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Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, nearly a century of Conan the Barbarian – these are just a few of the comic book and book adaptations headed to Netflix over the next few years.
From a heaping helping of Mark Millar comics — such as American Jesus and Super Crooks — to Stephen King and Peter Straub's The Talisman, the super streamer currently has a massive catalog of cool projects in development, ranging from best-sellers to gory graphic novels. Read on or check out the gallery below for a quick look at all the new movies and shows coming to Netflix that are based on the printed page.
The Sandman
The Sandman, based on Neil Gaiman's acclaimed comic series, will revolve around a powerful entity known as Dream or Morpheus (though he has many other names, too). Morpheus is the living embodiment of dreams and a member of a family known as The Endless. After a decade-long trek into a formal adaptation, The Sandman will feature Tom Sturridge (Velvet Buzzsaw) as Morpheus, along with Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer Morningstar, Charles Dance as occultist Roderick Burgess. and Narcos star Boyd Holbrook as The Corinthian, a rogue nightmare-turned-serial killer created by Morpheus.
The series also stars Kirby Howell-Baptiste (as Death), Mason Alexander Park (as Desire), Donna Preston (as Despair), Jenna Coleman (as Johanna Constantine), Joely Richardson (as Ethel Cripps), David Thewlis (as John Dee/Doctor Destiny), Kyo Ra (as Rose Walker), Stephen Fry (as Gilbert), and Patton Oswalt (as the voice of Matthew, Dream's raven emissary).
Conan the Barbarian
Netflix is currently developing a live-action Conan the Barbarian series, based on the sword-swinging titan created by Robert E. Howard's for 1930s pulp sci-fi/fantasy magazines. Since then, Conan has been adapted into books, (Marvel and Dark Horse) comics, and films (two in the 80s with Arnold Schwarzenegger and one in 2011 with Jason Momoa). Back in 2018, it was reported Amazon was developing its own Conan series, but it appears that the project is now dead.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Taika Waititi is set to write, direct, and executive produce two new animated series for Netflix, both of which will be based on the beloved works of Roald Dahl.
The first series will be inspired by the 1964 classic children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, while the other series will be a wholly original take on the Oompa-Loompas, otherwise known as the carolling characters who manufacture candy at Willy Wonka's infamous factory.
This project is part of Netflix's overall deal to adapt Roald Dahl's catalog into animation – including such stories as Matilda (based on the stage musical adaptation), The BFG, The Twits, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, George’s Marvellous Medicine, Boy – Tales of Childhood, Going Solo, The Enormous Crocodile, The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, Henry Sugar, Billy and the Minpins, The Magic Finger, Esio Trot, Dirty Beasts, and Rhyme Stew.
The Warmth of Other Suns
Currently in development by Shonda Rhimes' production house Shondaland, as part of her mega-deal with Netflix (see: Bridgerton), is an adaptation of The Warmth of Other Suns, which tells the story of the Great Migration, the movement of Black Americans out of the Southern United States to the Midwest, Northeast, and West from approximately 1915 to 1970. Shondaland is also developing Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change based on Ellen Pao's memoir, and The Residence, which is a nonfiction book by author Kate Andersen Brower.
The Overstory
The Overstory, by Richard Powers, is about five trees whose unique life experiences with nine Americans bring them together to address the destruction of forests. It's currently being adapted into a series by executive producers by Game of Thrones' David Benioff and D.B. Weiss along with Hugh Jackman.
Millarworld Projects: Super Crooks, American Jesus, and More
Though Jupiter's Legacy, based on Mark Millar's comic series, was canceled after one season, Netflix still has a ton of Millarworld projects in the works. With The Forever Purge's Everardo Gout on board to direct American Jesus, a story about Jesus Christ returning to Earth to help save humanity from the Antichrist, will be an action-comedy series spoken in both English and Spanish.
Super Crooks, which is getting both an anime (13 30-minute episodes) and live-action series, is about a ragtag gang of supervillains, con artists, petty thieves, and leg-breakers who band together for the heist of the century.
The Magic Order — Mark Millar's first comic book distributed by Netflix — is becoming a live-action series. It tells the tale of five different families that all possess magical abilities ridding the world of dangerous threats. The Saw and Conjuring's James Wan is attached to direct.
On top of these, there are also Millar titles Reborn, Sharkey The Bounty Hunter, Huck, Empress, Prodigy, and Space Bandits.
The Lincoln Lawyer
Michael Connelly's 2005 novel, which became a movie in 2011 starring Matthew McConaughey, is becoming a Netflix series from David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, Goliath). It will star Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Mickey Haller, a defense attorney in Los Angeles who works out of a chauffeur-driven Lincoln Town Car rather than an office. Neve Campbell, Becki Newton, Jazz Raycole, Angus Sampson, and Christopher Gorham also star.
Pieces of Her
Toni Collette and Bella Heathcote star in this adaptation of Karin Slaughter's 2018 thriller, about a woman who witnesses her mother violently taking out a mass shooter at a local diner. Slowly, she unravels her mother's actions from that day as their entire familial relationship takes a new turn.
Firekeeper’s Daughter
Angeline Boulley'a YA thriller Firekeeper's Daughter, which is set on an Ojibwe reservation, was optioned by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground, to develop as an original series. The story follows 18-year-old Daunis Fontaine, a half-native, half-white former hockey player/aspiring scientist who never feels fully settled in either her reservation or the outside world. She finds herself even more torn when she witnesses her best friend’s murder and is pulled into an FBI investigation centered on a lethal new drug running wild among her friends and family.
DeadEndia
This British-American animated series created by Hamish Steele — which is based on the graphic novels of the same name by Steele and Cartoon Hangover's Too Cool! Cartoons web short Dead End — follows the story of a group of employees (Barney and Norma) who work at a theme-park haunted house during the summer which might be a portal to hell.
BRZRKR
From Keanu Reeves (with Matt Kindt and Ron Garney), BRZRKR follows an immortal warrior, known as Berzerker, as he fights his way through the ages. Netflix is developing a live-action film adaptation and a follow-up anime series based on the comics with Reeves cast as the lead.
Astérix
Iconic French comic book series Astérix (about Gaulish warriors who fight the Roman Republic during the era of Julius Caesar) has been adapted many times, as movies and TV shows, over the past 80 years. Now Netflix will take a stab at an Astérix animated series, to debut in 2023, adapted from one of the classic volumes, Asterix and the Big Fight, where the Romans, after being constantly embarrassed by Asterix and his village cohorts, organize a brawl between rival Gaulish chiefs.
The Talisman
Steven Spielberg and Stranger Things' Duffer Brothers are adapting Stephen King and Peter Straub's The Talisman as a feature-length film. The fantasy novel follows a teenage boy named Jack Sawyer searching for the Talisman, an object that can heal his dying mother and save the world. Sawyer journeys across America and "the Territories," a grim parallel world to our own.
Anatomy of a Scandal
David E. Kelly, who we mentioned earlier for The Lincoln Lawyer adaptation, is also developing an anthology series — based on the Sarah Vaughan novel — that will depict various scandals within the elite class of the United Kingdom. Sienna Miller, Michelle Dockery, Rupert Friend, and Naomi Scott are set to star.
The Witcher: Season 2
Netflix mega-hit The Witcher returns in December with a new season that will adapt Andrzej Sapkowski Witcher stories Blood of Elves and Time of Contempt, as Henry Cavill's Geralt takes Princess Cirilla (Freya Allan) back to Kaer Morhen, an old keep where witchers of the School of the Wolf were once trained in order to protect her.
You: Season 3
Based on the 2014 novel by Caroline Kepnes, You returns to Netflix for its third season, following sociopathic killer Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) and his fraught relationship with Love (Victoria Pedretti), who is pregnant with his child in a new suburban home.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Netflix is going all-in with C.S. Lewis' Narnia-verse, producing new films and shows based on The Chronicles of Narnia. Mark Gordan, Douglas Gresham, and Vincent Sieber are currently set to serve as executive producers on the films and producers on all upcoming Narnia shows. Furthermore, Coco co-writer Matthew Aldrich will serve as the creative architect and oversee the development of all films and shows adapted from C.S. Lewis’ beloved Narnia universe.
Three Wishes
A series based on the novel Three Wishes, from Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty, is in development at Netflix. The story centers on three wildly different sisters as their lives intertwine and unfold around their glamorous Manhattan wedding weekend that ends in a shocking tragedy. When a scandalous secret emerges, the tight-knit bond among the sisters is tested as they unravel a mystery that ripples throughout each of their lives.
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s classic novel One Hundred Years of Solitude is being adapted into a Spanish-language series by Netflix. Originally published in 1967, the book tells the multi-generational story of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, founded the (fictitious) town of Macondo.
The Midnight Club
Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep) is adapting Christopher Pike's pulp horror novel The Midnight Club into a series. The story takes place at Rotterdam Home, a hospice run by an enigmatic doctor, where a group of terminally ill patients regularly meet up at midnight to exchange scary stories with one another.
Flanagan is also slated to direct an adaptation of Christopher Pike's The Season of Passage, a sci-fi horror novel set on Mars.
Girls on the Bus
From Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals) and Greg Berlanti (CW's Arrowverse), Girls on the Bus features four female journalists as they follow a parade of flawed presidential candidates, finding friendship, love, and a scandal that could take down not just the presidency but our entire democracy along the way. The series is inspired by Amy Chozick's book "Chasing Hillary."
Which book and comic book adaptations coming to Netflix are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments