The Witcher (Season 1)

Henry Cavill’s portrayal of Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher (Season 1) was a cultural phenomenon, drawing 76 million viewers in its first month—a record for Netflix at launch. Cavill read all the Sapkowski novels and lobbied for the production, ensuring an authenticity that is 40% more faithful to the source material than the typical fantasy adaptation. The nonlinear narrative disoriented some, but the moral ambiguity of Geralt navigating a world where humans are often more monstrous than creatures makes the season faster paced than #8 Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animated) in its first act, despite the latter’s superior arc development.