about, and what's worse, it fails to capture the essence of why the books and games are so successful.
Netflix's Highest-Rated The Witcher Project Is Not The Live-Action Show
Nightmare Of The Wolf Has A Higher Rotten Tomatoes Score
The live-action The Witcher series isn't even Netflix's highest-rated The Witcher project; that honor goes to The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, an animated spin-off movie that premiered on the streamer in 2021. The Witcher has a combined 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, while Nightmare of the Wolf has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. So if you're looking for a good The Witcher adaptation, Nightmare of the Wolf is a better bet.
Title |
RT Critics Score |
RT Audience Score |
IMDB Score |
The Witcher (2019-) |
80% |
54% |
7.9 |
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (2021) |
100% |
83% |
7.2 |
Castlevania (2017-2021) |
94% |
89% |
8.3 |
Between Nightmare of the Wolf, Castlevania, and shows like Arcane, the best adaptations on Netflix are the animated ones. The streamer has been successful in that medium and seems to have a better grasp on how to do fantasy adaptations when they don't have to consider the live-action aspect. The Witcher is still a serviceable series, but there are better options if you want an enjoyable fantasy adaptation.
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The Witcher
6/10- Release Date
- December 20, 2019
- Network
- Netflix
- Showrunner
- Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
Cast
Maciej Musial
WHERE TO WATCH
StreamingBased on the novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski and the video games, The Witcher follows the story of Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter who struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. "Ciri" Cirilla is the Princess of Cintra, who has magical abilities and whose fate has been linked to Geralt's. Yennefer of Vengerberg, a sorceress who trains to become a mage before deserting her duties and going solo, is also a main character in the Netflix series. The show's storylines are intertwined but told throughout different timelines, all of which eventually catch up to Ciri's, whose timeline of events is the most recent. Set on the Continent where men, monsters, and elves exist together, the characters all have separate journeys, though their destinies bring them into each others' orbits.
- Seasons
- 3
-
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Castlevania
- Release Date
- 2017 - 2021-00-00
- Showrunner
- Warren Ellis
- Writers
- Warren Ellis
Cast
Lance Reddick
Jaime Murray
WHERE TO WATCH
StreamingBUYBased on the video game franchise, Castlevania is a Netflix original animated action series that follows the never-ending battle of the monster-slaying Belmont clan as they continue to face off against the hordes of the night. When Count Dracula's human wife is murdered, his grief leads him to doom the world to eternal darkness. To stop him, it'll take a team of three unlikely heroes banding together: the last remaining Belmont, Trevor, a magic-wielding seeker named Sypha Belnades, and the tortured half-human, half-vampire son of the count himself, Alucard.
- Seasons
- 4
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