The final year of the last decade has brought several high profile franchises to the screen both small and big. Franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe brought a close to an era with Avengers: Endgame, Game of Thrones returned for its final season, Star Wars concluded the long-running Skywalker saga and introduced The Mandalorian, and Netflix debuted its own dark fantasy series in The Witcher. Of course, not all of these franchises stuck their landing--for those that were concluding, at least--and they know by now who they are.
However, in terms of television, the two biggest entries were the first live-action Star Wars show in The Mandalorian and Netflix's The Witcher. They both made a huge impact on audiences around the world and were successful in their own right. Here are five reasons The Witcher is the most promising big series going forward and five reasons why it's The Mandalorian.
The Witcher: It Has A Finite And Complete Set Of Source Material
This particular entry for Netflix's The Witcher might be an advantage of what it has over HBO's Game of Thrones, but it is, in general, an asset in its favor given the context of the franchise. Unlike Game of Thrones and George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Witcher has a finite--yet expansive--and complete set of source material to draw from.
The book series is comprised of eight books; two of which are collections of short stories predating the main saga and one is a novel that takes place in between short stories, leaving five novels composing the main saga. That makes The Witcher a complete series of narratives thus helping prevent the problems Game of Thrones ran into especially in the eighth season.
The Mandalorian: Its Franchise Has Endless Possibilities
Perhaps the biggest point in favor of the live-action Disney+ Star Wars series is the fact that it is a small part of a massive franchise. You will have trouble running into a person who does not at least know of the franchise.
And one of the biggest strengths of being part of this gargantuan franchise that has had such an influence on popular culture ever since the release of the original film is that there are endless possibilities in terms of how to come up with stories, lore to incorporate, characters to introduce and build upon, etc.
The Witcher: Plenty Of Fantasy Lore
Like with all fantasy series, like J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings world and George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, having extensive background lore to build upon and use in world-building is vital for the series' longevity. Thankfully, The Witcher has plenty of background lore of the races, environments, characters, and more to build from and use in effective world-building.
While perhaps not as large as the Star Wars universe, the lore in the world of The Witcher is nothing to scoff at and for those who are more so fans of high or dark fantasies rather than the science fiction fantasy world of Star Wars, this will not disappoint.
The Mandalorian: More Brand Recognition
As previously touched upon, it is hard to come across someone who has not at least heard of the Star Wars franchise. While many people were likely not even aware of what a "Mandalorian" was, they most likely got into it and instantly flocked to it when they saw it was under the legendary Star Wars label.
It is for this reason that The Mandalorian beats out The Witcher in this specific aspect. Brand recognition is huge for any series or franchise and Star Wars and The Mandalorian have that in spades.
The Witcher: It Has A Trio Of Talented Lead Actors
One way in that The Witcher gets one over on The Mandalorian is in the number of quality lead actors attached to the project for the long haul. The Mandalorian has a talented cast, namely with its lead, Pedro Pascal, as the Mandalorian who can convey so much even behind a helmet, but a lot of the other characters don't seem to be mainstays for the series going forward.
Meanwhile, The Witcher has Henry Cavill as the famed monster hunter, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer and Freya Allan as Princess Ciri. All talented and committed for the long haul of the series going forward.
The Mandalorian: The Blend Of Genres
A very appealing aspect of Disney+'s The Mandalorian is how it blends some genres together in a creative way. This also ties back into how expansive and full of possibilities the Star Wars universe and franchise is. It allows for plenty of creativity that a lot of franchises would love to have as well.
In this case, The Mandalorian blends science fiction, fantasy (as Star Wars is always fantastical to an extent due to the presence of the Force and other aspects like it), and westerns. It does so all the while still feeling like a noticeably Star Wars experience and this can get even more creative in the seasons to come.
The Witcher: A New Dark Fantasy Is In Demand
Settle down, because this entry will not be unfairly comparing The Witcher with Game of Thrones just because they both happen to be the same genre. However, whether you like it or not, we now live in a Game of Thrones-less society and that means that people are now looking for their next dark fantasy fix.
While some critics are making the mistake of comparing the two so closely (despite an overall positive reception from critics after a rocky first impression upon release), fans are mostly loving it on its own rights.
The Mandalorian: A Well-Known And Talented Creator
While somewhat helping contribute to brand recognition, this nonetheless earns its own entry in favor of Disney+'s The Mandalorian as being the most promising big show going forward. In this respect, at least. The overall creator of this particular series is none other than the famed Jon Favreau.
Favreau got his name most recognized thanks to his contributions in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, namely with his role in directing--namely--the first two Iron Man films and as his side character helping out Tony Stark and now Peter Parker. Favreau has thoroughly proven his talent as a creator and director and struck gold in the Star Wars department with The Mandalorian.
The Witcher: A More Cohesive Story Going Forward
The Witcher has undoubtedly been an overall success for the veteran streaming platform and service. Since its debut, it has been a big success with the general audiences. As of now, the series has a 93 percent audience score with users on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.5 out of 10 on IMDb. Also, but to a lesser extent, critics have generally enjoyed the series in its first season after a brief period of mixed early impressions upon release according to RT.
However, despite an overall positive reception on both fronts, it is not without problems. One of the issues people found with the series so far is that its narrative was all over the place with separate and somewhat confusing timelines. But now that the timelines have caught up to each other at the end of the season, expect a more cohesive and linear story going forward.
The Mandalorian: The Name Will Attract More Talent
To build off of the earlier point that Star Wars, in general, has some of the best brand recognition in the world of media, this means the series going forward can attract more talent in all areas of series production. This means from actors, writers, directors, producers, you name it.
While no disrespect to The Witcher franchise, it simply does not have the same size and scope that Star Wars does. This is especially so since Disney has acquired the franchise. Expect more talented people to flock to the series in upcoming seasons.