Shows Like
Shows Like The Witcher: Fantasy That Earns the Comparison
By Jordan A. · · Updated · 5 min read
The Witcher is three things stapled together: a monster-of-the-week structure, a continent full of politics nobody explains to you, and a lead who would rather not be involved. Different viewers came for different parts of that, which is why so many recommendation lists for it are useless. Somebody who wants Geralt killing a striga does not want six hours of succession law.
So this list is sorted by which piece you are actually after. Twelve shows, each with what it shares, what it does differently and who it suits, and one verified line about where it came from and how much of it exists. Streaming rights change constantly, so check the title page on BingeNext for current US options.
If you came for the swords and the mud
The Last Kingdom (2015 to 2022, five seasons, first two on BBC Two and the rest as a Netflix original, plus the 2023 film Seven Kings Must Die) follows a Saxon raised by Danes who fits nowhere, fighting through the making of England. No magic at all, but the outsider hero and the shifting alliances are pure Witcher. Probably the best-paced show on this list.
Vikings (History, 2013 to 2021, six seasons) starts with Ragnar Lothbrok and ends up as a multi-generational saga about raiding, faith and succession. It is more soap than The Witcher and its later seasons are inconsistent, but the first three are terrific. Take it if you want scale.
Britannia (Sky Atlantic, 2018 to 2021, three seasons) drops Romans into a Britain run by druids, and it is genuinely deranged: hallucinogens, prophecy, a tone that is somehow both grim and camp. Closer to The Witcher's weirder episodes than anything else here. It is not for everyone and it knows it.
Warrior (2019 to 2023, three seasons, first two on Cinemax before it moved to HBO Max) is Bruce Lee's concept realized as a martial arts crime drama in 1870s San Francisco. There is no magic in it, so it is here for one reason: it has the best fight choreography of any show in this neighborhood, and a hero navigating factions who all want to use him.
If you came for the magic and the worldbuilding
Shadow and Bone (Netflix, 2021 to 2023, two seasons) adapts Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse into a world of engineered magic and a heist crew who steal every scene they are in. It is younger-skewing and more romantic than The Witcher, and it was canceled after two seasons, so know that going in. The Six of Crows characters are the reason to watch.
The Wheel of Time (Prime Video, 2021 to 2025, three seasons) is the closest structural match: a wandering mentor figure, a prophecy, a magic system with rules and a world map you will want open. It is more earnest than The Witcher and has none of its dry humor. Best for people who want the epic quest played straight.
His Dark Materials (BBC One and HBO, 2019 to 2022, three seasons) adapts Philip Pullman properly, after a single 2007 film, The Golden Compass, tried and stopped. Talking animal daemons, a girl with a truth-telling device, a church that wants her stopped. It is gentler than The Witcher and much more interested in ideas. Complete in twenty-three episodes.
The Sandman (Netflix, 2022 to 2025, two seasons) is Neil Gaiman's Lord of Dreams escaping a century of captivity and repairing his kingdom. It is slower, stranger and more anthology-shaped than The Witcher, with episodes that stand entirely alone. Choose it if the Witcher episodes you liked were the sad ones.
If you came for the politics
House of the Dragon (HBO, 2022 to present, three seasons aired) is the Targaryen civil war, and it is the most expensive-looking thing on this list by a distance. Where The Witcher scatters its politics across a continent, this narrows to one family destroying itself. Fewer monsters, much better court scenes.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Prime Video, 2022 to present, two seasons aired with a third announced for November 2026) covers the Second Age, elves and dwarves and a slowly revealed villain. It is grander and much more solemn than The Witcher. Watch it for the craft rather than the pace.
Carnival Row (Prime Video, 2019 to 2023, two seasons) puts fae refugees in a Victorian city that hates them, with a detective story running through the middle. The politics are explicit and the show is uneven, but the world is genuinely original and it has an ending.
Arcane (Netflix, 2021 and 2024, two seasons of nine episodes) is animated, adapted from a video game, and better written than most live action fantasy of the last five years. Two sisters end up on opposite sides of a city split between an inventor class and the undercity beneath it. It shares The Witcher's interest in people ruined by systems they did not build, and the animation is genuinely the best-looking thing in this whole category. Do not skip it because of the source.
A warning about season counts
Fantasy is the genre most likely to leave you stranded. Shadow and Bone stopped after two seasons with the story unfinished. Carnival Row got a shortened second season to wrap up. Cursed, the Katherine Langford Arthurian series, ran one season in 2020 and ended on a cliffhanger. If unfinished stories bother you, stay with The Last Kingdom, His Dark Materials, The Wheel of Time or Arcane, all of which reached a conclusion of some kind.
Where to start
If you want the fighting and the grime, The Last Kingdom. If you want a magic system to learn, The Wheel of Time. If you want the best hour-for-hour television here, House of the Dragon. If you want something odd that will surprise you, Britannia or The Sandman.
Rather have picks built from your own watch history? Give BingeNext's TV recommendations a handful of shows you loved and it returns a shortlist with a reason for each and where it streams, in about a minute.
Topics covered: fantasy, epic, adventure, magic, monster-hunting, netflix
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About the author
Jordan A., Founder, BingeNext
Jordan A. is the founder of BingeNext and is responsible for every guide published on this site. He built the recommendation engine after one too many nights lost to the streaming menu. Dates, season counts and where-to-watch details in these guides are checked against official sources before publishing, and corrections are welcome at Jordan@Bingenext.com.