Now that Carlos, Rey Emperador is wrapping up, what are the odds that TVE might produce a sequel series based on the reign of Carlos V's son, Felipe II ?
Felipe II's reign, not unlike his father's, was marked by mixed fortunes. Although he won important victories against the French, the Turks and the Portuguese, he is most often remembered in the English-speaking world for his failure to invade England after the defeat of the "Invincible Armada" and for his inability to suppress the Dutch rebellion in the northern Netherlands.
Most of Felipe II's depictions in movies or TV so far have been from English-speaking sources which, unsurprisingly, present him as the "villain", i.e. a fanatical Roman Catholic whose goals were to impose tyrannical rule and spread the reach of the Inquisition. Conversely, Felipe's Protestant foes like Elizabeth I of England and William of Orange (the "father" of the Netherlands) are depicted as national heroes of their respective peoples. As a non-Spaniard, I would be extremely curious to see Felipe II's story told from a different perspective, i.e. the Spanish point of view, as I would also be curious to see how Elizabeth I and William of Orange would in turn be portrayed in a Spanish TV series. That is why I greatly hope that TVE will embrace the idea of a Felipe series after the huge success of Isabel and the not so stellar performance of Carlos, even though Carlos, from a historical perspective, was personally more interesting to me than Isabel, as it provided more international context
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