Marco Polo

Set in the 13th century, Marco Polo follows a young Venetian who arrives at the Mongol court and becomes enmeshed in its politics, rivalries and sexual intrigues. Moved from merchant life into a landscape of shifting loyalties, Marco must pick up local languages, customs and military skills to survive and win favor. The series follows his changing relationships with Kublai Khan, Empress Chabi, Crown Prince Jingim and Kokachin, showing how his outsider status both opens opportunities and creates danger. Episodes alternate between large-scale battles, intimate palace maneuvering and personal moments, emphasizing the costs of ambition and the moral compromises characters accept to hold power.

The show premiered on Netflix in 2014 and was created by John Fusco, built as a high-profile historical drama with an international cast including Lorenzo Richelmy, Benedict Wong, Joan Chen, Remy Hii and Zhu Zhu.

Despite its production size and visibility, Marco Polo attracted limited awards recognition and did not secure major industry prizes, with most notice focusing on technical aspects rather than top-tier awards for acting or writing.

As one of Netflix's early big-budget period pieces, the series helped demonstrate that streaming platforms could mount cinematic historical television, and it prompted conversation about casting choices and how Asian histories are represented on screen. Its costume designs, set pieces and choreographed combat scenes made a visible mark on later streaming productions tackling similar eras.

Critical response leaned mixed to positive, and audience reaction averaged 7.344 out of 10 from 575 votes. Reviewers often praised the visual scale, production design and several strong performances while calling out slow pacing and uneven plotting in places. Recurring themes include power struggles, identity amid cultural contact, loyalty and the personal price of pursuing status within an unforgiving court.