Netflix's 2-Part Sci-Fi Series That You Can Binge In 5 Hours Made A Near-Perfect Franchise Even Better

While an animated addition to a blockbuster sci-fi franchise seemed like a risky decision at the time, Netflix’s underrated show ended up expanding on its story in a way few fans could have predicted before its release. It is always risky for a sci-fi franchise to make the transition from movies to the small screen. On the one hand, the sci-fi genre’s reliance on world building means that sometimes, the longer runtime of TV shows can allow these projects to finally flesh out parts of the fictional universe the movies skipped over.

On the other hand, shows like Prime Video’s upcoming Blade Runner 2099 can be risky since it is tough for small-screen shows to match the immersive visuals viewers expect from sci-fi movies. While some hit sci-fi shows like The Expanse feel just as visually impressive as any feature film in the genre, others earn unintentional laughter from viewers when their ambitious visions fall short thanks to budgetary limitations. Luckily, Netflix’s Pacific Rim spinoff, Pacific Rim: The Black, managed to avoid this issue when the series expanded on the franchise’s story.

Pacific Rim: The Black Deepened The Franchise’s Lore

Starring Gideon Adlon and Calum Worthy, Pacific Rim: The Black was an adult animated series released in 2021 on Netflix. A coming-of-age story set in the same fictional universe as the Pacific Rim movies, Pacific Rim: The Black centered on Adlon and Worthy’s Hayley and Taylor Travis, two Australian teens who are separated from their parents when Kaiju take over the continent. Picking up five years after this event, the show’s story starts with the pair finding an abandoned Jaeger, Atlas Destroyer.

Through the show’s two seasons, Pacific Rim: The Black sees Hayley and Travis take on a perilous quest to track down their parents, dodging both monsters and fellow survivors who hope to take Atlas Destroyer for themselves. With a lush visual aesthetic and an unapologetically dark story, Pacific Rim: The Black is unexpectedly slower than the original movies and more concerned with the human drama between its characters than with constant Kaiju action. However, this proves to be no bad thing.

Pacific Rim: The Black Proved Monarch’s Monsterverse Story Could Work

On the contrary, the show is a lot better than 2018's live-action sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising, as Pacific Rim: The Black expands the lore of the franchise’s fictional universe more than either of the original movies managed to in their shorter runtimes. Although 2018’s Pacific Rim: Uprising featured an impressive cast including John Boyega and Cailee Spaeny, the sequel struggled in the absence of original director Guillermo del Toro and ultimately felt like a perfunctory action movie rather than a meaningful extension of the original movie’s story.

In contrast, Pacific Rim: The Black’s slower, more poignant plot was squarely focused on its main characters, rather than a relentless stream of action set pieces. Although the main characters were siblings rather than love interests, the show’s patient pacing and thoughtful depiction of a world destroyed by giant monsters called to mind British director Gareth Edwards’ 2010 indie hit Monsters. Pacific Rim: The Black proved that a small-screen fusion of character-driven storytelling and Kaiju action could work, indirectly influencing the Monsterverse projects that arrived later.

In an intriguing case of two franchises building on each other’s success, Pacific Rim: The Black was clearly influenced by the intimate approach taken by Edwards’ Monsters. Edwards went on to direct 2014’s Godzilla, and the critically acclaimed Monsterverse series Monarch brought Pacific Rim: The Black’s approach to the Monsterverse to great effect. Like Pacific Rim: The Black, this series successfully married massive monster fights with human drama, bringing the Kaiju genre to the small screen without forgetting the characters at the core of its story in the process.