We recently asked our readers a very important question on the Winter is Coming Facebook page: “What is the most disappointing TV or movie adaptation you’ve seen?”
The answers poured in, with a few niche adaptations that most mainstream fans wouldn’t have heard of, along with a lot more of the usual suspects.
It’s clear that fans of the source material have some pretty strong feelings toward certain adaptations that don’t respect the source material much, or make unnecessary changes to the plot, characters, or themes of the original. The stories they loved in books often carry a certain magic, with their world-building, inner monologues and personalities of the characters, and much more, which sometimes vanish or warp in big adaptations.
Fans usually forgive some minor changes that are often needed to make a book work on the big screen, but when core narrative themes shift, or beloved characters act completely out of character, disappointment follows. We shared the eight adaptations readers mentioned over and over.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2010)
The original Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the best original animated series. It was praised for its strong characters, cultural influences, humour, emotion, and balance of action and moral questions.
Then came M. Night Shyamalan’s movie in 2010, which fans widely disliked. The characters were whitewashed, and the overall casting of the lead characters felt wrong to many. Lore and story details were also not nearly as strong as the original. The dialogue and acting felt stilted, and it just felt like a parody movie more often than not.
Although fans later got a new live-action TV adaptation by Netflix in 2024, which is better in many fans’ eyes, many still hold the original animated show to a degree that the adaptations haven’t been able to match.
Foundation
Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels were first published from 1951 to 1953 (original trilogy), later with sequels and prequels through the 1980s and 1990s. The books are famous for their sweeping scope in terms of psychohistory, galactic empires, political intrigue, ideas about civilization, what happens when empires fall, etc., and even inspired Frank Herbert’s original Dune books.
What disappointed fans in the adaptation were big deviations from the books (characters, plot lines, tone). Some feel the show tries to be more “dramatic TV” than thoughtful sci-fi, perhaps diluting complex themes so it appeals to more. There are some pacing issues, too, such as big time jumps, sometimes glossing over what books spend pages exploring.
The atmosphere also changed: the sense of inevitability and philosophical or moral questions got muddled. For many readers, the adaptation is good at times, but it feels more generic, less mind-bending.
The Dark Tower
Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series began with The Gunslinger in 1982, with multiple books expanding the mythos over decades. But, the 2017 movie wasn’t well-loved.
Readers resonated with the book’s sense of mystery and how the world slowly unfolds with deep world-building. The film rushes too much, skips many parts, softens or flattens characters. The supernatural/mystical elements got simplified, too. Fans say it turns what should be a dark, layered journey into something more like a generic action movie.
However, for fans still wanting a worthy adaptation, they have something to look forward to in Mike Flanagan’s upcoming TV series adaptation of the books, and even Stephen King is personally involved this time.
The Rings of Power
J.R.R. Tolkien’s lore is deep and intricately written, built over many decades of writing. His world has its own languages, histories, geographies, and mythologies.
Amazon’s The Rings of Power spends a lot of its budget on visuals, scenery, and costumes (all of which look great, by the way, with some of the most stunning cinematography in a TV show). Many fans praise that, but the criticisms and narrative shortcomings of the show are hard to ignore.
The show changes Tolkien’s established lore in characters, timelines, and events, often with no rhyme or reason. Some story arcs feel unneeded or distracting. Writing and character development are also weak at times, and the pacing is inconsistent. All this makes many feel that, though it looks amazing, it doesn’t reach the levels of Tolkien’s original works.
The Last of Us Season 2
Season 1 of HBO’s The Last of Us immediately became one of the best gaming adaptations, but Season 2 couldn’t quite follow through. Adapting The Last of Us Part 2, many fans felt it was rushed and didn’t do enough to set up and pay off certain aspects from Ellie’s sections of the second game.
Ellie's character changes (in terms of actions, motivations, and personality) felt massively different and abrupt. Some scenes that are subtle or morally gray in-game become more toned down or weirdly exaggerated. The emotional pace feels compromised, and you don’t really feel the danger or the desperation of her journey like you should.
Dune (1984)
David Lynch’s Dune (1984) had a troubled production history. There were many cuts, studio interference, budget issues, and trying to condense too much into one film. The movie is easily the low point in David Lynch’s otherwise stellar filmography.
Many scenes feel rushed, and others feel tonally off. The depth of Herbert’s world, the inner thoughts, the buildup, and the philosophical parts feel diluted or messy. Thankfully, the recent adaptations by Denis Villeneuve have regained much of the fans' faith, easily becoming one of the best modern sci-fi sagas that has redirected some much-needed focus on the depth of Herbert’s Dune books.
The Hobbit Trilogy
Peter Jackson once again adapted Tolkien’s works into three films, but the results were mixed this time. Many fans liked the modern visuals, the scale, and the expanded world, and were just grateful to have more live-action The Lord of the Rings, but some felt the trilogy overstretched unnecessarily with quite some filler, especially in the third movie.
Guillermo Del Toro was originally set to direct the movies, but Jackson was brought in at the last moment, which led to quite a rushed production with uncertain scripts. In trying to match the success of The Lord of the Rings movies, The Hobbit films take on more gravitas than the book, which makes some feel it loses its original charm and simplicity.
Also, CGI overuse and overblown set-pieces did make the movies feel “less real” than the original, which have definitely aged better with their practical effects.
The Wheel of Time
The one adaptation that was mentioned the most, which fans also feel the most strongly against, is Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time. Robert Jordan wrote this series (with Brandon Sanderson finishing the last book after Jordan’s passing), beginning with The Eye of the World in 1990, running through many books until A Memory of Light in 2013. It’s a complex and richly detailed fantasy world where many interwoven plot lines build up over thousands of pages.
Fans say the TV adaptation frustratingly fails because it drifts away from the source in many big ways. Some characters act very differently from how they do in the books, some major plot points are removed or changed, and the writing often feels more simplified.
The tone is also different–less introspective. Because readers lived through the slow builds and small reveals in Jordan’s novels over multiple years, the speed ups or omissions in the show feel lost. The Wheel of Time was just canceled after three seasons on Prime Video.