The Witcher is one of the best fantasy series on Netflix, and for those wanting to watch more shows like it, the ambitious recasting two major characters for The Witcher season 4, including Henry Cavill as Geralt, the show's main character.
Despite the hiccups throughout, there is still a lot to love about The Witcher and its ability to scratch that fantasy television itch that every streaming platform seems to push for. The world that Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski built throughout The Witcher books is incredibly impressive, which made it the perfect franchise to adapt. Thankfully, Netflix's Shadow and Bone also excels at appealing to fans of the fantasy genre, and with only two seasons, the show is worth watching to see what makes it so compelling.
Like The Witcher, Shadow And Bone Was An Ambitious Fantasy Show Based On A Book
Shadow And Bone Successfully Adapted Its Fantastic Source Material
Based on the book trilogy by author Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone initially premiered on Netflix in 2021, signaling the start of a new saga that was planned for three seasons, as well as spinoffs based on the other books in Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse. The show follows Alina Starkov, played wonderfully by Jessie Mei Li, an orphan and former cartographer who discovers that she is a rare Sun Summoner, who can help shape the future of Ravka, alongside Ben Barnes' General Aleksander Kirigan, a Shadow Summoner.
"It Felt Like We Ended On A High": Shadow & Bone's Season 3 Cancellation & Future Get Response From Alina Star
Two years after it was cancelled, Alina Starkov star Jessie Mei Li looks back on the impact of Shadow & Bone and whether the show could return.
Alongside the main plot that follows the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the series also adapted some elements of the Six of Crows duology, though this was mostly the characters from those novels instead of the stories themselves. As a result, Shadow and Bone was an ambitious adaptation of a fantastic book franchise that did more things right than it did wrong and is one of the best fantasy shows produced by Netflix.
If You Liked Netflix's Take On The Witcher Universe, You're Likely To Enjoy Shadow And Bone
Both Shows Approach Their Worlds In Engaging Ways
The Witcher was an instant hit when it first premiered on Netflix, but began to stumble during its run, eventually losing Henry Cavill as Geralt and replacing him with Liam Hemsworth heading into the show's fourth and fifth seasons, which will also be the end of the series overall. Despite that, The Witcher and the way Netflix approached adapting its source material earned the popularity. Netflix's Shadow and Bone is similar in many respects, expanding on the existing material in surprising ways.
One advantage The Witcher has over Shadow and Bone is that the show will run for five seasons, allowing for more storylines to play out than what Shadow and Bone was afforded.
Shadow and Bone remains closer to its source material than The Witcher does, but both series really excel at adapting the atmosphere of their franchises, with stunning production values across the board, and interesting world-building that is always engaging. One of the best aspects of fantasy as a genre is indeed the fantastical worlds and Shadow and Bone thrives in that regard, feeling unlike any other fantasy adaptations on TV despite dipping into the trusted tropes from time to time.
Shadow And Bone Was Unfortunately Canceled By Netflix After Two Seasons
Netflix Felt The Viewership Wasn't Worth The Cost
While the series had an engaging premise and enjoyed critical success during its first two seasons, Netflix canceled Shadow and Bone, deciding that the combination of viewership numbers in relation to the cost of making the series wasn't worth continuing. Canceling shows early has been an unfortunate side effect of the streaming era and Netflix seems willing to do it without hesitation if they don't believe a show is worth producing anymore. Unfortunately, the plans for Shadow and Bone's season 3 and beyond never came to fruition.
Canceling shows early has been an unfortunate side effect of the streaming era and Netflix seems willing to do it without hesitation if they don't believe a show is worth producing anymore.
While it is sad that fans will likely never see a third season of Shadow and Bone or the potential Six of Crows spinoff, the series itself ends on a rather satisfying note. Most of the main plotlines were resolved, but some new threats emerged at the very end to tease what was to come. Despite that, it doesn't necessarily feel incomplete when watching the show's two seasons, making Shadow and Bone the perfect series to watch for fans of The Witcher, or even just fantasy fans in general.
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Shadow and Bone
5/10- Release Date
- 2021 - 2023-00-00
- Showrunner
- Eric Heisserer
- Directors
- Mairzee Almas, Lee Toland Krieger, Jeremy Webb, Bola Ogun, Karen Gaviola, Laura Belsey, Dan Liu
Cast
Kit Young
WHERE TO WATCH
StreamingBased on Leigh Bardugo's bestselling Grishaverse novels, Netflix's Shadow and Bone follows the story of Alina Starkov, an orphan and soldier who has released a power that could potentially set her country free. Instead, Alina s an elite army of soldiers known as the Grisha as the Shadow Fold, an area of mysterious darkness that grows each year, threatening to envelop her world. Alina quickly learns that nothing is as it seems, and it will take more than the power of magic to make it through.
- Writers
- Eric Heisserer, Vanya Asher, Daegan Fryklind, Shelley Meals, Christina Strain, M. Scott Veach, Donna Thorland, Erin Conley, Nick Culbertson
- Seasons
- 2
- Streaming Service(s)
- Netflix
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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.
- Directors
- Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
- Writers
- Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
- Seasons
- 3
- Streaming Service(s)
- Netflix
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