Splinter Cell: Deathwatch
| Splinter Cell: Deathwatch | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Deathwatch |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Derek Kolstad |
| Based on | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell by Ubisoft |
| Directed by | Guillaume Dousse |
| Voices of | |
| Music by |
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| Country of origin |
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| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Editor | Thomas Belair |
| Running time | 20–27 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Netflix |
| Release | October 14, 2025 – present |
Splinter Cell: Deathwatch is an adult animated espionage action television series created by Derek Kolstad and directed by Sun Creature Studio co-founder Guillaume Dousse. Based on the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell video game franchise, the series is produced by Ubisoft Film & Television and animated by FOST Studio. The series premiered on October 14, 2025, on Netflix. Liev Schreiber stars as the voice of series protagonist Sam Fisher, replacing Michael Ironside from the games.
A day after the series premiere, it was renewed for a second season.
Voice cast and characters
[edit]Main
[edit]- Liev Schreiber as Sam Fisher, a retired field agent who initially served as a Splinter Cell operative for the Third Echelon sub-division of the NSA. He eventually became the spymaster and commander of the covert Fourth Echelon counter-terrorism unit,[a] who answer directly to the President of the United States. Fisher was previously voiced by Michael Ironside and Eric Johnson in the video games.
- Kirby as Zinnia McKenna, a Splinter Cell field operative of Fourth Echelon
Supporting
[edit]- Janet Varney as Anna Grímsdóttir, the former chief technical analyst of Third Echelon and the former technical operations officer of Fourth Echelon[a] who became its commander following Fisher's retirement. Grímsdóttir was previously voiced by Claudia Besso, Adriana Anderson, and Kate Drummond in the video games.
- Helen Hong as Jo Ahn, the technical operations officer of Fourth Echelon
- Joel Oulette as Thunder, a skilled hacker whom Grímsdóttir recruits to join Fourth Echelon
- Kari Wahlgren as Diana Shetland, the CEO of Displace International, a former private military company that is involved in clean energy production
- Aleks Le as Charlie Shetland, Diana's half-brother
- Kiff VandenHeuvel as Douglas Shetland, Diana and Charlie's father, and a former close friend of Fisher who he served alongside in the Navy SEALs. Shetland founded Displace International after he was dishonorably discharged and was killed by Fisher after attempting to instigate a world war.[b] Shetland was previously voiced by Marcel Jeannin in the video games.
- Bella Dayne as Freya Niemeyer, the second-in-command of Karimi's unit
- Dayne also voices Milena, one of Diana's employees
- Navid Negahban as Reza "Gunther" Karimi, the leader of a mercenary unit working for Diana
- JB Blanc as Thomas, Diana's personal assistant
Episodes
[edit] | This section's plot summaries need to be improved. (October 2025) |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Up from the Grave" | Guillaume Dousse | Derek Kolstad | October 14, 2025 |
| 2 | "Dinner First, Talk Later" | Guillaume Dousse | David Daitch & Katie J. Stone | October 14, 2025 |
| 3 | "Welcome to the 4th Echelon" | Guillaume Dousse | David Daitch & Katie J. Stone | October 14, 2025 |
| 4 | "Scars of Bagram" | Guillaume Dousse | David Daitch & Katie J. Stone | October 14, 2025 |
| 5 | "Simple As That" | Guillaume Dousse | Naomi Davis and Matias Wulff | October 14, 2025 |
| 6 | "The Man is the Mission" | Guillaume Dousse | Naomi Davis and Matias Wulff | October 14, 2025 |
| 7 | "Chaos Theory: Part 1" | Guillaume Dousse | Derek Kolstad | October 14, 2025 |
| 8 | "Chaos Theory: Part 2" | Guillaume Dousse | Derek Kolstad | October 14, 2025 |
Production
[edit]In July 2020, it was revealed that Ubisoft Film & Television was developing an animated adaptation of the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell video game franchise for Netflix. Derek Kolstad was hired to serve as the lead writer for the series, which was initially reported to have received a two-season order but[1] Kolstad later stated that only the first season had been green-lit and that it would take a few years before the series was released.[2] Kolstad imagined the series with an older Sam Fisher,[3] and he wrote the story such that the history behind the games was canon for the show. He also maintained the clandestine feel from the games by utilizing long periods of silence before sudden bursts of action.[4]
In August 2024, Michael Ironside, who had previously voiced the character Sam Fisher in the video games, stated that he was too old to portray the character for television and that Liev Schreiber had taken over the role.[5] This was confirmed the following month, when Netflix released a first look of the series and announced Schrieber's casting. Animation was provided by the Danish/French Sun Creature Studio and the French studio Fost.[6] Guillaume Dousse began working on the series at Sun Creature as a creative director, and as development progressed, his responsibilities grew to director of some episodes and then the whole first season. The scale of the production was too large for Sun Creature, so most production animation was done at Fost, where Dousse worked with co-director Félicien Colmet-Daâge to lead that aspect.[3]
On October 15, 2025, Netflix renewed the series for a second season.[7]
Release
[edit]The series premiered on Netflix on October 14, 2025.[8][9]
Reception
[edit]On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 86%, based on 14 reviews.[10] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 70 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[11]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b As depicted in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist (2013)
- ^ As depicted in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005)
References
[edit]- ^ Otterson, Joe (July 30, 2020). "Splinter Cell Anime Series From John Wick Writer Derek Kolstad Set at Netflix (Exclusive)". Variety. Penske Media Corporation.
- ^ Sneider, Jeff (March 22, 2021). "Splinter Cell Netflix Series Writer Derek Kolstad Reveals New Details, Including Episode Length". Collider. Valnet.
- ^ a b Giraud, Kévin (October 13, 2025). "Guillaume Dousse On Netflix/Ubisoft's Splinter Cell: Deathwatch". Cartoon Brew.
- ^ Breznican, Anthony (October 9, 2025). "Is Netflix About to Drop the Next Great Video Game Adaptation?". Esquire. Hearst Communications. Archived from the original on October 10, 2025.
- ^ Hermanns, Grant (August 30, 2024). "Netflix's Splinter Cell Anime Gets Surprising Casting Update From OG Sam Fisher Actor". ScreenRant. Valnet.
- ^ Murphy, J. Kim (September 20, 2024). "Splinter Cell: Deathwatch Confirms Liev Schreiber as Sam Fisher in First Look at Netflix Anime Series". Variety. Penske Media Corporation.
- ^ Vejvoda, Jim (October 15, 2025). "Splinter Cell: Deathwatch Renewed for Season 2 - IGN Fall Fan Fest 2025". IGN. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (April 23, 2025). "Netflix Animation Returns to Annecy with Stranger Things, In Your Dreams, Fixed & Much More!". Animation Magazine. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (August 21, 2025). "Anime NYC: Netflix Previews New Seasons of Blue Eye Samurai, Sakamoto Days, Devil May Cry & More!". Animation Magazine. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "Splinter Cell: Deathwatch: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
- ^ "Splinter Cell: Deathwatch: Season 1". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
External links
[edit]
- 2025 American animated television series debuts
- 2020s American adult animated television series
- American adult animated action television series
- American anime-influenced animated television series
- American English-language television shows
- Animated series based on video games
- Animated television series by Netflix
- Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
- Works based on Ubisoft video games