The Best Ensemble Casts of Recent Fantasy Shows
A look at the recent critically acclaimed fantasy TV shows and their incredible ensemble casts that have contributed to their success.
Introduction
Recent critically acclaimed fantasy TV shows owe their success in part to great ensemble casts. These casts comprise new talent and veteran actors who are suited to different roles in the story, from mentors to prot\u00e9g\u00e9s to villains. It is up to the cast to depict alliances, rivalries, friendships, and romances, but also give a sense of how people who grew up in the show's setting see the world.
Jonathan, Will, Nancy, Eleven, Joyce, Hopper, and Mike looking up at the sky in the final scene of Stranger Things season 4.
Fantasy TV shows often feature casts of characters who work together as a unit, as is the case with Stranger Things, Wheel of Time, and Attack on Titan. However, since Game of Thrones' success, fantasy series depicting characters flung far and wide with storylines that only occasionally overlap have become more common. Additionally, a fantasy story is by nature obligated to world-build, but the right actor can make even exposition monologues interesting.
Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Sadie Sink, Charlie Heaton, and Natalia Dyer as their characters in Stranger Things season 3 standing outside hospital
Stranger Things: A Goonies-Like Sense of On-Screen Camaraderie
Stranger Things launched several young stars to fame, including Finn Wolfhard and Millie Bobby Brown. As the characters and actors grew up, the Stranger Things cast maintained a Goonies-like sense of on-screen camaraderie. While the main group of kids and teenagers carries one part of the story, the other half is led by Winona Ryder and David Harbour as the main adult characters. The combination of awkward kids and resolved adults comes together perfectly. However, the story becomes increasingly convoluted as the show goes on. The once charming cast might not be enough to save Stranger Things season 5.
Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, and Noah Schnapp as Mike, Eleven, and Will in Stranger Things season 4
Wheel Of Time: Monumental Epic Fantasy Series Adaptation
Robert Jordan's monumental epic fantasy series was finally adapted by Amazon in recent years, with Rosamund Pike taking on the lead role of wandering sorceress Moiraine Damodred. Pike is joined by Daniel Henney, Madeleine Madden, Zo\u00eb Robins, Josha Stradowski, and Marcus Rutherford, who form the central Wheel of Time cast of six main characters who appear in every episode of the series so far. The cast carries the fantasy story well. However, none of them have the same notoriety as the stars recruited for the likes of Game of Thrones, while the newer actors have failed to capture the same attention as Emilia Clarke or Kit Harrington.
Wheel of Time Cast Standing in a Line
Attack On Titan: Intense Show with Talented Voice Cast
Attack on Titan features two casts who respectively voice the original Japanese version and the English dub of the show. The series depicts a walled civilization struggling to fend off the Titans, non-sentient giants who eat humans. The story centers on Eren Jaeger (Y\u00f4ki Kaji/Bryce Pepenbrook), who vows to destroy all the Titans after his mother is killed. Eren and his best friends Armin Arlert (Marina Inoue/Jesse James Grelle) and Mickasa Ackerman (Yui Ishikawa/Trina Nishimura) join the military together. While the actors voicing the young recruits depict the various characters' personalities and relationships, amazing performances are given by those playing their mentors: energetic Commander Hange Zoe (Romi Park/Jessica Calvello) and ruthless Captain Levi Ackerman (Hiroshi Kamiya/Matthew Mercer). Attack on Titan is an intense show, and only a very talented voice cast could bring it to life.
Attack on Titan season 4 key art featuring Eren and reflections of the supporting cast.
