Cher Thompson is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, where she covers everything from explosive reality TV moments to cast interviews about the twists and turns of scripted dramas. With a background in creative writing, marketing, and teaching, Cher knows how to spot both the storytelling genius and the guilty pleasures in pop culture. Her work blends wit with insight, making readers feel like they’re chatting with a friend who just happens to know way too much about TV.
Fantasy TV can be hard to crack, but shows with the right amount of worldbuilding tend to be the best of the best. Worldbuilding is an essential part of creating a fantasy backdrop that can both be a character within the story itself and a way to usher in twists to the narrative. As fantasy becomes more of a standard genre in the TV world, especially as technology advances, worldbuilding has never felt more important to creating a show that can be captivating, lasting, and ensure that audiences continue to watch for the possible twists and turns of the series.
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Wednesday
Everett Collection
As one of Netflix's most successful shows in recent years, Wednesdayfollows iconic character Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) as she enrolls at a school for outcasts, Nevermore Academy. The series sees Wednesday more in her element than she's typically been seen in pop culture before, with the backdrop of Nevermore Academy making a huge difference in the show's storytelling. Wednesday's worldbuilding expands the long-standing Addams family mythology by creating a new space for Wednesday, a backdrop that's infused with its own gothic elements and a mystery for the show to wrap itself around. Wednesday builds an inventive and coherent world.
Release Date
November 23, 2022
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Miles Millar, Alfred Gough
Writers
April Blair
Wednesday Addams / Goody Addams
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Avatar: The Last Airbender
A live-action remake of the 2000s animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbendercame with unique challenges in building its world on screen. Viewers who would be tuning into the series had a uniquely intimate knowledge of what the world looked and felt like, as well as how it functioned. With the show's story splitting into the Four Nations, viewers had a specific idea of what the series needed to do to translate its world to a live-action setting. Thankfully, the series was able to create an interconnected, distinctly varied world that could be treated as a piece of the background.
Release Date
February 22, 2024
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Albert Kim
Directors
Jet Wilkinson
Writers
Joshua Hale Fialkov, Christine Boylan
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The Wheel Of Time
A series based on the novels by Robert Jordan, The Wheel Of Timefollows Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike) and a group of villagers as they become tied to a prophecy that changes their lives. Because of its fantasy elements, The Wheel Of Time has mythological world that it needs to expand throughout the course of its episodes. While the magical elements of the show sometimes made it tough to build out the world in a way that felt grounded, The Wheel Of Time was able to consistently incorporate the politics of its magic, creating distinct spaces that meant different things.
Release Date
2021 - 2025-00-00
Network
Prime Video
Showrunner
Rafe Judkins
Directors
Sanaa Hamri, Ciaran Donnelly, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Thomas Napper, Maja Vrvilo, Wayne Che Yip
Writers
Amanda Kate Shuman, Dave Hill, Rohit Kumar, Justine Juel Gillmer, Celine Song, Rammy Park, The Clarksons Twins, Katherine B. McKenna
7
Arcane
Set in the League of Legends universe, Arcanefollows sisters Violet "Vi" (Hailee Steinfeld) and Powder (later, Jinx) (Ella Purnell) as they tow opposite sides of a growing conflict between the wealthy city of Piltover and the undercity of Zaun. The series has the benefit of the League Of Legends world to pull from, but Arcane's specific worldbuilding is a masterclass in using the setting to dictate the story. With a division already built into the story from the different cities, the series then takes it a notch further as it uses visual storytelling to differentiate between its storylines.
Writers
Amanda Overton, Nick Luddington, Mollie Bickley St. John, Ben St. John, Giovanna Sarquis, Henry G.M. Jones
6
The Witcher
A Netflix series that adapts Andrzej Sapkowski's works, The Witcherestablishes a rich world of layered kingdoms and racial tensions through its seasons. The series is able to move through its more interpersonal stories with a lighter touch as it builds worlds of monsters and politics that coexist in a way that feels natural within the Continent. The setting itself is able to carry the responsibility of creating a compelling world for the story to unfold in, and on top of that, is able to build its own circumstances, consequences, and challenges that infuse into the elements of the story.
Release Date
December 20, 2019
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
Directors
Stephen Surjik, Charlotte Brändström, Edward Bazalgette, Loni Peristere, Louise Hooper, Bola Ogun, Alex Garcia Lopez, Gandja Monteiro, Sarah O'Gorman
A live-action remake of manga, One Pieceis a Netflix series that follows a growing pirate crew through the search for legendary treasure. Similarly to the way that viewers were aware of the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, many hoped for a rich world built for One Piece, and clearly knew what they wanted. The visual style of the world in the live-action series may be a bit different than what viewers were expecting, but One Piece was able to preserve the eccentric identity of its original story. Creating a logical, unique world, One Piece is sweeping and expansive.
Release Date
August 31, 2023
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Matt Owens, Steven Maeda, Joe Tracz
Directors
Tim Southam, Marc Jobst, Josef Kubota Wladyka
Writers
Tiffany Greshler, Diego Gutierrez, Allison Weintraub, Lindsay Gelfand
Iñaki Godoy
Monkey D. Luffy
4
His Dark Materials
Based on the His Dark Materials trilogy by by Philip Pullman, His Dark Materialsfollows orphan Lyra Belacqua (Dafne Keen) as she uncovers conspiracies involving alternate worlds and powerful religious institutions. Grounding fantasy in a philosophical and political world, the series brings a different universe to life and defines the way that society functions quickly for its viewers. Rather than isolating its fantasy concepts, it ties them into the narrative in a comprehensive way, allowing the worldbuilding to speak for itself rather than requiring an intense explanation. His Dark Materials brings the world directly into its tightly woven narrative.
Release Date
2019 - 2022-00-00
Network
BBC One
Directors
William McGregor, Amit Gupta, Leanne Welham, Charles Martin, Otto Bathurst, Euros Lyn, Dawn Shadforth, Harry Wootliff, Jamie Childs
Writers
Jack Thorne, Francesca Gardiner, Amelia Spencer, Sarah Quintrell
3
The Rings Of Power
As a part of the Lord Of The Rings franchise, The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Powerhad a specific visual style it needed to mesh with. Fans of Lord Of The Rings as a franchise were expecting something specific from the series, and The Rings Of Power has been able to deliver throughout its run. Building from a foundation of Tolkien's mythology, The Rings Of Power has a sense of ancient depth that pull from the fact that the series is a prequel to the events of the films, which allowed the world to stretch further back.
Release Date
September 1, 2022
Network
Amazon Prime Video
Showrunner
John D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Louise Hooper, Charlotte Brändström, Wayne Yip
Directors
J.A. Bayona, Sanaa Hamri
Writers
Patrick McKay, John D. Payne, J.R.R. Tolkien, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Stephany Folsom, Nicholas Adams
2
The Legend Of Vox Machina
Credit: Prime Video
A series that stemmed from the world of Critical Role, The Legend Of Vox Machinahad a unique issue when building its world. While the story of the campaign was well-known to Critical Role fans and the series was able to stem from a place of bringing the story to life for people who wanted to see it visually, the world itself was one of the most solidified parts of the story. Thankfully, the team behind the show were painstaking in building from the D&D campaign. Integrating its lore with its character backstories, Vox Machina features a beautifully constructed world.
Release Date
January 27, 2022
Network
Prime Video
Showrunner
Brandon Auman
Directors
Young Heller, Eugene Lee, Alicia Chan
Writers
Eugene Son, Travis Willingham, Chris Wyatt, Kevin Burke, Suzanne Keilly, Mae Catt, Todd Casey, Ashly Burch, May Chan, Marc Bernardin
Laura Bailey
Vex'ahlia (voice)
Taliesin Jaffe
Percy (voice)
1
Game Of Thrones
Based on George R. R. Martin's A Song Of Ice & Fire novel series, Game Of Thronesfollows rival noble houses as they fight for power in the worlds of Westeros and Essos. With supernatural elements to account for and a rich world that weaves throughout the series, Game Of Thrones features one of the most elaborately built worlds in the fantasy genre. Its political landscape, geography, religions, language, and history are all unique, making each piece of the story feel distinct and unique. Game Of Thrones is one of the best fantasy shows to ever build its own world.
Release Date
2011 - 2019-00-00
Showrunner
David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
Directors
David Nutter, Alan Taylor, D.B. Weiss, David Benioff
MovieStillsDB
Everett Collection
MovieStillsDB
Credit: Prime Video
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