The Witchermay be the quintessential Netflix fantasy adaptation, but there’s another series with a 94% onRotten Tomatoesthat is a much better adaptation. There has been a lot of news aboutThe Witcherrecently, and not all of it has been good. A lot of hay has been made about theGeralt of Rivia recastingfrom Henry Cavill to Liam Hemsworth, which was surprising for fans of the franchise, to say the least. Even before the season 4 changes,The Witcherhas not always received the best reviews from critics and fans.
There are some notablestory problems inThe Witcherthat festered long before the news of Cavill leaving the show broke. While the series has its detractors, it certainly still has its supporters, 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 areallywell-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
Castlevaniais the underrated Netflix fantasy TV show that everyone needs to watch, and that isn’t just because it has a 94% onRotten Tomatoes.Based on the video game seriesof the same name,Castlevaniapremiered 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.
A second sequel series premiered in 2023, titledCastlevania: Nocturne, and is set centuries later in France during the French Revolution.Castlevaniais 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
Castlevaniais an excellent series on its own, and it also showsThe Witcherhow you’re supposed to do a fantasy adaptation. Both shows are based on fantasy franchises, butCastlevaniatells its own original story. Because it’s based strictly on a video game franchise,Castlevaniaadmittedly has some leeway in how it tells its story. That ability to tell its own story is a boon forCastlevania. The showrunners are not beholden to storylines and plot points, and can add flourishes and critical details where needed.
At the same time,Castlevaniacompletely embraces its source material.Castlevaniais 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, isa direct adaptation of the book seriesby 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-actionThe Witcherseries isn’t even Netflix’s highest-ratedThe Witcherproject; that honor goes toThe Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, an animated spin-off movie that premiered on the streamer in 2021.The Witcherhas a combined 80% onRotten Tomatoes, whileNightmare of the Wolfhas a 100% onRotten Tomatoes. So if you’re looking for a goodThe Witcheradaptation,Nightmare of the Wolfis a better bet.
80%
54%
7.9
100%
83%
7.2
94%
89%
8.3
BetweenNightmare of the Wolf,Castlevania, and shows likeArcane,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 Witcheris still a serviceable series, but there are better options if you want an enjoyable fantasy adaptation.
The Witcher
Cast
The Witcher, released in 2019, follows Geralt of Rivia, a mutated monster hunter navigating a turbulent world where humanity’s darker nature often eclipses the monstrous.
Castlevania
Based 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.
