Is It Time for Netflix to Solve ‘The Da Vinci Code’? Fans Say Yes

The people have spoken, and they want more Robert Langdon, but this time, they’re hoping to see the Harvard professor reimagined in a prestige Netflix series.

Over on Reddit, fans of Dan Brown’s bestselling book series featuring the symbologist, which began with The Da Vinci Code, seem to agree on one thing: it’s time for a small-screen revival on the popular streaming platform.

“Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code) books need to be remade into a proper Netflix series,” one Reddit user wrote. “I just think the material did not translate very well as a two-hour movie format. Being too concerned with the time constraint as a film, it failed to deliver the original mystery and suspense of the books. The mind-boggling puzzles and richness of historical trivia were all watered down to a bland, awfully paced plot.”

“I think a series format would do it more justice. It’s been 20 years, and it’s about time. Plus, we are all so done with studios remaking wonderful recent ‘fool-proof’ franchises that didn’t ever need a remake to begin with,” the poster continued.

The commentator wasn’t alone in his sentiments. In a thread on r/television, fans of Brown’s work echoed the call for a series that would do justice to the Harvard professor

“In the films, they were like, ‘Think, think, think…Got it!’ They didn’t even give the viewers time to absorb and be in on it,” said another fan.

Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon series consists of five novels: Angels & Demons (2000), The Da Vinci Code (2003), The Lost Symbol (2009), Inferno (2013), and Origin (2017). In 2006, The Da Vinci Code was made into a feature film directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, the Harvard symbologist who becomes entangled in a conspiracy that dates back to the early days of Christianity.

Co-starring Audrey Tautou, Paul Bettany, Jean Reno, Ian McKellen, and Alfred Molina, the film was a box office hit that led to the adaptations of Angels & Demons in 2009 and Inferno in 2016.

In 2021, Peacock attempted to bring Langdon to households with a TV adaptation of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol starring Ashley Zukerman. Serving as a prequel to the films, the series was canceled after a single season.

Given the enduring popularity of The Da Vinci Code and with the film’s 20th anniversary on the horizon, perhaps it’s time to try again, this time with Netflix in the driver’s seat as Langdon deciphers the mysteries of mankind for a new generation of viewers.