Netflix adds 100% Rotten Tomatoes-rated sci-fi animated series with strange history

 Pantheon character Maddie
(Image credit: Netflix)

Netflix has added Pantheon, an animated sci-fi series aimed at adults that boasts an incredible voice cast and has a 100% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Pantheon is based on a series of short stories by Ken Liu about human intelligence being uploaded to the "cloud". We follow Maddie, a bullied teenager receiving help from a mysterious stranger online. She discovers that the mystery person is in fact her dead father, David, whose consciousness has been uploaded to the Cloud following an experimental destructive brain scan.

David it's revealed is the first of a new kind of being: "an Uploaded Intelligence" or "UI". He might be the first but he's not going to be the last. And Maddie finds herself mixed up in a global conspiracy that threatens to trigger a new kind of war...

Daniel Dae Kim at the premiere of Amazon MGM Studios' Red One

Lost star Daniel Dae Kim voices David (Image credit: Getty Images)

The voice cast includes Paul Dano (Caspian), Aaron Eckhart (Cary), Katie Chang (Maddie) and Daniel Dae Kim (David). Daniel Dae Kim told Newsweek he was interested in the way the series explores eternal life.

"I am interested in technology and its ramifications. I am fascinated by the future of our existence, and I like the family dynamic between Maddie and her father, David, who I play. As a father I can relate to a lot of the issues that the show deals with, in terms of the best way to keep an open, honest relationship with your children.

"It's a fascinating idea. There's so many among us who are obsessed with the idea of everlasting life, so the exploration of it is interesting. Like any technology, it will have its pluses and minuses, and I was curious to see what the writers wanted to show us in terms of their position on whether it's a good or bad thing."

Pantheon has a strange history. AMC originally ordered two seasons, but Deadline reported last year that it had been scrapped after just one season in a cost-cutting drive. Infuriatingly for fans, the second season had been made but wasn't going to air. In a fresh twist, the second season was made available on Prime Video in Australia and New Zealand.

Netflix has now added the first season of Pantheon in the US and UK, but unfortunately, it doesn’t currently have the second season. You can watch Pantheon season one on Netflix now. Each episode is 40 minutes long. Check out our best shows on Netflix guide for more series to enjoy.

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David Hollingsworth
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David is the What To Watch Editor and has over 20 years of experience in television journalism. He is currently writing about the latest television and film news for What To Watch.

Before working for What To Watch, David spent many years working for TV Times magazine, interviewing some of television's most famous stars including Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland, singer Lionel Richie and wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough. 

David started out as a writer for TV Times before becoming the title's deputy features editor and then features editor. During his time on TV Times, David also helped run the annual TV Times Awards. David is a huge Death in Paradise fan, although he's still failed to solve a case before the show's detective! He also loves James Bond and controversially thinks that Timothy Dalton was an excellent 007.

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