‘Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie’ succeeds where the TV series fell short

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie and Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir.

Netflix has released Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie, a film adaptation of the TV series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. This children’s superhero film not only retold the story of these French superheroes, but it also managed to gain a spot in Netflix’s Top 10 charts in 49 countries. Interestingly enough, this Ladybug and Cat Noir story didn’t have the show’s creator, Thomas Astruc involved during production, which could potentially point to a reason for the film’s success.

As someone who’s watched the season five finale of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, I can objectively say that the ending didn’t land on its feet. Each episode since season four got so “utterly ridiculous” to the point where I was only watching it to see how the main story arc ends.

For those who are unfamiliar with this 8-year-old TV series, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir is about Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste, or Ladybug and Cat Noir, respectively. This superhero duo is up against Hawk Moth (secretly Adrien’s father, Gabriel Agreste), who’s after their miraculous in hopes to bring back his wife.

The way season 5 ended was a battle between Ladybug and Hawk Moth, with Adrien out of the picture because he’s trapped in London. Hawk Moth managed to outwit Ladybug and stole both her and Cat Noir’s miraculous, have his wish granted, and have everyone mistake him as a hero. Meanwhile, Adrien doesn’t know the truth about his father.

Do you mean to tell me that after 8 years of watching a will-they-won’t-they plot, and hearing how Hawk Moth’s plan would lead to the “end of the world”, it ends with the villain’s victory and that everything pretty much staying the same, just with Gabriel out of the picture?

What made the finale smell like stinky cheese was that Cat Noir was nowhere in the final battle, despite his name being in the show’s title. Not only does the TV show’s direction not make any sense, but it ultimately ruins the show’s original message. Sure, it’s a TV show and it had to extend some story plots for the sake of making more episodes, but it felt like it was mostly about Ladybug, not her and her partner.

So what made the Netflix film different? Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie reminded not only the audience, but also the characters that they are “stronger together.” At the same time, the characters are much more fleshed out rather than just being cartoonishly bad, and perhaps even cringey in some cases.

Ladybug and Cat Noir have to work together just to save the day, even if they don’t agree with each other. This meant that the duo faced Hawk Moth together during the film’s climax, which led to this supervillain discovering that he was up against his son. After realising what he was doing was hurting the only family he has left, Gabriel took accountability for his actions.

Meanwhile, the will-they-won’t-they plot between Marinette and Adrien was also improved. Their love life affected both their hero and normal lives, unlike in the TV show where whatever happens in the costume usually stays in costume. This can also be said about Marinette’s confidence, since she’s able to learn from her time as Ladybug and use it in her everyday life.

Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie took elements from the TV show and somehow made it better, especially with its ending. It’s like the team behind the movie knew what the audience wanted, and realized that the TV show’s ending wouldn’t sit well with many viewers. To compensate, the film would have to somewhat do a complete backflip, while also following the show’s canon to create a story that would not only sit well with fans, but would also make sense.

So, if you want to see how Miraculous Ladybug (in my humble opinion) should have been told all along, watch the Netflix film rather than the TV series. It will not disappoint.