Netflix's Best Animated Spy Show Comes From A Beloved Video Game Franchise

It seems that Netflix has found the sweet spot for anime and video game-loving fans in the past few years. "Arcane" was one of the best animated shows of the last decade, and the likes of "Castlevania," and "Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft" all delivered impressive adaptations of their respective source material. One show that had a lot more riding on it than most, however, was an exploration into the world of "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell," the stealth video game franchise that began in 2002 and hasn't been seen since 2013.

Originally voiced by '80s and '90s screen legend Michael Ironside ("Total Recall," "Starship Troopers"), the hero at the center of "Splinter Cell" is Sam Fisher, a creation of American author Tom Clancy, who is also responsible for "Jack Ryan" (who got his own show in 2018). The video game franchise put players in the role of Fisher as he got involved in all manner of off-the-books operations, snapping necks from the shadows and saving the world without anyone realizing.

Flash forward to 2020, and the creator of "John Wick" was hired to bring a new chapter in Fisher's top-secret world to life. The result is "Splinter Cell: Deathwatch," one of the coolest and most unforgiving spy stories available to stream. Here, Sam Fisher is holding his own with enough efficiency to give Jack Reacher and James Bond a run for their money, albeit with the lethality of Kovak's other well-known modern-day warrior, who can kill people with pencils.

"Splinter Cell: Deathwatch" reunites fans with Sam Fisher, who is older, wiser, and has a voice like Liev Schreiber from "Ray Donovan." Bearing battle scars and a bushy, white beard, Fisher is pulled back into the life of espionage when a younger operative, Agent Zinnia McKenna ("The Sandman's" Kirby Howell-Baptiste) comes knocking on his door. From there, the two are forced to team up to take down an old acquaintance of Sam's who is hoping to cut a deal with world leaders that could trigger a world-ruining incident.

From here, "Deathwatch" gives its audience something they rarely got in the "Splinter Cell" games: Fisher joined at the hip with another agent who's as tactical as he is. This partnership demands your favorite night-vision-goggle-wearing warrior to get back in the field and deliver beatdowns that might even make the vengeful Mr. Wick wince.

Knife fights and shootouts are expertly handled and directed by Guillaume Dousse, as is the highly tense story, which sees spies saying little with a lot of steely glares as every second counts. It's no surprise, then, that following the commendable 86% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the show was given the green light for a second season a day after the first season aired. With success like that, it's enough to keep Fisher fans happy, knowing he'll be back in action in some capacity, even if it's not the one they'd prefer.