It’s undoubtedly a morbid question, but any self-respecting fan of nature documentaries has wondered at least once who could possibly step into the cavernous void left behind when the definitive face and voice of the genre – 97 year-old legend David Attenborough – is no longer lending his dulcet tones to the genre. Based on Netflix’s new series Predators, though, Tom Hardy could prove to be an able candidate.
The Academy Award-nominated star is no stranger to voicework having previously narrated Falklands War: The Untold Story and All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur, but his debut in the world of wildlife has gotten off to a stellar start after the streaming service’s feral new original arrived as the most-watched episodic debutant around the world.
Just 24 hours after premiering, Predators is the third top-viewed show on the entire platform per FlixPatrol, having seized a Top 10 spot between its jaws in 74 countries around the world, making it Netflix’s best-performing nature series since… yep, you guessed it… David Attenborough’s Our Planet II.
He might still be a pretender to the throne, but Hardy acquits himself well in an awe-inspiring production that focuses on five apex predators around the world and how they manage to survive and thrive in their respective habitats. Cheetahs, polar bears, wild dogs, and more enjoy their moment in the spotlight to captivate and illuminate, with plenty of pulse-pounding moments thrown in for good measure.
It’s not a medium Netflix dabbles in all too often, but when it does subscribers are keen to dive straight in, so perhaps Hardy will be back for more.