''V Wars'' is an American

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

horror television series based on the anthology series of the same name and

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

Jonathan Maberry Jonathan Maberry (born May 18, 1958) is an American suspense author, anthology editor, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. He was named one of the Today's Top Ten Horror Writers. ...

. The series stars

Ian Somerhalder Ian Joseph Somerhalder ( ; born December 8, 1978) is an American former actor and current business owner. He is known for playing Boone Carlyle in American Broadcasting Company, ABC's science fiction adventure drama television series ''Lost (2 ...

, Adrian Holmes, Jacky Lai, Kyle Breitkopf,

Peter Outerbridge Peter Outerbridge (born June 30, 1966) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Ari Tasarov in the The CW, CW action series ''Nikita (TV series), Nikita'', Dr. David Sandström in the The Movie Network, TMN series ''ReGenesis'', Henrik "Han ...

, Kimberly-Sue Murray and

Sydney Meyer Sydney Meyer (born 15 September 1995) is a Canadian actress. She starred in the Netflix series '' V Wars'' (2019) and the Shudder series '' Slasher: Flesh & Blood'' (2021). She had recurring roles in the third season of the Freeform series ''Sh ...

. It premiered on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on December 5, 2019. The series was canceled after one season, in March 2020.

Synopsis

''V Wars'' follows the story of the physician/scientist Dr. Luther Swann, and his best friend Michael Fayne, as they face the evolving crisis of a deadly outbreak that fractures society into opposing factions, potentially escalating to a future war between humans and

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

s. The outbreak is caused by an ancient biological infectious agent, a prion, that turns humans into vampires, released from ice by

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. In the conflict, the vampire faction, called Blood, is opposed by the elements of the government, such as Calix Niklos (

) who plots with anti Blood senator Smythe (

Ted Atherton Ted Atherton is a Canadian television and film actor, as well as an accomplished stage actor. His list of stage credits include major roles in Death of a Salesman and The Lion King at the Royal Alexandra, The Cryptogram at the Tarragon Theatre, H ...

Cast and characters

Main

as Dr. Luther Swann * Adrian Holmes as Michael Fayne *

Laura Vandervoort Laura Dianne Vandervoort (born September 22, 1984) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Lisa in the ABC science fiction series '' V'' (2009). She also known for role as Sadie Harrison in the CTV teen drama series '' Instant ...

as Mila Dubov *Kimberly-Sue Murray as Danika Dubov *

as Ava O'Malley *

Michael Greyeyes Michael Greyeyes (born June 4, 1967) is a First Nations ( Muskeg Lake Cree Nation) actor, dancer, choreographer, director, and educator. In 1996, Greyeyes portrayed Crazy Horse in the television film ''Crazy Horse''. In 2018, Greyeyes portrayed ...

as Jimmy Saint *Jacky Lai as Kaylee Vo *Kyle Breitkopf as Desmond "Dez" Swann *

as Calix Niklos *

Kandyse McClure Candice McClure (born 22 March 1980), known professionally as Kandyse McClure, is a Canadian actress. She gained prominence through her roles in the Fox Family Channel, Fox Family series ''Higher Ground (TV series), Higher Ground'' (2000), the N ...

as Claire O'Hagan

Recurring

Emmanuel Kabongo Emmanuel Kabongo (born Christmas, December 25, 1986) is a Black Canadians, Canadian actor and film producer. Born and raised in Zaire, now present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kabongo Immigration, immigrated to Canada and began his actin ...

as Jack Fields * Jessica Harmon as Jess Swann *

Greg Bryk Gregory Michael Bryk (born 19 August 1972) is a Canadian Film actor, film and television actor. He has appeared in numerous films and television series and is best known for his reoccurring roles in ''ReGenesis'' (2004–2008), ''XIII: The Ser ...

as Bobby *Teddy Moynihan as Jergen Weber *

as Elegabulus *Jonathan Higgins as General Aldous May *Samantha Liana Cole as Theresa * Laura de Carteret as Senator Sasha Giroux *Bo Martyn as Detective Elysse Chambers *

Nikki Reed Nikki Reed is an American former actress and entrepreneur best known for her role as Rosalie Hale in ''The Twilight Saga (film series), The Twilight Saga'' (2008–12). Reed rose to prominence when she co-wrote and starred in the psychological ...

as Rachel Swann

Episodes

Production

Development

On April 16, 2018, it was announced that

had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. The series was created by William Laurin and Glenn Davis, who are credited as the showrunners and executive producers of the series. Additional executive producers were set to include Brad Turner, Eric Birnberg, Thomas Walden, David Ozer, Ted Adams and James Gibb. Production companies involved with the series include High Park Entertainment and IDW Entertainment. Netflix canceled the series after one season, on March 30, 2020.

Casting

In April 2018,

was cast in the role of Dr. Luther Swann. In June 2018, Adrian Holmes, Jacky Lai and

joined the main cast. In July 2018,

, Kyle Breitkopf and Kimberly-Sue Murray were cast in the series.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario ** Sudbury (federal electoral district) ** Sudbury (provincial electoral district) ** Sudbury Airport ** Sudbury Basin, a meteorite impact cra ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

in the end of June 2018. Principal photography wrapped in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in October 2018.

Releases

Anthology series

There have been four anthologies, edited by Jonathan Maberry and published by

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

, in the ''V Wars'' series. Notable authors who contributed short stories to the series include Maberry, Jennifer Brozek, Larry Correia, Keith R. A. DeCandido, John Everson, Gregory Frost,

Nancy Holder Nancy Holder (born August 29, 1953) is an American writer and the author of several novels, including numerous tie-in books based on the TV series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. She has also written fiction related to several other science fict ...

Jeff Mariotte Jeff Mariotte (born September 7, 1955) is an American author who lives in Arizona. As well as his own original work, he is best known for writing novels and comic books based on licensed properties. Biography Mariotte was born in Park Forest, ...

Joe McKinney Joseph Anthony McKinney (born 12 May 1967) is an Irish actor. Rathfarnham-born McKinney trained and worked as a hairdresser for four years, before joining fringe theatre. He trained at Inchicore VEC Dublin and worked on stage productions such a ...

, James A. Moore, Yvonne Navarro, Scott Nicholson, Weston Ochse, Jeremy Robinson,

Scott Sigler Scott Carl Sigler is an American author of science fiction and Horror fiction, horror and a podcaster. Scott is a ''The New York Times, New York Times'' No. 1 bestselling author of twenty novels, six novellas, dozens of short stories, and thousan ...

John Skipp John Skipp (born May 20, 1957) is a splatterpunk horror and fantasy author and anthology editor, as well as a songwriter, screenwriter, film director, and film producer. He collaborated with Craig Spector on multiple novels, and has also colla ...

, and

Tim Waggoner Tim Waggoner is an American author of novels and short stories in the fantasy, horror, and thriller genres. Education Waggoner graduated from Wright State University in 1989 with a Master of Arts in English with a Creative Writing Concentr ...

. *''V Wars'' (May 2012, ) *''V Wars: Blood and Fire'' (July 2014, ) *''V Wars: Night Terrors'' (March 2015, ) *''V Wars: Shockwaves'' (August 2016, )

Comic series

The ''V Wars'' comics series was released in 11 issues by IDW from April 2014 through March 2015. They have been collected in the following volumes: *''V Wars: Crimson Queen'' (October 2014, ) *''V Wars: All of Us Monsters'' (May 2015, ) An omnibus volume containing all 11 issues was also released: *''V Wars: The Graphic Novel Collection'' (May 2019, )

TV series

On November 19, 2019, the official trailer for the series was released by Netflix. The series was released on December 5, 2019.

Reception

Critical reviews are mixed. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the series holds a critic approval rating of 56%, with an average rating of 6.73/10, based on nine reviews. Isaac Feldberg at ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' enjoyed it, calling it "unabashedly silly...a fun, freaky B-movie stretched out to series’ length". ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' reviewer, Brad Newsome, was less kind in calling it a "a frustrating thing" that doesn't deliver on its promises. Andrew Dex at '' Starburst'' criticized the weak character development and mix of seemingly-unrelated side characters while also praising the growing strength of the series by the end of the season. In her review for ''Film Inquiry'', Stephanie Archer stated "the series left much to be desired" and that there was "an immediate disconnect with Dr. Swann, played by Somerhalder". Vincent Schilling of ''

Indian Country Today ''ICT'' (formerly known as ''Indian Country Today'') is a nonprofit, multimedia news platform that covers the Indigenous world, with a particular focus on American Indian, Alaska Native and First Nations communities across North America. Fo ...

'', on the other hand, praised the casting of Somerhalder and Michael Greyeyes, stating he was "hooked from the beginning". He goes on to say that the "show is a blast". Dustin Rowles at ''Pajiba'' described the series as "very low-rent", "poorly written", and "humorless". Mikel Zorilla of the Spanish-language web magazine ''Espinof'' criticized the series' lack of focus, saying it had potential but failed to do anything to stand out. ''

WhatCulture WhatCulture Ltd. is a British online entertainment news website and magazine which was launched in 2010. The site offers news in the field of professional wrestling, television, films, music, video games, and board games. History Originally star ...

'' described the series "a thrilling well-paced ride... nddamn good fun that compels you to keep watching" despite "moments that temporarily draw focus from the plot and leave you scratching your head".

References

External links

* * {{IDW Publishing 2010s American drama television series 2010s American supernatural television series 2010s American horror television series 2010s American science fiction television series 2019 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings American horror fiction television series American thriller television series Serial drama television series Television shows based on American comics IDW Publishing adaptations American English-language television shows Netflix television dramas Television shows filmed in Toronto Television shows filmed in Greater Sudbury Vampires in television Apocalyptic television series Dark fantasy television series American action television series Television shows set in the United States Dark fantasy web series Thriller web series American horror web series Fiction about vampire outbreaks