Allow Patrick Warburton’s narrator to introduce the harrowing tale of the Baudelaire orphans in Netflix’s first teaser for Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are nowhere to be found in this first peek, ditto for their bat-shit insane uncle Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris) – barring a manic cackle towards the end – instead, this snippet is all about Warburton’s charming, iconic narrator, who features across all 13 novels penned by Daniel Handler. “The entire crew is suffering from low morale,” the Rules of Engagement stalwart muses, pacing through the darkened soundstages where the series is being filmed. It’s a tease that toes the line of reverse psychology, but we’d be damned if Harris indulging in a quasi-villain role doesn’t immediatley pique our curiosity.
From what we’ve seen so far, Warburton is a natural as the introspective narrator, and when Netflix sparks A Series of Unfortunate Events on January 13, he’ll be chronicling the troubled lives of Malina Weissman and Louis Hynes – Violet and Klaus, respectively – whose “evil guardian Count Olaf will stop at nothing to get his hands on their inheritance. The siblings must outsmart Olaf at every turn, foiling his many devious plans and disguises, in order to discover clues to their parents’ mysterious death.” Barry Sonnenfeld and series stalwart Daniel Handler are on board to executive produce the spinoff series, cooking up enough whimsical cruelty to sustain an eight-episode run.
All eight episodes of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events will premiere on January 13, 2017. It’s been a busy day for Netflix Originals, too, after we brought you the news that Iron Fist, the fourth and final member of The Defenders, will hit the streaming giant on March 17.