Fantasy asks more from its audience than most genres. Starting a recent show means sitting through introductions to an entire world, its rules, its ma
Fantasy asks more from its audience than most genres. Starting a recent show means sitting through introductions to an entire world, its rules, its magic system, and, of course, all the characters that will drive the story… before the story even has a chance to begin properly. That is exactly where weaker fantasy shows lose viewers, because the great ones know how critical it is to make the setup and plot come together.
The fun of following a fantasy story lies in discovering its world as the characters move through it. The series on this list not only found that balance early and hooked the audience in, but managed to sustain that momentum across every season.
‘Blood of Zeus’ (2020–2025)
Characters lined up and looking to the right in ‘Blood of Zeus’Image via Netflix
Blood of Zeus showcases Greek mythology in its violent, messy, and dramatic form. The animated series begins with Heron (Derek Phillips), an outcast living in Ancient Greece who discovers that he is secretly the son of Zeus (Jason O’Mara). That revelation immediately pulls him into a war involving demons, furious gods, and the terrifying Seraphim (Elias Toufexis), whose connection to Heron complicates this battle between good and evil. Blood of Zeus Season 1 has all the spectacle one can expect from a story about Olympus, but it’s entertaining because the story allows the gods to be selfish and emotionally destructive, just like humans.
Season 2 pushes deeper into the Underworld, and Season 3 brings Heron’s relationships with his father and the other gods to a satisfying close. Blood of Zeus is as intentional as a miniseries gets because every episode drives the story in a meaningful direction. The show keeps introducing characters from Greek mythology but never loses Heron in all that escalation. In doing all this, Blood of Zeus becomes just as immersive as it is ambitious.
‘Shadow and Bone’ (2021–2023)
Archie Renaux as Mal Oretsev and Jessie Mei Li as Alina Starkov with glowing orbs in Shadow & Bone Season 2.Image via Netflix
Shadow and Bone, based on Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse novels, is an comprehensive fantasy that never feels too complicated to follow. The show centers on mapmaker Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), who discovers that she is a occasional Sun Summoner capable of creating delicate. That power suddenly makes her one of the most critical people in Ravka, a kingdom split in two by a massive wall of darkness called the Shadow Fold, which is full of deadly creatures. The story escalates when the mysterious leader of the Grisha, General Kirigan (Ben Barnes), takes Alina under his wing, while her childhood friend Mal (Archie Renaux) desperately tries to find his way back to her.
At the same time, the show introduces Kaz (Freddy Carter), Inej (Amita Suman), and Jesper (Kit Young), a group of criminals whose storyline gradually collides with Alina’s. If that sounds like a lot, it’s because it is. However, Shadow and Bone never lets the lore overshadow its storyline. Season 1 takes its time establishing Ravka, the Fold, and Alina’s relationship with Kirigan before revealing just how perilous the world around her is. For a fantasy this detailed, Shadow and Bone is surprisingly simple to binge because of how it incorporates elements of romance, friendships, heists, and betrayals in the same narrative. That is also what gives the show its distinct personality that fans just can’t get enough of. It’s a shame that the series was canceled after two seasons, because it really set a benchmark for newfangled fantasy storytelling.
‘The Sandman’ (2022–2025)
Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer Morningstar in ‘The Sandman’Image via Netflix
The Sandman, based on Neil Gaiman‘s DC comic book series of the same name, is a nightmare come to life, quite literally. The miniseries follows Dream (Tom Sturridge), the immortal ruler of the Dreaming, a dimension that encompasses all dreams, nightmares, stories, and human imagination itself. The story begins after he is captured by an occult kingdom and kept imprisoned for more than a century. By the time Dream finally escapes, his kingdom has completely fallen apart, and several objects containing his power have disappeared. The story then follows the protagonist as he tracks them down through Hell, the waking world, and eventually into the path of Rose Walker (Vanesu Samunyai), a youthful woman whose connection to dreams threatens the boundaries of his entire realm. Unpredictability is obviously baked into the narrative from the beginning, but what’s fascinating about The Sandman is everything happening between its major plot points.
The show takes an experimental approach with its storytelling and regularly shifts the spotlight away from Dream altogether. In some episodes, he is barely there, while the story follows ordinary people, immortals, nightmares, or other beings whose lives happen to cross his path. Dream is still the thread holding everything together, but the series understands that the most fascinating way to learn about him is through the effect he has on everyone else. This allows the show to move freely between horror, romance, mythology, and so much more without feeling jarring. In fact, the great thing about The Sandman is that it never settles into one formula. The show keeps changing shape because dreams do, too, elementary as that.
‘The Dragon Prince’ (2018–2024)
Soren (Jesse Inocalla), Ezran (Sasha Rojen), Callum (Jack De Sena), and Rayla (Paula Burrows) in Season 5.Image via Netflix
The Dragon Prince takes a pretty familiar fantasy setup and keeps finding ways to make it bigger. The story takes place in a world where humans and magical creatures have been divided for generations after humanity turned to shadowy magic. However, everything changes when youthful princes Callum (Jack DeSena) and Ezran (Sasha Rojen) discover that the supposedly destroyed egg of the Dragon Prince is still alive. Now, instead of handing it over to their own side, they team up with Rayla (Paula Burrows), an elven assassin originally sent to kill them, and set out to return it to Xadia.
This relatively elementary peace mission slowly pulls them into a much larger conflict involving archaic magic, political rivalries, dragons, and the mysterious Startouch Elf Aaravos (Erik Dellums). This premise keeps expanding as Callum goes from a kid who barely understands magic to a seasoned mage who has to decide the kind of power he is willing to operate. Even villains are given enough time to become complicated characters, rather than one-dimensional bad guys. The Dragon Prince keeps opening its world up through recent kingdoms, creatures, and forms of magic while keeping its central ideas intact. Seven seasons is a long time for any fantasy show to stay this committed to its original world, but The Dragon Prince does it brilliantly.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes
Which Netflix Character Would Be Your Best Friend?
Dustin · Emily · Wednesday · Gi-hun
Some friends drag you out of the house. Some sit with you on the worst night of your life. Netflix has written both, plus the one who tells you the truth you have been avoiding all week. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually do friendship, and find out which of them was always going to end up in your corner.
Dustin(Stranger Things)
Emily(Emily in Paris)
Wednesday(Wednesday)
Gi-hun(Squid Game)
FIND YOUR BEST FRIEND →
01
How do you usually end up making a recent friend?
The origin story says a lot about the friendship that follows it.
AWe got deafening about the same obsession and never stopped.
BThey invited me somewhere before we had properly met.
CWe bonded over disliking exactly the same thing.
DThey noticed I was struggling and stayed with me.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
What is a perfect Saturday with your best friend?
Friendship is mostly built out of very ordinary hours.
AA ridiculous plan neither of us should attempt.
BSomewhere recent, photographed heavily, ending very behind schedule.
CSomewhere still, few people, zero miniature talk.
DSomething elementary, and a conversation that actually matters.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
You call them at two in the morning. What happens?
This is the real test of a friendship, and everybody knows it.
AThey are already putting their shoes on.
BThey answer instantly and turn it into a plan.
CThey answer and say something unflattering and true.
DThey listen for an hour and never check the time.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
What do you want from them when you are clearly wrong?
The best friendships are the ones that survive being corrected.
ASupport first. We can review the mistake later.
BA relentlessly positive reframe of the entire disaster.
CThe blunt version. Do not soften it for me.
DPatience, and no judgment about how I got here.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
What do your friends actually value about you?
The friend you attract says something about the friend you are.
AI am all in, always, about everything.
BI can turn almost any situation into a good time.
CI say the thing nobody else in the room will.
DI look after whoever is having the worst day.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
You have a falling out. How does it go?
How a friendship repairs itself matters more than how it breaks.
ALoudly, briefly, then back to normal by Tuesday.
BThey apologise first, enthusiastically, with a gift.
CCold silence, then one desiccated joke that fixes everything.
DWe talk until we both understand what actually happened.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
What do you actually need a best friend for?
Everybody is missing something. The right friend fills that gap.
ATo make my life bigger than it would be alone.
BTo push me out of the house and into my own life.
CTo catch me when I start lying to myself.
DTo be the person who never gave up on me.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
Ten years from now, what keeps the two of you close?
Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who you get.
AWe would still drop everything for each other, instantly.
BWe still make plans, and we still actually go.
CWe still cut through each other’s nonsense in one sentence.
DThey stood by me once when it cost them something.
REVEAL MY BEST FRIEND →
The Group Chat Has Spoken
Your Best Friend Is…
Four Netflix characters, four completely different ways of showing up
for somebody. This is the one who fits how you actually do friendship, and what having them in your
life would be like.
Dustin Henderson
You do not do friendship at half volume, and neither does he.
What you want is somebody who says yes to the plan before you have finished describing the
plan.
- Dustin is the friend the entire show runs on: steadfast past the point of sense,
enthusiastic about everything, and incapable of leaving anybody behind. - You have the same instinct. Your friendships are deafening, specific and slightly ridiculous,
and they last for decades because of it. - He is also the one person who would take your strangest interest completely seriously,
which is far rarer than it sounds. - You would have a group chat. It would never once be still.
Emily Cooper
You are the friend who makes things happen, and so is she.
Together you would be mildly exhausting to everyone around you and completely delighted with
yourselves.
- Emily treats an ordinary Tuesday as something that could be turned into an occasion,
which is either the best or the worst quality in a friend depending on your energy
levels. - You share her refusal to sit still. Neither of you has ever accepted a night in when
something was happening somewhere else. - She is far more steadfast than people give her credit for. She defends her friends loudly,
publicly, and occasionally before checking the facts. - She would post the photo without asking. You would forgive her, because it is a very
good photo.
Wednesday Addams
You have no patience for pleasant lies, and she has no ability to
tell them. What looks like coldness from the outside is the most reliable friendship on this
list.
- Wednesday never says a kind thing she does not mean, which makes the occasional ones count for
an enormous amount. - You would rather be told the truth than be made comfortable. She is constitutionally
incapable of offering you anything else. - Underneath all of it she is ferociously protective. She simply refuses to make a
performance out of caring. - Do not expect a birthday message. Do expect her to ruin anyone who wrongs you.
Seong Gi-hun
You look after whoever is having the worst day. So does he. It is
the least strategic way to move through the world and the best possible quality in a friend.
- Gi-hun is not the strongest player in Squid Game, or the cleverest. He is the one who
keeps choosing to protect somebody else, over and over, at genuine cost to himself. - You have the same instinct. You notice who is struggling and you stay with them, long
after anybody would blame you for leaving. - He is a flawed friend, and that is part of why it lands. He lets people down, then comes
back and tries again, which is more than most manage. - He would give you his last chance and never once mention that he had done it.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
‘Arcane’ (2021–2024)
Jinx’s sacrifice in ‘Arcane’Image via Netflix
Arcane could have been just another video game adaptation, but it dared to do more with its source material and made every part of the worldbuilding matter. The show begins in the divided cities of Piltover and Zaun, where sisters Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Powder (Ella Purnell) grow up on the poorer side of that divide. After one disastrous night tears their family apart, the sisters are separated and grow into very different people. Vi eventually finds herself pulled into Piltover’s political world alongside Caitlyn (Katie Leung), while Powder becomes Jinx, the unstable and incredibly perilous fighter working under crime lord Silco (Jason Spisak).
That alone is enough to carry the series, but Arcane keeps widening the story without ever losing the sisters at its center. Piltover’s discovery of Hextech turns magic into a political weapon, and the conflict between the two becomes increasingly impossible to contain. However, what keeps the audience invested is how the two sisters’ energetic is shaped by the world they live in. The animation is obviously stunning, but what makes Arcane special is how much emotion sits underneath all that spectacle.
‘Sweet Tooth’ (2021–2024)
Christian Convery, Naledi Murray and Stefania LaVie Owen in Sweet Tooth Season 3Image via Netflix
Sweet Tooth is one of the most whimsical shows on Netflix, but that doesn’t mean it lacks substance. The series takes place after a deadly pandemic has wiped out most of humanity at the same time that hybrid children, born with both human and animal features, begin appearing across the world. Gus (Christian Convery) is a deer-boy who has spent most of his life hidden away in the wilderness by his father. After his sheltered life suddenly ends, he sets out in search of his mother and eventually teams up with Jepperd (Nonso Anozie), a hardened former football player who initially wants nothing to do with him.
Gus is the heart of the story and keeps the story from feeling bleak, even in its darkest moments. He looks at everything with curiosity and wonder instead of fear, and that gives Sweet Tooth a tone that post-apocalyptic shows just don’t aim for. Even as the story gets more elaborate, the show never loses its sense of adventure or warmth. Sweet Tooth keeps raising the stakes without turning cynical, a feat that is not simple to achieve.
‘Wednesday’ (2022–Present)
Wednesday could have just banked on The Addams Family nostalgia, but the show never tries to do that. The world is the same, and so is the macabre humor, which gives longtime fans a reason to return. However, someone who has never watched an Addams Family movie or episode can also start the series without missing anything. That is obviously because Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) is such an intriguing character on her own. After being expelled from yet another school, she is sent to Nevermore Academy, the same boarding school her parents attended. Wednesday immediately hates the place, but a series of murders, her developing psychic abilities, and an ancient mystery involving her family give her a reason to stay.
Soon, she starts investigating the killings while reluctantly forming relationships with roommate Enid (Emma Myers) and the other outcasts around her. The mystery gives Wednesday Season 1 its momentum, but Wednesday herself is the real hook. Ortega understands exactly how far to push the deadpan humor without making her character completely emotionless. Through her, the series introduces a completely recent generation to the Addams world without simply recreating what previous adaptations already did. The show raises the stakes and expands its world with every episode. By Season 2, Nevermore feels bigger, and the series leans much harder into horror without ever losing its sense of kooky and spooky.
Wednesday
Release Date
November 23, 2022
Network
Netflix
