As a fan of the original Winx Club series, imagining what a live-action version would look like came with the territory. When I heard about Fate: The Winx Saga [1], which is now streaming on Netflix, I was absolutely thrilled. After seeing the promo images, checking out the cast, and watching the trailer, I realized it wasn't going to be the one-to-one adaptation I was expecting. Not that it's necessarily always a bad thing; Chilling Adventures of Sabrina [2] was a nice departure from the Sabrina the Teenage Witch [3] I'd grown up with. If like me, you're a fan of the original cartoon and are wondering whether or not you should check out Netflix's version of the Winx, below are the four biggest differences between the two.
Character Backgrounds
When it comes to character backgrounds, it seems that Fate: The Winx Saga merely took inspiration from Winx Club versus sticking strictly to the source material. From what we see in the live-action series, Aisha is no longer a quiet, reserved crown princess of Andros. Instead, she grew up as an athlete with friends versus being isolated by her parents as a child. She's also a core member of the "Winx Club" right away rather than joining later, like her animated counterpart. In addition to the whitewashing of Musa — which fans have angrily pointed out since the casting was announced — she is no longer the fairy of music. Musa is now a fairy of "the mind," also known as an empath, who can feel other's emotions and take on what they are feeling. She does still have a love of music; however, we don't know if she is naturally gifted when it comes to music like she is in the cartoon.
Not only is Sky no longer a prince on Fate: The Winx Saga, but he's led to believe that his father was killed in battle and is the ex-boyfriend of Stella. Winx Club has him as the prince of Eraklyon and also saw Sky trade places with a squire named Brandon, who becomes romantically involved with Stella, so that he can live a normal life.
Characters Featured
The whitewashing of characters like Musa and the addition of a white character named Terra in place of Flora, a Latina character, had fans in an uproar. Other Winx missing include original "Winx Club" member Tecna, the fairy of technology, and Brandon, the love interest of Stella and Sky's squire.
Fate: The Winx Saga has also done away with the Trix, a trio of direct descendants from the Ancestral Witches, the most powerful and evil witches to have ever existed. What they do have is an air fairy named Beatrix who has ties to a community of Blood Witches and is part of Rosalind's plan to do away with the Burned Ones. The live-action series also introduces Burned Ones, which were once Blood Witches that are after the power Bloom holds.
Character Relationships
While Winx Club was directed towards those of a younger age, Fate: The Winx Saga is for a more mature audience which likely caused the shift in character relationships. Bloom and Sky's potential romance is much more complicated in the series now that Brandon, Stella's original Winx Club beau, no longer exists. Sky is Stella's ex and it's clear she still harbors some feelings for him by the jealousy she shows towards Bloom.
Musa and Riven are one of the big relationships on Winx Club and while the characters exist in the live-action iteration, they almost never interact. Musa spends the season hiding her relationship with Sam, Terra's brother, from Terra. Although he's still one of Sky's friends-slash-rivals, he almost immediately has a thing for Beatrix.
Character Aesthetics
One of the biggest let-downs for fans of the original Winx Club when it comes to the live-action Netflix adaptation is the lack of color that made the original show so fun and whimsical. Due to the Riverdale [5]-esque gritty treatment of the cartoon, everything feels drab and the outfits are lacking their fashion-forward attitude. On top of that, the fairies no longer have wings . . . most of the time. as the headmistress of Alfea explains, "We had wings in the past . . . as we've evolved, transformation magic has been lost."