The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019)
They finally did it! After decades of discussions, a sequel to Jim Henson’s cult puppet fantasy The Dark Crystal was made, with painstaking care and a great deal of cash spent. And then… it went away almost as soon as it had arrived. Perhaps kids just found the creepy Skeksis too scary (though ‘too scary’ has basically been their USP since 1982), perhaps viewers found the high fantasy plot too distancing and the episodes too long, perhaps it was just too expensive to make. Or perhaps, we just don’t deserve nice things. LM
I Am Not Okay With This (2020)
Adapted from Charles Forsman’s comic book of the same name, I Am Not Okay With This was an indie slacker take on the teen-with-superpowers genre. In heavy debt to the films of John Hughes and stuffed with pop cultural homages, it only lasted seven short episodes. In it, Sophia Lillis (It, Sharp Objects) played high schooler Syd, a lonely misfit whose burgeoning powers may have been indirectly responsible for a tragedy in her past. That mystery was never solved on screen, because the series ended on a cliffhanger and remains hanging off that cliff to this day. LM
Cursed (2020)
Cursed is an origin story of sorts for Nimue a.k.a. The Lady of the Lake – a mythical figure from Arthurian tales whose magical abilities are legendary. In the series, Nimue (Katherine Langford) is tasked with bringing the magical sword Excalibur to Merlin (Gustaf Skarsgård) in an effort to save her people from religious bigots who seek to wipe the fey from existence. With characters like Arthur (Devon Terrell), Lancelot (Daniel Sharman), and King Uther (Sebastian Armesto) also among the cast, Cursed is right at home among other Arthurian adaptations, but still manages to appeal to a modern audience. Cursed is so much more than just a girl boss version of a legendary character, the series gives Nimue a real strength and complexity that makes you want to learn more about her and her history, and it’s a shame we won’t get further into this series. BA
Jupiter’s Legacy (2021)
Jupiter’s Legacy follows two different timelines. One is set during the Great Depression and follows a group of people that become gifted with extraordinary powers. The second is set in the present day, where we see that these people have become superheroes. Though they have become powerful forces for good in the decades since, they struggle to maintain their relevance in a changing world as their children grow into their powers and try to live up to their legacy. While the series doesn’t always have the best flow between the timelines, it’s something that could have easily been fixed had the series been given another season. Jupiter’s Legacy does a pretty good job of setting up this world for further exploration, and it’s such a shame that Netflix didn’t give it the chance. BA
The Irregulars (2021)
This Sherlock Holmes fanfic supernatural show could easily have dropped the Great Detective and stuck with its ‘superpowered Victorian teens investigate weird monsters’ angle, but without the recognisable IP, would Netflix have commissioned it in the first place? The end result was an uneven mix of cool 19th century Gothic, fantasy horror and… Sherlock Holmes, who didn’t really belong first or last. Despite a fun cast and some memorably horrid monsters, these eight episodes were all The Irregulars got, so we’ll never know how it might have developed its portal-riven world. LM
The Midnight Club (2022)
For a while there it looked like horror auteur Mike Flanagan truly had carte blanche to do whatever he wanted at Netflix. That’ll happen when your first three efforts are the major hits The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass. With 2022’s The Midnight Club, however, the Netflix/Flanagan super team finally ran out of gas and Netflix declined to order a second season of the teen-centric spooky series.