First look at Cursed, Netflix's new show about the Arthurian legend

Netflix has been getting its medieval jollies out lately. The service just dropped the fourth season of its excellent drama The Last Kingdom. Before that, it adapted the classic fantasy series The Letter for the King to mixed reviews, and found a hit with The Witcher. Netflix is gonna get in on that sweet Game of Thrones action if it kills it.

Its latest attempt is more straightforward fantasy: Cursed, based on the illustrated young adult book by Tom Wheeler and comics bigwig Frank Miller, the guy behind stuff like Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300. Here’s how Netflix describes it:

"Based on the New York Times bestselling book, Cursed is a re-imagination of the Arthurian legend, told through the eyes of Nimue, a young woman with a mysterious gift who is destined to become the powerful (and tragic) Lady of the Lake. After her mother’s death, she finds an unexpected partner in Arthur, a humble mercenary, in a quest to find Merlin and deliver an ancient sword. Over the course of her journey, Nimue will become a symbol of courage and rebellion against the terrifying Red Paladins, and their complicit King Uther. Cursed is a coming-of-age story whose themes are familiar to our own time: the obliteration of the natural world, religious terror, senseless war, and finding the courage to lead in the face of the impossible."

There have been a lot of retellings of the Arthurian legend over the years, and we’re not tired of it yet.

The Arthurian legend changes depending on which version of the story you’re dealing with. The Lady of the Lake is a mainstay, a complicated, sometimes treacherous enchantress who gifts Arthur with the magical sword Excalibur. Sometimes her name is revealed to be Nimue. In some versions of the story, she becomes romantically involved with Merlin.

In Cursed, she’s played by 13 Reasons Why star Katherine Langford, and it looks like she’ll be taking on a more active, sword-swinging role.

FIRST LOOK: Katherine Langford in #Cursed — an epic re-imagination of the Arthurian legend. Coming 2020. pic.twitter.com/3V4FkHLCrr
— Netflix Queue (@netflixqueue) June 1, 2019

Netflix has released a bevy of official pictures from the show. Let’s take a look:

Lady? Check. Lake? Check.

CURSED (L TO R) KATHERINE LANGFORD as NIMUE and DEVON TERRELL as ARTHUR in episode 105 of CURSED Cr. ROBERT VIGLASKY/Netflix © 2020 CURSED (L TO R) DEVON TERRELL as ARTHUR in episode 102 of CURSED Cr. Netflix © 2020

That’s Devon Terrell as Arthur, who is yet to be king in this version. It sounds like the villain of the piece will King Uther Pendragon (Sebastian Armesto), who is usually Arthur’s father:

Other figures from the Arthurian legend will show up, too, including Gustaf Skarsgård as a young, sexy version of Merlin…

…and Matt Stokoe as the knight Gawain:

Arthur’s mother, Igraine, is also in the mix, here played by Shalom Brune-Franklin.

Or again, Igraine is Arthur’s mother in most versions of the story; you have wiggle room when working with the Arthurian legend. At any rate, Brune-Franklin looks a little young to be Devon Terrell’s mom; he’s actually older than her, so maybe they’re going for something different here.

We also have Emily Coates as Sister Iris:

It looks like the show has a full ensemble cast. We’ve got Peter Mullan as Father Carden…

…Billy Jenkins as Squirrell…

…Lily Newmark as Pym…

…Olwen Four as Yeva…

…and Olafur Darri Olafsson as Rugen the Leper King:

All 10 episodes of Cursed will arrive on Netflix this summer!

Next. Ten sci-fi/fantasy shows to binge while sheltered in place. dark

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First look at Cursed, Netflix’s new show about the Arthurian legend

By Dan Selcke | May 7, 2020