First Look at Netflix's 'The Age of Innocence' Series Reveals a Candlelit Gilded Age Love Triangle

Netflix has been leaning into classic literature, and Edith Wharton’s ‘The Age of Innocence‘ is among the most anticipated books in its lineup. The novel’s world of ballrooms, whispered gossip and unspoken desire is a natural fit for a prestige period drama. The streamer’s limited series adaptation has been in the works since April 2025, when it was first ordered and announced around World Book Day.

Wharton published the novel in 1920, and it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction the following year, making her the first woman to take home the award. Martin Scorsese brought the story to the big screen in 1993 with Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder. That film earned 5 Oscar nominations and won 1, and Ryder picked up a Golden Globe along with her own Oscar nomination.

The first images from the series have now arrived, along with a premiere date of Feb. 18. The stills show a man and a woman in period dress, and they are paired with candle-lit interiors lit by chandeliers, the kind of settings where the novel’s high society would have gathered.

The look is intimate and cinematic, with warm light set against darker surroundings. It points to a visual approach that treats the story’s quiet tension seriously rather than offering simple costume-drama gloss. The first-look story was published by Vanity Fair, and it gives fans an early sense of the tone Netflix is aiming for ahead of the February debut.

First look at the series adaptation of Edith Wharton’s ‘THE AGE OF INNOCENCE.’ Premieres February 18 on Netflix. 🔗 https://t.co/qbfva0sNEr https://t.co/pdRom8QJZq
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) November 10, 2026

Ben Radcliffe, who appeared in ‘Masters of the Air’, plays Newland Archer. Kristine Froseth, from ‘The Buccaneers’, takes on May Welland, and Camila Morrone of ‘Daisy Jones & the Six’ is Ellen Olenska. Those three form the triangle at the heart of the story.

Netflix describes the series as a passionate and heart-rending will-they-won’t-they love triangle exploring freedom, duty, identity and love. It promises a fresh take that stays true to the novel while speaking to a new generation, and it asks whether people should be led by their heads or their hearts.

The cast around the central trio is large and decorated. Margo Martindale plays Mrs. Manson-Mingott, while Fiona Glascott is Augusta Welland and Belinda Bromilow plays Adeline Archer. Emma Shipp joins the main group as Janey Archer.

Other names in the ensemble include Hayley Mills, Will Tudor as Sillerton Jackson, Ryan Morgan as Lawrence Lefferts, John Light, Steven Pacey and Jack Cutmore-Scott. Anna Madeley plays Aunt Medora and Michael Cochrane plays Henry Van Der Luyden, with Elly Roberts, Kel Matsena and Lucia Balordi rounding out the list.

Emma Frost, whose credits include ‘The White Queen’, ‘The White Princess’ and ‘The Spanish Princess’, is the writer and showrunner, and she writes every episode. Shannon Murphy, who directed ‘Dying for Sex’ and ‘Babyteeth’, directs the first 3 episodes and is an executive producer. Lisa Brühlmann and Natalia Leite also direct.

Chernin Entertainment is producing, and the executive producers include Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Tracey Cook and Pavlina Hatoupis. Frost’s earlier work in the period genre suggests a team with plenty of experience in costume drama.

Production began in Prague in October 2025, with the city standing in for Gilded Age New York. Filming was expected to run through the following March, which gave the crew months to capture the sets and costumes that period dramas rely on. Netflix’s Tudum also shared a behind-the-scenes image from the shoot.

Hello! compared the series’ style to ‘The Buccaneers’, another period drama featuring Froseth. Netflix is also developing an adaptation of ‘Pride and Prejudice’, which shows how deeply the streamer is investing in literary classics.

With the premiere date now in place, the question is whether Frost and her team can capture the longing and social pressure that have kept Wharton’s novel alive for more than a century.