Image via Netflix
Published Nov 3, 2026, 2:56 PM EST
Collier Jennings is an entertainment journalist with extensive experience. Collier, or "CJ" to his friends and family, is a dedicated fan of genre films - particularly science fiction, fantasy, and comic book adaptations, not to mention all forms of animation. This stems from a close bond with his father, who introduced him to these genres via copies of X-Men comics and reruns of the original Ultraman series. With his near-encyclopedic knowledge and bottomless love of genre, he's tackled a wide variety of articles.
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Netflix has had issues with its original series in recent years. Long-running series like Stranger Things have ended on a note that soured longtime fans. Lengthy gaps between seasons are eroding audience interest and their desire to keep renewing their subscriptions. The streaming market is getting more crowded, especially as subscribers feel their pockets being pinched. Luckily, there's a Netflix show worth the subscription cost that gets better with each season, telling the story of a master thief seeking justice against those who wronged him and his family.
That series is Lupin. First premiering in 2021, Lupin follows Assane Diop (Omar Sy), a chauffeur who seeks to avenge his father's death. To achieve his goals, he takes on the mantle of Arsène Lupin, the iconic gentleman thief, and launches a campaign of theft and deception to take down the insanely wealthy Hubert Pellegrini (Hervé Pierre), who bankrupted and imprisoned his father. Each season of Lupin's gathered critical acclaim, with Seasons 3 and 4 earning a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. It's well-earned, as Lupin has plenty of style and story to keep viewers hooked from beginning to end.
'Lupin' Keeps Its Story Fresh With Each Season
Image via NetflixWhile Lupin starts as a simple revenge/theft story, it slowly builds a narrative that raises the stakes for Assane in every way. Though he manages to take down Pellegrini, his actions make him the most wanted man in France, straining his relationship with his wife, Claire (Ludivine Sagnier), and son, Raoul. Things get worse when Raoul is kidnapped, sending Assane on a rescue mission. Season 4 raises the stakes even higher, as a cybercriminal frames him for a series of thefts while he's in prison, forcing him to escape and clear his name. You never know what you'll get with this show, and that's what makes it all the more exciting.
The series also has a meta-narrative, as Lupin was originally meant to adapt the Arsène Lupin stories before making a major shift. Instead of playing Lupin, Assane adopts his methods, and detectiveYoussef Guedira (Soufiane Guerrab) can pursue Assane thanks to his own knowledge of the Lupin stories. Series co-creator George Kay said that he took this approach because he wanted to create an adaptation that felt in step with modern times:
"There's certain things that you may want to remain faithful to if you are to update that [original] character - but what I wanted to do was create this modern man and force him through the filter of Lupin, and running alongside that, in the earlier stages of development, I was really into the idea of the intellectual property sitting as a character within the show."
The gamble paid off, thanks to Sy's suave performance and Kay leading a skilled writing staff. But while Lupin hooked plenty of viewers during its run, it would actually increase in popularity thanks to a major event that dovetails with the series' narrative.
Collider Exclusive · Villain Personality Quiz Which Criminal Mastermind Would Be Your Nemesis? Lecter · Joker · Moriarty · Chigurh
Four of the finest criminal minds ever put on screen. One of them would look at you and see something worth their time. Eight questions decide which one comes for you, why they picked you, and what they would want when they arrived.
🍷Lecter
🃏Joker
♟️Moriarty
🪙Chigurh
MEET YOUR NEMESIS →
01
What would a criminal mastermind notice about you first? Great villains choose their opponents carefully. Something about you got their attention.
AMy manners, and everything I am careful not to say. BThat I still believe people are basically decent. CThat I am clever, and quietly enjoy proving it. DThat I handle things myself, and always have.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
How do they make first contact? The introduction tells you everything about what is coming next.
AA polite letter. Beautiful handwriting. Quietly wrong. BSomething on fire, with a message left beside it. CA puzzle, left where only I would look. DNo contact. Just the aftermath, and a coin.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
What do you actually believe about right and wrong? Every nemesis is really an argument about the thing you believe most.
AThere are lines. Mine are private and absolute. BRules are the only thing keeping us from being animals. CMorality is a system, and systems can be solved. DThings happen. Most of it was never up to me.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
What finally gets under your skin? Everybody has a pressure point. Finding yours is the whole plan.
ABeing seen clearly by somebody I cannot read. BWatching good people do something ugly. CLosing to someone who was simply better prepared. DHaving no move left that changes anything.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
They have made their move. How do you fight back? This is the part of the film where the audience finds out who you are.
ACarefully, and never where they expect to be touched. BLoudly. I would rather lose than play their game. CWith a better plan. I can out-think this. DDirectly, once, with whatever is closest to hand.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
What would they use against you? A good villain never brings a weapon you have not already handed them.
AMy privacy. I have kept far too much to myself. BMy conscience. I will not cross the line they want. CMy ego. I cannot resist a worthy opponent. DMy certainty that I can handle it alone.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
What do they actually want from you? The money is never the point. Something else always is.
ATo understand me better than anyone ever has. BTo prove I am no better than they are. CTo finally be beaten by someone worth the trouble. DNothing at all. I stepped into the wrong path.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
How does it end between the two of you? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who comes for you.
AA conversation I will be replaying for years. BA choice forced on me that has no clean answer. COne final move, and the better mind wins. DA coin in the air, and nothing I can say.
REVEAL MY NEMESIS →
The Case File Is Complete Your Nemesis Is…
Four criminal masterminds. One of them was always going to be yours. Here is who comes for you, why they picked you out of everyone available, and what they want from the encounter.
Hannibal Lecter
Your nemesis does not want to beat you. He wants to know you completely, and he is patient enough to wait for it. The frightening part is how good the conversation is.
- Lecter is the most dangerous kind of opponent: the one who finds you interesting. He never raises his voice, because he has never needed to.
- You keep a great deal to yourself and you are careful about what you show. That reserve is exactly the door he would knock on.
- The films understood something other thrillers missed. The horror is not the violence. It is being perfectly understood by the wrong person.
- He would be unfailingly polite about all of it. That is the worst part.
The Joker
Your nemesis is not after money, territory or revenge. He is after a demonstration, and you are the person he has chosen to prove his point on.
- The Joker only picks opponents who believe in something. Your decency is not a defence against him. It is the entire reason he showed up.
- He has no plan you can predict and nothing you can take away, which removes every tool you would normally reach for.
- His whole argument is that you are one bad day away from being him, and you would spend the rest of your life proving him wrong.
- He would call it a magic trick. You would call it the worst night of your life.
Moriarty
Your nemesis respects you, which sounds flattering until you work out what it means. He chose you because nobody else was worth his time.
- Moriarty is the original criminal mastermind, the template every later one borrows from: a mind the equal of the hero's, pointed the wrong way.
- You enjoy being the cleverest person in the room. He is counting on exactly that, and he has already built the room.
- This is the rare nemesis who would be genuinely disappointed if you lost badly. He needs the game to be worth playing.
- It ends the way these things always end. Two people, one problem, and only one way down.
Anton Chigurh
Your nemesis has no personal interest in you whatsoever, and that is precisely what makes him unsurvivable. You are not a rival. You are a stop on the way.
- Chigurh does not negotiate, gloat or explain. He arrives, he asks one question, and the answer was decided long before you opened your mouth.
- You trust yourself to handle things. He is the one problem in the world that has no interest in how capable you are.
- No Country for Old Men rewrote the screen villain by removing the thing audiences quietly rely on: the sense that talking might work.
- Call it. He will wait.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
A Real-Life Event Led To A Popularity Boost for 'Lupin'
In 2025, the world was rocked by theft in the Louvre. The idea that someone could steal from one of France's most iconic landmarks was shocking enough, but pulling it off in broad daylight is a feat worthy of Assane Diop. The irony is that Assane actually does rob the Lourve in Season 1, making this the rare case of life imitating art. As a result, searches for heist stories like Lupin and Ocean's 11 spiked, pushing Lupin to the top ofthe Netflix charts and search engines for two weeks. On a better note, the original Arsène Lupin stories have also enjoyed a boost in popularity thanks to Lupin, Writing a heist story is tricky. You have to give your thief enough charm to win the viewer over, an obstacle that makes their adventures worth watching, and enough twists to keep things interesting. Lupin succeeds on all three fronts, cementing it as one of Netflix's best shows. If y
Release Date January 8, 2021
Network Netflix
