The Witcher was a huge hit for Netflix. Arriving at a time when everyone had a massive, Game of Thrones-shaped hole in their viewing schedule, people were craving another fantasy series with high production values to get stuck into, and that’s exactly what they got with the streaming site’s adaptation of the beloved novels by Andrzej Sapkowski.
But with The Witcher now on hiatus until season 2 arrives – and no word on an official premiere date just yet – folks are hungry for more fantasy. Especially as a lot of people are still stuck at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Thankfully, then, Netflix is here to save us, with their new Witcher wannabe show set to drop on the platform this Friday.
Of course, we’re talking about Cursed, a new fantasy series that’s penciled to premiere this week and has a ton – and we do mean a ton – of buzz behind it. Expectations are high and so far, all the signs point to it following in the footsteps of the Henry Cavill-starring hit.
Based on the illustrated novel of the same name by Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler, Cursed is an Arthurian tale that acts as an origin story for the Lady in the Lake, who we know will one day give the sword Excalibur to Arthur. Until then, however, she’s Nimue, a young woman “who’s granted the power of the aforementioned weapon.” As Netflix’s official synopsis explains, “over the course of her journey, Nimue will become a symbol of courage and rebellion against the terrifying Red Paladins, and their complicit King Uther.”
While the King Arthur story has been done to death recently and a number of attempts to bring it to screens both big and small have failed, this looks like a unique riff on it and all the trailers we’ve seen so far have looked fantastic. Reviews have yet to roll in, but with a premiere pegged in for July 17th, it won’t be long now until we see whether or not Cursed can successfully fill that fantasy hole in our viewing schedule.