Cliff Notes – Netflix viewers rush to binge gripping sci-fi series racing up chart
- Rapid Popularity: The Eternaut has quickly become one of the most-watched series in the UK since its Netflix release, currently ranking fourth on the platform.
- Adaptation Success: Based on a beloved 1950s comic, the series has been praised for modernising the story while maintaining its core themes of survival and resilience.
- Positive Reception: With an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, viewers have described the show as “breathtaking” and a “historic milestone for television.”
Netflix viewers rush to binge ‘gripping’ sci-fi series racing up chart
A new post-apocalyptic sci-fi series is now one of the most watched shows in the UK since being released on Netflix this week.
Based on the comic of the same name by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López, The Eternaut is an Argentine television series created by Bruno Stagnaro.
The six-part series follows a group of survivors of a deadly snowfall powered by an alien invasion.
It’s been teased of the show: ‘One summer’s night in Buenos Aires, a mysterious deadly snowfall wipes out most of the population and leaves thousands stranded. Juan Salvo )Ricardo Darín) and his friends embark on a desperate struggle for survival.
‘Everything changes when they discover that the toxic snowstorm is only the first attack by a foreign army invading Earth. The only way to stay alive is to join together and fight. No one will survive on their own.’
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The comic was first published between 1957 and 1959. While the rights to turn it into a TV series was secured by advertisement production company Gil & Bertolini in 1968, it was cancelled after the production of a 24-minute pilot.
In the subsequent 20 years different adaptations stalled due to financial and copyright issues, with one director once saying the only way to produce it would be to do so in English, given it would cost at least US$10–15 million and American actors would be required to get the necessary funds from American production companies.
However, many were desperate to keep any adaptation an Argentine production.
In 2018 this wish came to fruition, with Martín Oesterheld —the author’s grandson– and Laura Bruno, who own the rights for the original comic book, giving the new series the greenlight on the conditions it was set in Buenos Aires and spoken in Spanish.
Since it hit screens, the response has been overwhelmingly positive, with the show currently the fourth most-watched series on Netflix in the UK.
The series, which currently holds 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, has been called ‘breathtaking’ by viewers.
‘The Eternaut modernizes the story of its 1950s comic source material, providing a gripping post-apocalyptic tale perfect for sci-fi fans,’ ScreenRant wrote in its review.
‘It’s a grounded, tense sci-fi story with cool production design, a beguiling mystery, and a focus on human resilience and ingenuity as they try to make sense of the new world around them,’ Polygon shared.
‘The Eternaut is not a simple adaptation but a powerful reinterpretation, anchored in the urgency of the present,’ EscribiendoCine added.
Meanwhile Collider said it was a ‘chilling slow-burn sci-fi with no shortage of twists’.
On IMDB, user TW12 called it a ‘mindblowing high production adaptation’ while ValentinoD-6 said it was a ‘historic milestone for television’ bringing the story to screen for the first time.
The show’s star Darín is considered one of the best and most prolific actors of Argentine cinema, best known for roles in films including Nine Queens, Son of the Bride, Moon of Avellaneda, The Aura and The Signal, which was also his directorial debut.
The actor also starred in the 2009 Academy Award winning film for Best Foreign Picture The Secret in Their Eyes.
Ahead of the series being released, director and creator Bruno Stagnaro spoke about the difficulties of bringing the comic to screen.
‘The biggest challenge was creating an original story that still honoured the heart of the source material, while also recognising that it needed to be updated and given new dynamics to fit a different medium,’ he told Forbes.
‘A comic works brilliantly as a comic, but when you adapt it to another format, there are a lot of things you need to reconsider. And because this comic is so beloved by the Argentine public, there’s a lot of pressure. You feel like you’re handling something everyone wants to remain untouched.
‘So, for me, the hardest part was accepting that change was necessary, and at the same time, taking the risk of making those changes, with everything that entails.’
It’s already been confirmed The Eternaut will be returning for a second season. For those looking for their next sci-fi watch, here’s a selection of other options.
The Eternaut is streaming on Netflix.