Typically speaking, Netflix’s roster of Marvel content tends to hold the lion’s share of the spotlight – such is the draw of superhero fandom at the moment – but there are plenty more current and upcoming original series worthy of your attention. There’s House of Cards, of course, and Charlie Brooker and Co. just recently had us indulging in six dark, twisted realities thanks to Black Mirror season 3. Not to mention this past summer’s smash hit, Stranger Things.
One new series that’s set to muscle its way onto Netflix’s lineup is Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, a repackaged, eight-part spin on the beloved – and downright bleak – novels penned by Daniel Handler.
Balancing cruel whimsy with whimsical cruelty, the story goes that Violet (Malina Weissman), Sunny and Klaus Baudelaire (Louis Hynes) are left with little choice but to shack up with Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris) following the tragic, and strangely abrupt death of their parents. That’s the least of Olaf’s concerns, though, as he plots and schemes in an attempt to take all of the family inheritance for himself. Patrick Warburton (Lemony Snicket), Alfre Woodard (Aunt Josephine), Catherine O’Hara (Dr. Orwell), K. Todd Freeman (Mr. Poe) and Aasif Maandvi (Uncle Monty) also star.
“The world is vast and full of wonders. So on Friday, the 13th of January, please… watch something else.” Will you be tuning in to find out how Netflix’s Series of Unfortunate Events unfold? Do let us know.
Based on the internationally best-selling series of books by Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) and starring Emmy and Tony Award winner Neil Patrick Harris, A Series of Unfortunate Events recounts the tragic tale of the Baudelaire orphans — Violet, Klaus, and Sunny – 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.