With the third season of The Umbrella Academy dropping on June 22nd and Neil Gaiman's DC comic book project The Sandman series slated to arrive later in 2022, Netflix continues to be one of the best streaming destinations for comic book fans. And the draw isn't just the great stunts and CGI. Netflix allows creators to dig deep into character development and complex storylines, generating engaging heroes like the battered Spaceboy Luther Hargreeves and the introverted Kinsey Locke.
Faced with a plethora of comic-based series to watch, it is often difficult for fans to sort out the originals from shows adopted or rerun from other networks, like Lucifer and The Walking Dead. The best Netflix adaptations excel at cinematics, stunts, well-developed characters, and engaging plotlines, making it worthwhile to know the difference.
Born from the Dark Horse comic book series created by Gerard Way, who happens to be the lead vocalist for My Chemical Romance, The Umbrella Academy is a near-perfect combination of a superpower-equipped, dysfunctional family and the apocalypse.
Right off the bat in the premiere season 1 episode, a stylized, rambunctious fight sequence, set to a boppy rendition of the old standard "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" by They Might be Giants, encapsulates the wit and playfulness that the show's writers use to buoy a story laced with loneliness and pain. Their masterful combination makes The Umbrella Academy a fan favorite.
Netflix's adaptation of "The Man Without Fear," created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett, cranks the action and violence volume up to 11. Murdock unleashes his rage upon the guilty in graphic, intense scenes of physical destruction.
A cinematic delight, Daredevil excels at employing extensive single shots where the camera glides effortlessly from one scene to another. Hell's Kitchen provides a perfectly gritty milieu of dark alleys and streaming columns of light for stunts, plus the writers have conjured up one of the best storylines in this lineup. Guest appearances by other MC figures like The Punisher and Elektra are just icing on the cake.
As a spinoff of Netflix's The Daredevil series, The Punisher remains well-anchored in the MCU. The character with the skull T-shirt is a tortured soul wreaking revenge in this darkest of dark Marvel tales.
Beyond the inner turmoil of Frank Castle, the beating heart of the series is Frank's relationship with the villain-turned-amnesiac Billy Russo, which in turn revolves around themes of culpability and betrayal. Emotionally stirring, The Punisher is frenetic fun, fueled by its signature fight scenes and a tremendous "Punisher" sense of humor. This makes it one of the best Netflix live-action adaptations of the Marvel Universe bunch. That is if the viewers can stomach the violence.
This diabolical reimagining of the treacly Sabrina: The Teenage Witch stakes its own bloody ground with dark journeys into the realms of the occult, horror, and black magic. The half-mortal, half-witch Sabrina Spellman provides wrenching internal conflict as she navigates between worlds packed with Sabrina's powerful friends and foes.
At its best, the show revels in the witchy versions of traditions like Thanksgiving and allows great supporting characters like the sweet and vengeful Hilda to chew the scenery. Though it takes a few episodes to settle down and find its way, the creators' gusto for indulgences of all kinds makes Chilling Adventures of Sabrina a guilty pleasure.
After bouncing around in Hollywood development limbo for years, Locke & Key eventually found a home at Netflix. A fantasy-horror hybrid, the show's driving force is the three children and powerful magical keys, plus a demonic entity in an old Victorian abode known as "Keyhouse" where the toned-down violence avoids anything graphic.
With gorgeous cinematography and dazzling special effects, Locke & Key comes in reasonably high on the "scary" scale, though its sometimes overwrought coming-of-age scenario dominates. The mysteries pile on too thick, especially with the Lost people involved, and that's worrisome. Where the show excels is in its performances and how it subtly handles the legacy of childhood trauma. With likable characters and its softly spooky tone, Locke & Key is a great genre starter for young teenagers.
Fourteen years after her Marvel comic book debut, Jessica Jones comes to life in the form of Kristin Ritter. As a noir-soaked, hard-drinking, sharp-tongued private investigator, Jessica inhabits the seedy side of the tracks. She's a damaged character in a dangerous occupation and by portraying her world with unblinking clarity, the mesmerizing Jessica Jones is by far the most adult-oriented Marvel series on Netflix.
Jessica Jones is Krysten Ritter and Krysten Ritter is Jessica Jones. Ritter's portrayal of Jessica struggling with mental illness is brilliant and her performance is key to drawing viewers into the series, much in the same way Jon Bernthal steals the show as The Punisher. Although the storylines can meander, Ritter's performance as a wounded, uncertain young woman keeps the viewer totally locked in.
Enter the Harlem-born Luke Cage, a Black superhero with impenetrable skin whose signature catchphrase is "Sweet Christmas." You'd think the narrative might revel in the Marvel bash 'em up mode like so many others, but Luke Cage surprises with an effective infusion of social conscience and intellectual debate heated enough to cause controversy.
Luke Cage faces unusual problems for a Marvel hero: he's very much an earthman, saddled with standard human issues such as the drawbacks to a being famous public figure and the double-edged consequences of policing a crime-riddled neighborhood in New York City. With the guts to explore contentious issues in the Black community and the sense of fun to have great hip-hop bands like Rakim, Ghostface Killa, and Joi lighting it up at "Harlem's Paradise," Luke Cage is both entertaining and meaningful.
There are a lot of stories to be told in the wake of the apocalyptic "Great Crumble" and the following pandemic of "Sick," when survivors start having hybrid human/animal fur babies. If that sounds pretty crazy, it is. Sweet Tooth delves into craziness now and then along with forays into pure sci-fi, fantasy, and stark realism.
With fearful humans hunting the hybrids, this fantasy would be expected to live on the dark side alongside other DNA milkshake projects such as The Island of Doctor Moreau but, surprisingly, it's often quite gentle and lighthearted. A raft of complex, interesting Sweet Tooth characters anchor the viewer amid the weird narrative currents. Yes, there is grief and pain and fear because of the apocalypse, but human (and human hybrid) survival in tough times requires a sense of hope and acts of kindness, and that's where this eccentric treasure excels.
All hail the Halo-bearer! Fresh performances and superb fight choreography power a series willingly swerving between dead seriousness and absurdity. The Warrior Nun series is a freshly tossed salad of an ancient order of nuns, an unwilling heroine in Ava (ah, the charismatic Alba Baptista), cool weapons, and a typical variety of demons. Be aware: this is a nice roadhouse salad, not a high-priced Waldorf at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo.
Promising an odd tonal concoction, Warrior Nun's story of resurrection and demon-hunting does not always escape the old tropes of its fantasy genre. It isn't as unique as it could be. That said, the Warrior Nun and her cohorts offer binge-watching mojo aplenty, providing a fun, pulpy ride for those who love that kind of stuff. In terms of story potential, the sky is the limit. The maturity of a second season may well bring great things.
Single moms have their plates full when raising a strong-willed son, but when he starts displaying superpowers, everything mom thought she knew goes out the window. Loyal to the comics that birthed it, Raising Dion never strays far from the playful sensibilities of the comic book world.
As a series, Raising Dion has a problem: the competing family drama and superhero scenarios often become unwieldy and break any tonal rhythm in the episodes. Yet it handles a sense of adventure, curiosity, and innocence with such aplomb that it captivates younger children. The show promises to be great if somebody finds a way to put it all together.
With masterful characters, effects, and storylines, Netflix original programming continues be a unique destination for comic book fans.Richard Preston