41 Years Later, Marvel’s Canceled Dungeons & Dragons Finale Could Finally Happen On Netflix

Published Sep 22, 2026, 11:00 AM EDT

After 18 months at Screen Rant, Guy became Classic TV Editor in September 2026, and specializes in leading features content about shows from decades gone by. Having written for and editing several TV, film and music publications, his areas of expertise include comedy, crime, historical drama, Westerns, and political thrillers.

The news that Dungeons & Dragons is getting a new flagship live-action series on Netflix has justifiably sent fans of the franchise into a frenzy. For those who hold a special place in their hearts for D&D’s first outing on the small screen, however, the news is especially exciting.

Netflix’s Ravenloft gives Wizards of the Coast and screenwriter John August the opportunity to right a wrong inflicted by CBS on the original screen adaptation of the franchise way back in 1985. In fact, Ravenloft itself is the perfect Dungeons & Dragons setting to revive the adaptation climactic plot twist in a live-action series.

If we’re ever going to see a complete screen rendering of D&D’s original TV finale, the time is surely now. Although there are other Dungeons & Dragons shows already in pre-production, or in the midst of successful runs, none of them have the scope of this upcoming Netflix project, which is billed as the streaming giant’s next major prestige fantasy project.

It’s not for nothing that four-time Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón will be sitting in the director’s chair for Ravenloft. The show is clearly intended to be a long-running action-adventure extravaganza that will inevitably have to draw on the plotlines of previous D&D releases, in addition to franchise lore. There’s every chance that Venger’s tragic villain arc will be directly invoked.

The Original Dungeons & Dragons TV Show Was Canceled Before Its Finale Was Completed

A forgotten masterpiece of 1980s TV animation, the original Dungeons & Dragons TV show blended Tolkien with Narnia to create an expansive high-fantasy screen universe happened upon by six ordinary American teens. The series was about to complete the perfect three-season run, when broadcaster CBS pulled the plug on it prematurely.

Its finale episode, “Requiem”, was still in production at the time, so was never finished. The episode’s script has since been released, as well as an audio recording featuring the original voice actors in a DVD box set of the series, and in 2020 a fan-made version was published on the YouTube channel Zetavio Deloryan.

However, Dungeons & Dragons has never officially brought it to the screen. That could finally be about to change, in the sense that Ravenloft has the chance to revive the central elements of the episode’s plot.

Penned by screenwriter Michael Reaves, who’s best known for his work on Batman: The Animated Series, “Requiem” resolves the attempts of the show’s six main characters to escape the magical realm of Dungeons & Dragons, and return to the real world. Perhaps even more importantly, it features a stunning twist involving the chief villain of the series.

The episode turns on the revelation that dark lord and primary antagonist Venger is actually the son of the Dungeon Master, the wizard who mentors the six protagonists through their quest to escape the magical realm and return home. Venger was once a good warrior whose mistaken choices led him to the dark side.

Netflix's Ravenloft Can Revive The Story Of D&D's Original TV Finale

Funnily enough, Venger’s tragic descent into villainy is almost identical to the character arc of the big bad in D&D’s Ravenloft setting, Strahd von Zarovich. Before he became the first vampire of Barovia and the creator of the Dark Lords in the Domains of Dread, Strahd was a princely warrior, whose jealous obsession with his brother’s romantic partner drove him to darkness.

Those developing the Ravenloft series for Netflix have two choices when it comes to incorporating Venger’s ending from the animated show into their story. Either they integrate his part of the finale’s plot into Strahd’s character arc, or they include Venger as a character in his own right, as a corrupted Dark Lord of the Domains of Dread with the tragic backstory Michael Reaves originally created for him.

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Dungeons & Dragons has already proven itself more than capable of working characters from the original animated series into new releases. For example, the 2023 movie Honor Among Thieves features cameos from the show’s six teenage protagonists. It’s high time the franchise resurrected Venger, in a move that would be the ultimate crowd-pleaser.

More than four decades on from the moment CBS pulled the rug from under Dungeons & Dragons, Ravenloft can finally do the original animated series justice. We’ll likely have to wait until at least 2028 to find out whether “Requiem” is being brought to the screen in some form at long last, but it will be the ultimate payoff for the franchise, more than four decades on.