Fate: The Winx Saga

Fate: The Winx Saga is a supernatural teen drama television series based on the animated series Winx Club, created by Iginio Straffi. It is produced by Archery Pictures in association with Rainbow, a studio co-owned by Iginio Straffi and Viacom at the time. Developed by Brian Young, who also acts as the showrunner and executive producer, it stars Abigail Cowen, Hannah van der Westhuysen, Precious Mustapha, Eliot Salt and Elisha Applebaum.

Iginio Straffi first proposed a live-action version of Winx Club in 2011, after Viacom, owner of Nickelodeon, became a co-owner of his studio and started financing his projects. Before approving production on the series, Straffi gained experience with live-action television working as a producer for Nickelodeon's Club 57. Principal photography for Fate eventually began in September 2019 in Ireland.

Early in production, Nickelodeon's American crew members from the cartoon, including Bloom's voice actress, Molly Quinn, met with the Fate production team and reviewed the pilot script. Rainbow's Joanne Lee also oversaw the show as an executive producer. Apart from them, the crew behind Fate is entirely new to the Winx franchise, and the writers were recruited from teen dramas like The Vampire Diaries.

The series features an ensemble cast based on the characters of the animated show. The six-episode first season debuted on Netflix on 22 January 2021 and was watched by 57 million subscribers in the first 28 days of its release. In February 2021, the series was renewed for a second season, which was released on 16 September 2022. In November 2022, the series was canceled after two seasons.

The story resumed in the form of a series of graphic novels published by Mad Cave Studios, the first volume of which was released in July 2024.

Premise

Bloom, a fairy with fire powers, enrolls at a magical boarding school in the Otherworld called Alfea. She shares a suite with Stella, a light fairy; Aisha, a water fairy; Terra, an earth fairy; and Musa, a mind fairy. With the help of her friends, Bloom starts to learn more about her past. Meanwhile, ancient creatures called the Burned Ones return to the Otherworld and threaten everyone at Alfea.

Cast and characters

Main

• Abigail Cowen as Bloom, a fire fairy with the power of the dragon flame who discovers that she is a changeling. She was raised on Earth by adoptive human parents until her powers manifest and she enrolls at Alfea to learn control and discover her origins.
• Hannah van der Westhuysen as Stella, a light fairy and the Princess of Solaria who was raised by her icy mother Queen Luna.
• Precious Mustapha as Aisha, a water fairy from Andros with a practical mindset, a moral compass and need to follow rules.
• Eliot Salt as Terra Harvey, an earth fairy with plant speciality. She was raised at Alfea and is knowledgeable about the Otherworld.
• Elisha Applebaum as Musa, a mind fairy who feels other people's emotions. She tries to keep emotional distance from others to avoid being overwhelmed by their thoughts.
• Danny Griffin as Sky, one of the most skilled specialists and the son of Andreas of Eraklyon. The star of his class, he was raised by specialist instructor Saul Silva.
• Sadie Soverall as Beatrix, an air fairy who can manipulate electricity. She is interested in Alfea's dark history and is Andreas' adoptive daughter.
• Freddie Thorp as Riven, a nonchalant and flirty specialist who is Sky's best friend.
• Eva Birthistle as Vanessa Peters, she is Bloom's human adoptive mother and is covered in burn scars because of an incident where Bloom lost control of her powers (season 1)
• Robert James-Collier as Saul Silva, the specialist instructor at Alfea, and Sky's adoptive parent as well as mentor.
• Eve Best as Farah Dowling, the headmistress of Alfea and one of the most powerful fairies of the Otherworld whose main goal is to protect her students from threats beyond Alfea's boundary.
• Lesley Sharp (season 1) / Miranda Richardson as Rosalind Hale, the former headmistress of Alfea who plotted with Queen Luna and Andreas to take over the school again (season 2)
• Theo Graham as Dane, a first-year Specialist with a crush on Riven and Beatrix (main season 2; recurring season 1)
• Jacob Dudman as Sam Harvey, an earth fairy with the ability to phase through walls and objects. He is Terra's brother (main season 2; recurring season 1)
• Ken Duken as Andreas of Eraklyon, He is Saul's former friend, Sky's father and Beatrix's adoptive father (main season 2; recurring season 1)
• Brandon Grace as Grey Owens, a specialist and a blood witch. Aisha temporarily dates him (season 2)
• Éanna Hardwicke as Sebastian Valtor, a former specialist and blood witch, Alfea graduate and Saul's friend (season 2)
• Paulina Chávez as Flora, an earth fairy with floral specialty who is Terra and Sam's cousin (season 2)

Recurring

• Josh Cowdery as Mike Peters, Vanessa's husband and Bloom's adoptive father (season 1)
• Alex Macqueen (season 1) / Daniel Betts (season 2) as Professor Ben Harvey, a botany teacher and greenhouse worker at Alfea, who is Terra's and Sam's father
• Kate Fleetwood as Queen Luna, the authoritarian queen of Solaria and Stella's mother
• Leah Minto as Kat, a specialist
• Sean Sagar as Marco, an air fairy and Alfea graduate who is now a teacher
• Sarah Jane Seymour as Noura, a specialist at Alfea
• Pom Boyd as Doris (season 1), the dinner lady at Alfea
• Harry Michell as Callum Hunter (season 1), Dowling's assistant
• Jayden Revri as Devin (season 2), a mind fairy who is attacked by scrapers
• JJ Battell as Luke (season 2), a specialist
• Shameem Ahmad as Bavani Selvarajah (season 2), commander of Solaria's royal army

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2021)

Season 2 (2022)

Production

Season 1

Development

The idea for a live-action adaptation of Winx Club dates back to 2011. Winx Club creator Iginio Straffi first proposed a live version in May 2011, several months after Viacom, owner of Nickelodeon, became a co-owner of his studio Rainbow and started financing his projects. At the Ischia Global Fest in 2013, Straffi stated that he was still planning a production "with the Winx in flesh and blood, played by real actors. Sooner or later it will be done." Straffi had only worked on animated productions at the time, so he transitioned his focus to live action, working as a producer for Nickelodeon's live-action show Club 57.

In February 2016, Iginio Straffi mentioned that a live-action movie concept was being considered in partnership with Hollywood Gang Productions, but the project never proceeded. In March 2018, the idea was revisited as a television series after Netflix ordered a young-adult version for its streaming service. Straffi was involved in the early planning stages, and he declined a suggestion from Netflix for the male characters to be given larger roles.

After a pilot episode was scripted, Nickelodeon's American crew members from the cartoon, including Bloom's voice actress, Molly Quinn, travelled to meet the Fate production team and review the script. Francesco Artibani, one of the Italian writers of the animated version, was brought in to read the storyline. Rainbow's Joanne Lee oversaw the first season as an executive producer.

The writers behind Fate are entirely new to the Winx franchise, and they were recruited from teen dramas like The Vampire Diaries. Brian Young, who worked on seven seasons of The Vampire Diaries, is the creator and showrunner of Fate: The Winx Saga. According to an interview with The Guardian, Young chose to "ditch the look" of the cartoon Winx fairies, who have big eyes and sparkling outfits. He said, "Look, again, I'm a massive manga anime fan... but nobody looks like that." Some episodes of the first season were directed by Lisa James Larsson and Hannah Quinn.

Casting

Casting calls were held in August 2019. Abigail Cowen was announced to be headlining the series as Bloom in September 2019. "Bloom is a fire fairy who grew up in the first world, so she did not grow up in the other world. And she finds out, kind of by accident, that she has these powers," said Cowen.

Hannah van der Westhuysen, who plays Stella, revealed "Stella is a very complex girl. She appears a certain way, but she's actually a lot softer and she has a lot of barriers that need to be broken down." Precious Mustapha, who plays Aisha, said, "Aisha is a water fairy. From the offset, she seems quite confident with her powers. But, 'cause she's a perfectionist, she doesn't think that's good enough. She wants to always be developing."

Eliot Salt, who plays Terra, added, "Terra's power is all plant based. It's growing things and sending them off after people. She is the most welcoming. She loves it. She loves to meet new people. She gives too much."