Splinter Cell: Deathwatch — Netflix’s Stealth Comeback with a Moral Hangover

October 15, 2025

It’s been over a decade since Sam Fisher last slipped on those iconic night-vision goggles in Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist (2013), and let’s be honest if you’re a fan like myself all you want to do is strap on those goggles!

Lucky for us Ubisoft hasn’t completely ghosted us, there’s been a few novels and believe it or not even a BBC radio drama that kept the stealth legend barely breathing.
But now, Fisher’s back in a big way, Netflix and Ubisoft have teamed up for an anime-style series titled Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, with John Wick creator Derek Kolstad running the show. And just hearing that, you know it’s all about the action!

Animated by the slick teams at Sun Creature Studio and Fost, Deathwatch isn’t a full-blown reboot — think of it as a gritty side mission that expands the Splinter Cell universe rather than resets it.

The Premise:

Former CIA badass Sam Fisher (voiced by Liev Schreiber) is dragged out of retirement to assist fresh agent Zinnia McKenna (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). After a botched mission leaves McKenna stranded and wounded, the duo faces a new breed of enemy — not terrorists, but digital manipulators weaponizing climate disinformation and corporate espionage.

Oh, and Fisher’s old frenemy Douglas Shetland is back, now flanked by his two morally-confused kids. They’re out to “save the world from global warming” — but with plenty of blackmail, murder, and shady dealings mixed in. Because what’s an eco-mission without a little confusion, right?

Spies, Shadows, and Moral Hangovers:

Deathwatch dives into the moral murk that’s always made Splinter Cell fascinating. It’s not just cool gadgets and silent takedowns, just like the games, it’s about what that lifestyle does to a person. Fisher’s old-school morality crashes headfirst into McKenna’s modern idealism, creating a quiet but powerful “mentor and protégé” dynamic that’s more tragic than heroic.

This show isn’t here to sell you spy fantasies — it’s here to remind you that even heroes end up broken, disillusioned, and haunted by their “missions accomplished.”

The Verdict:

Visually, Deathwatch is stunning, I love anime so the animation hits like a tactical flashbang, especially in its explosive finale. But emotionally? It’s more of a gut punch. Don’t expect a clean Hollywood ending — the finale might leave you feeling things are still “eina”, unresolved, and bleak in that “oh no, this might actually be realistic” kind of way.

Whether or not Netflix gives Kolstad his planned second season, Deathwatch stands strong on its own and is a brutal, stylish reminder that in the world of spies and secrets, there are no heroes… just survivors.

Splinter Cell: Deathwatch is streaming now on Netflix. Grab your goggles, it’s time to sneak back into the shadows.

Written by: Gerald