10 best fantasy TV shows of 2024, ranked
Fantasy fans ate well in 2024!
Fantasy TV fans have been well-fed in 2024. From returning seasons of the high rollers like HBO’s House of The Dragon, Netflix’s Arcane: League of Legends, and Prime Video’s The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power to new arrivals on the scene that stole the show, like Agatha All Along and Kaos, this year was one stacked table.
It wasn’t all smooth though, with streamers making questionable decisions to cancel some good TV within mere weeks of their first season, citing low viewership—Dead Boy Detectives, My Lady Jane, and The Acolyte—and persistent fans getting creative with their efforts to petition for a revival. Hopefully, they will look at our list of the 10 best fantasy TV shows of 2024 and reconsider their decisions. Cross your fingers and let’s dive in.
10. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Netflix)
Everyone stand for House of Buendía of Macondo! We’re going to cheat a little and let this magical realism epic set in Columbia on our list. Because do you even understand what a feat it is to adapt Gabriel García Marquez’s multigenerational (seven) fictional saga about the Latin American Buendía family from his 1967 novel? But to pull it off in this near-perfect way, staying faithful to the source’s eternal themes like love, the cyclical nature of history and generational trauma, the burden of legacy, colonialism, and of course, solitude, and make it so visually lyrical, moving, and enchanting ensures that the first part of this ambitious series lands on our list. Eight more episodes have been planned, and we’ll be watching.
9. Dead Boy Detectives (Netflix)
Dead Boy Detectives may have been unfortunately cancelled by Netflix, yet remains one of the best, most refreshing fantasy outings this year. Existing in the same universe as Netflix’s The Sandman, two young boys (George Rexstrew, Jayden Revri) decide to evade the afterlife and stay on Earth as ghost detectives investigating supernatural crimes. There’s a sweet yet angsty queer love story with great chemistry between the leads and some fascinating supporting characters at the heart of this show that boasts of a whacky imagination of the paranormal and a stylised yet cosy aesthetic. We should’ve gotten more!
8. Star Wars: The Acolyte (Disney+)
It’s interesting what Star Wars was doing with The Acolyte and now the much newer and ongoing Skeleton Crew, bringing in fresh voices and tapping into diverse stories that don’t just want to benefit from Star Wars nostalgia but also enrich its lore with nuanced stories that question pre-existing notions. The Acolyte pitted twin sisters—Osha, a Padawan, and Mae, a Jedi-killing Sith acolyte (Amandla Stenberg)—as forces of light and dark against each other. Too simple? But then it gave Mae’s story nuance, introduced Manny Jacinto’s Sith Master as a complex grey character, and made you question the Jedi Order’s use of their power. Though cancelled (once again citing ‘low viewership’) this is a great entrant into the franchise that deserved to be continued.
7. Agatha All Along (Disney+)
Witches are having a moment in 2024. Agatha All Along understood the assignment when it leaned into the weird and chaotic and gave us a bunch of witches with complex pasts and secret motives doing episodic escape rooms on the Witches’ Road. But it was always the emotional depth at the heart of all the witches’ stories that had us locked in for the journey—from the brilliantly executed reveal of Teen’s (Joe Locke) true identity in a moment of heartbreak to the chemistry between Aubrey Plaza’s Rio and Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness. Patti LuPone’s turn as Lilia was *chef’s kiss*! And Hahn cast a spell so strong, she got nominated for a Best Actress Golden Globe! For an MCU series, that’s huge!
6. Kaos (Netflix)
A Greek mythology story set in modern times where Greek Gods live amongst us? Prometheus planning Zeus’ downfall? A stacked cast of Jeff Goldblum as Zeus, Stephan Dillane as Prometheus, and David Thewlis as Hades? We were so seated for Kaos on Netflix. And the series, with its riff on mythology laced with cynical and brutal dark comedy, lots of easter eggs for the geeks, and a textured family drama about love, lust, power, and prophecy, did not disappoint. Another one of those shows that could’ve ironed out its kinks and gone on to achieve apotheosis with future seasons, it’s criminal that we get only one season of this show. Which TV Gods do we pray to for more clever writing like this? Or do we need a Prometheus to steal one for us?
5. The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 (Prime Video)
Prime Video’s ambitious foray into JRR Tolkien’s Middle-earth returned with a vastly improved sophomore season. It deftly handled its multiple storylines—a satisfying reveal of The Stranger’s identity, the politics of Númenor, Arondir’s purpose, and the strain of having a loved one be a ringbearer through the two Durins and Galadriel and Elrond—bringing it all together beautifully. In addition to that glorious battle at the end that gave us major Helm’s Deep déjà vu, The Rings of Power season 2 was a study on how to write a complex villain arc with one of the biggest literary bad boys, Sauron. Charlie Vickers’ manipulative Annatar, Charles Edwards as the ambitious elven smith Celebrimbor, and Sam Hazeldine as the tragic orc daddy Adar shone like Silmarils in this season’s crown!
4. Arcane: League of Legends season 2 (Netflix)
Is this Emmy-winning steampunk fantasy series the best video game adaptation ever made? YES. With its bittersweet second and final season, Riot’s League of Legends spinoff continued to attract non video-game fans and set new benchmarks for what its blend of 2D and 3D animation can achieve in storytelling. Yet underneath all the maximalist visuals and action sequences, the emotional core, through the relationship between Vi and Jinx and others also beats strongly. In season 2, with its themes of continued class struggle between Piltover and Zaun, the cyclical nature of oppression and violent retaliation, and the effort it takes to break this cycle, Arcane had lots to say about what’s happening in the real world, making the political personal, making the universal quite intimate.
3. House of The Dragon season 2 (HBO)
Ultimately, we’re all just chasing the high that Game of Thrones brought to community TV viewing, aren’t we? Well, its prequel series about the civil war within House Targaryen is in touching distance of the Iron Throne. While season 1 was criticised for the awkward time jumps, season 2 has been mostly loved, but criticised again for its pacing (this time too slow). But despite a truncated season, House of The Dragon season 2 still managed to enthral us with its succession drama, gender politics, anti-war sentiments, and tie-in to the Game of Thrones prophecy. Season 2 gave us iconic moments, post-episode social media frenzy, unwavering fandoms rooting for toxic characters, and a Golden Globe nomination for our Queen Rhaenyra, Emma D’Arcy. Plus, the memes!
2. My Lady Jane (Prime Video)
Sorry, Prime Video, you made a major boo-boo by cancelling what is easily one of THE best shows of the year. A feminist retelling of a real-life historical event that wasn’t so kind to a woman, My Lady Jane has a refreshing and delightful voice. Its feminism isn’t screaming from the rooftops; it is clever, sharp, and witty, just like its heroine, Jane Grey (Emily Bader). And she is in love with a man (Edward Bluemel) who is… a horse? Talk about a new fictional boyfriend just galloping into our lives! It’s a travesty that with such a fantastic premise, a great cast that breathes life into some truly colourful characters, and that girl power music album, My Lady Jane hasn’t yet been picked up by another streamer. We could’ve had it all. Sigh.
1. Interview with The Vampire season 2 (AMC)
It’s outrageous that despite a dedicated fandom, not enough people are talking about Interview with The Vampire, which has consistently delivered on its promise to be the sexiest, wickedest, gayest, angstiest, romantic, gothic horror series on TV, with Jacob Anderson delivering a career-defining performance as Louis de Pointe du Lac and Sam Reid matching step with him as Lestat de Lioncourt. IWTV sophomore season continued to delve into the relationships between the vampires, weaving a complex narrative with memorable turns from Eric Bogosian’s Anthony Bourdain-esque journalist Daniel Molloy, Justin Kirk’s Talamasca member Raglan James, or Ben Daniels’ lead actor of the Théâtre des Vampires that Louis and Claudia join in Paris, Santiago. IWTV is where it’s at for fantasy TV, people. Sink your fangs in!
Note: This article was corrected on 1/2/2025 to remove a reference to Neil Gaiman in regards to Dead Boy Detectives, as the writer has little to do with the show itself, which is from showrunners Steve Yockey and Beth Schwartz.
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