Katherine Langford: Cursed on Netflix will “create its own little genre”

Does Netflix have room for another new fantasy show? What does Cursed do to make itself stand out?

In a post-Game of Thrones world, fantasy shows are everywhere, particularly on Netflix. Just in the past year, we’ve gotten The Witcher and The Letter for the King, not to mention historical dramas like The King with Timothée Chalamet. Netflix has a real yen right now for swords and, if possible, sorcery.

And that trend continues with Cursed, a new Arthurian drama coming to the service later this week! Based on a graphic novel illustrated by Frank Miller, the guy behind comics classics like The Dark Knight Returns, Cursed revolves around Nimue, aka the Lady of the Lake, a prominent figure from Arthurian folklore but usually not the main character. Traditionally, she’s the one who gifts King Arthur with the sword Excalibur.

13 Reasons Why star Katherine Langford stars as Nimue, with Devon Terrell as a young Arthur and Gustaf Skarsgård as a young(er) Merlin. “I think this particular project is so special to me, in the sense that it really feels like it’s different to anything I’ve done before,” Langford told Radio Times.  “And it also feels like I’m telling a different story, in the sense that…it’s kind of matured and grown in a way, which I feel I also have as a person.

"We really see Nimue go from being this young woman to an adult, really coming into her womanhood. And I think that’s a story or a journey that often isn’t told, or we don’t see much of it."

The Arthurian legend has been told in a lot of different ways over the years, and I’m all for getting a new perspective on it.

One way Cursed is different from other Arthur stories, at least, is that it centers female characters. Author Tom Wheeler talked to Den of Geek about why he went in that direction. “There was so much out there, there’s so much Arthur content out there, it wasn’t clear how we were going to make it feel relevant to today or different or new,” he explained. “I was wondering, how would I kind of lure my daughter, who was 11 at the time, like, who would she connect with? How would the mythology inspire her? How could it inspire her in the same way [it did me]?”

There are female characters in the Arthurian legend — Guinevere, Morgan le Fay, Igraine — but they’re on the margins, and as Wheeler puts it, they’re usually “seductresses.” He wanted to give them their due.

“There are, of course, several different versions of Nimue, but it didn’t seem like there was a really grounded, relatable, approachable [one],” Wheeler said. “Why does she have the sword? Why is she giving it to Arthur? What is their connection? From those questions, things started really to take off and as a story began to unwind backward in a way, and how could we take this back and If we started to focus on this young woman before she became this ethereal force of nature, then what could we do with the other characters?”

"This is a very, very new kind of 21st-century take on the most kind of traditional aspects of [Arthurian legend]. It will be a really fun part for the audience to see which characters are coming, or which characters they don’t see coming. but introducing them in unique ways and new ways."

But will the change in perspective be enough for Cursed to stand out in the crowded fantasy TV market? It’s definitely gonna get compared to stuff like Game of Thrones and The Witcher, but Langford thinks it’s unique enough to stand on its own.

“For me, Cursed is really interesting because it’s not quite one or the other,” she told Digital Spy. “It’s a mixture of its own elements and it stands by itself in that sense. I definitely think it’s a fantastical and historical piece, which is full of action and is a full-on thriller. But it also has quite a grounded quality to it. It’s got heavy ties to the Earth and nature, but then on the other side of the spectrum, it has this real essence of magic.”

"I think it’s probably going to create its own little genre. If you like Frank Miller’s work or if you like fantasy, or epic shows, it definitely falls within that category."

Create its own little genre, huh? I do like a show that aims high.

If you’re still not convinced to check out Cursed, maybe this little behind-the-scenes featurette will convince you:

Swords!

Cursed lands on Netflix on July 17.

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