It’s always a sad day when great fantasy shows fly under the radar, failing to receive nearly as much love and hype as they deserve. And while it’s a genre that is chock full of fantastic stories, in both the realms of film and television, sometimes the ones rising to the top of the pile aren’t necessarily the ones that deserve to, especially at the sake of the ones that go on to be cult classics, or even worse, undiscovered gems.
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We’d go so far as to say that some of the best fantasy series are the ones that never make it to that peak, staying under the cover of relative obscurity or pushed into cult classic territory. So, if you’d like to add some new shows to your watch list that promise incredible fantasy, whether sword and sorcery, urban, or horror-leaning, as well as wild character arcs and narrative journeys, read on for more.
5) Being Human
This series boasts both a US and a UK version, and it’s still up in the air which one is best. But for this article, we’re going with the US version. It stars Sam Witwer, Meagan Rath, and Sam Huntington as a trio of twenty-somethings who all move in together. The problem? They’re a vampire, a ghost, and a werewolf, respectively. It’s dramatic and darkly humorous, and highlights why horror-based urban fantasy is such a gem of a subgenre. It was a breath of fresh air in a genre that, at the time, was considered tired (thanks, Twilight vampires), bringing to life a story and character journeys that were just as entertaining as they were relatable.
4) The Dragon Prince
Some animated sword and sorcery fantasy that is just as entertaining as it is heart-wrenching. The Dragon Prince ran for 7 seasons—no small feat in the age of streaming. It was a sprawling fantasy that blended magic, mythos, and relatability seamlessly. The Dragon Prince centers on the war between the land of Xadia and the Human Kingdoms after dark magic was created by a group of rogue mages. The series is also something that so many shows have abandoned recently: unabashedly fun. The animation and voice acting perfectly suit The Dragon Prince’s inherent whimsy. And though the plot itself, a war between magical creatures and humans, is as old as time, there’s something unique about the way the story is told this time—something deeply attributable to the joy the creators brought to each scene.
3) The 10th Kingdom
If you’re a millennial, chances are you’ve heard of The 10th Kingdom. And there is also a chance that you were obsessed with it, wearing out the VHS tapes that it came on when it was first released in 2000. The limited series stars Kimberly Williams-Paisley, John Larroquette, and Scott Cohen and centers around a young woman and her father, who find themselves trapped in a parallel universe that mirrors familiar fairytales—but this time, it’s Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and Snow White who are running the show, each with kingdoms and power of their own, while the Evil Queen plots from her fourth kingdom prison. It’s silly, it’s whimsical, and there’s a surprisingly strong thread of darkness woven throughout, bolstered by the incredible performances, that helps it hold up even by today’s fantasy standards. It’s got fantasy, camp, humor, and romance. What more could you want?
2) Lockwood & Co
A supernatural thriller, Lockwood & Co ran for one incredible season before Netflix did what it does and cancelled it way too early. The show follows a young psychic as she joins two boys who work for a ghost-hunting agency to battle the deadly ghosts that haunt London, while they also attempt to solve the mystery behind Britain’s ghost problem. It was incredibly well-written, and the world-building was nothing short of deep and wildly well-done (it also boasts the best soundtrack ever). And while it was created for younger audiences, it’s sharp and smart, pulling no narrative punches in the wry delivery of its nearly perfect script.
1) Wynonna Earp
Wynonna Earp is sort of like if Buffy the Vampire Slayer met Tombstone and then was set in the frigid tundra of Canada. The critically acclaimed series centers on the great-great-granddaughter of Wyatt Earp, the well-known hero of the Wild West, as Wynonna discovers that she’s inherited her family’s gift alongside its curse. Together with her ancestral, magical gun, Peacemaker, her younger sister, Waverly, and friends both new and old, she takes on hordes of demons called revenants. And while it’s another series that was prematurely cancelled, it has found cult classic status among fans who are nothing short of ride-or-die, even starting a petition to bring it back. It was tense, fun, and so different from anything else that was airing at the time.
Do you have a favorite series on this list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and then head over to the ComicBook forum to keep the conversation going with other fantasy fans.
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