Netflix might want to hire a different spokesperson for its highly anticipated adaptation of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.
The streaming giant revealed the first teaser and first photo from the forthcoming series Tuesday. However, Snicket, as portrayed by Patrick Warburton, doesn’t exactly make the strongest sell.
In addition to calling the project “upsetting” and “utterly unnerving,” Snicket goes on to plead with viewers to “look away before this dire tale is even filmed and avoid the cruel whimsy and whimsical cruelty of what’s to come” when the series launches in January.
Based on the international best-selling series of books by Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler), the series stars Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf, the evil guardian of the Baudelaire orphans — Violet, Klaus and Sunny — who will stop at nothing to get his hands on their inheritance. The siblings must outsmart Olaf at every turn, foiling his many devious plans and disguises, in order to discover clues to their parents’ mysterious death.
The eight-episode series is produced by Netflix and hails from exec producers Barry Sonnenfeld and Handler. Although Harris does not appear in the teaser, his presence is strongly felt in the clip, which also includes a brief look at the series’ sets and costumes.
All eight episodes will be available Friday, Jan. 13, 2017.
