Netflix has given the world a lot of good things. The streamer famously saved “Breaking Bad” from an early cancellation due to its huge rise in viewership the moment it debuted on the platform. Meanwhile, shows like “Lucifer” and “Manifest” outright came back from the dead thanks to Netflix giving them new seasons.
That being said, these days, Netflix has just so many original series and movies that the vast majority tend to, at worst, quickly disappear into the ether or, at best, enjoy some popularity for a few weeks before vanishing from our collective memory. For every “Stranger Things,” there is a “Hemlock Grove,” after all. Indeed, there are plenty of very good but mostly forgotten Netflix TV shows, from comedies to documentaries and animated series.
When it comes to fantasy, however, there was a time when no other network or platform was spending as much money or doing as much to make terrific fantasy television as Netflix (much like what Apple TV is doing for the sci-fi genre. So, if you’re tired of waiting for the next and final season of “House of the Dragon” and want more fantasy on TV, you should check out one of these shows that Netflix spent an obscene amount of money making before we collectively moved on and left them in the dust. Here are forgotten 5 Netflix fantasy shows that still hold up today.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
One of the most ambitious Netflix productions ever, “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” is a prequel to the 1982 Jim Henson dark fantasy cult film “The Dark Crystal,” telling the story of three young Gelflings as they journey on a quest to unite their clans against the tyranny of the Skeksis. Though the show earned rave reviews and even won an Emmy, it only lasted for one season. That’s a shame, too, as this series is high fantasy at its very best, with a deep and complex yet still accessible lore, memorable characters on classic fantasy quests you want to root for, scheming villains that are easy to hate, and stunning visuals that make the world of Thra come alive.
More than anything, “Age of Resistance” is simply an impeccably made show. It has massive sets with astonishing production design that feel like the closest TV has got to Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” films in terms of scope, scale, and attention to detail. And that’s not to mention its state-of-the-art puppetry, which is arguably the full realization of what Henson spent decades trying to do. It’s a show that proves you don’t need CGI or even human actors to star in your production. Between the meticulous puppetry and the surprisingly good voice acting by the show’s A-list cast (really, everyone from Jason Isaacs to Taron Egerton, Lena Headey, and Andy Samberg), the series’ characters all feel like fully fleshed out and real beings. We only got “Age of Resistance” for a single season, yet it remains one of the best things Netflix has ever done.
Maya and the Three
Jorge R. Gutiérrez is one of our finest animators working today, with a visual style that’s instantly recognizable and a distinct sense of storytelling. Just look at “Maya and the Three,” his magnum opus. It’s an epic fantasy miniseries in the vein of “Lord of the Rings,” except it’s based on Mesoamerican mythology and follows its hero on a journey that takes her across Latin America, bringing her face to face with gods and other fantastical beings across civilizations. It’s also a show with a phenomenal ensemble of characters voiced by an all Latino cast, along with visuals worthy of the big screen. In a cool twist, the series even plays with its aspect ratio, creating a 3-D effect where things pop out of the black bars on-screen in certain moments.
The result is an animated fantasy epic that’s both familiar in terms of its scope and story and fresh with regard to its approach and in the kind of mythology it deals with. “Maya and the Three” isn’t lacking for stunning action and shocking deaths, either, as it references everything from the classic works of Akira Kurosawa to anime. It does for TV what “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” did for feature films, showcasing just what animation is capable of doing when creatives take the medium to new spaces.
Tales of Arcadia
Guillermo del Toro’s TV work doesn’t get the credit it deserves, whether that’s his vampire show “The Strain” or his highly ambitious shared animated universe “Tales of Arcadia.” The whole thing started as a simple, yet very fun, fantasy hero’s journey narrative about a boy who becomes the protector of both the human and magic worlds after finding a magical amulet. From there, things soon escalated, giving rise to a vast franchise that includes spin-offs about aliens, high-fantasy time travel, dragons, and even Merlin the legendary wizard.
With its visually striking animation, a colorful and rich universe full of details that hint at a vast and deep mythology, and a love of misfits and monsters that’s 100% del Toro, “Tales of Arcadia” is a must-watch for audiences of all ages. There’s action, romance, comedy, teenage angst, a great coming-of-age story, and side characters with fantastic arcs that see them grow and change over the course of three shows and a movie. At the center of it all is Jim Lake Jr., voiced by the late Anton Yelchin (later Emile Hirsch), who gives an incredible and often heartbreaking performance in a franchise that’s full of emotionally intelligent moments. It’s what makes this property one of the best animated works of its kind.
The Midnight Gospel
“The Midnight Gospel” is one of the strangest and most surreal animated series of the last decade, which is only to be expected, given that it comes from “Adventure Time’ creator Pendleton Ward (who developed the series with Duncan Trussell). It follows a space podcaster traveling to different worlds right before they are destroyed to interview their residents before they’re killed. What you get is a show featuring some of the most stunning visuals in TV animation, with bright colors, bizarre imagery, and impossible creatures and landscapes.
But the thing that truly makes “The Midnight Gospel” special is how it incorporates actual recordings from Trussell’s podcast, “The Duncan Trussell Family Hour,” into its story, with interviews that often touch on deep subjects like existential dread and mortality. It turns what could’ve easily been a trippy yet shallow series into a moving, complex work of television unlike anything else in the medium.
Shadow and Bone
Based on the books by Leigh Bardugo, “Shadow and Bone” is a fantastic hybrid of fantasy, action, and romance that could (and should) have been the biggest thing on TV. The show follows an unassuming cartographer who unleashes her magical abilities and discovers she’s also a fabled messiah who can defeat a near-immortal villain and heal her war-torn world. The problem is, that villain is a shockingly handsome and charming fellow played by Ben Barnes, so, of course, a romance blossoms between them.
“Shadow and Bone” has a dense mythology, the kind that requires you to have a glossary and notepad nearby while watching it. Still, it’s all in service of creating a vast world that feels lived-in and real, with a rich sense of history and culture. Its balance of genres is handled equally well, as the romance informs the characters and the setting, rather than feeling forced. It’s what allows “Shadow and Bone” to revitalize tired fantasy tropes, embracing tradition and familiarity before adding a new twist. This results in a show that’s not just familiar and fresh, it’s engaging and impossible to stop watching. Not to mention, the whole thing looks ridiculously good, with gorgeous costumes and set design rivaling a big-budget movie production.
