If you have never seen any of it, watch the films. They exist, they are finished, and eight of them cover the whole story in under twenty hours. The series will take the better part of a decade to reach the same ending, assuming it runs its full planned course, and nobody can promise that in advance. The case for waiting is real, though, and it comes down to compression. The films had to cut hard: entire subplots vanish, several characters are reduced to a few lines, and the later books lose the most because they are the longest. A season per book removes that pressure. If what you care about is the texture of the world rather than the plot beats, the series is the version being made for you. There is also the question of what you already know. If you have read the books, the films will feel like an abridgement and the series probably will not. If you have not read them and want to be surprised, the films will surprise you more efficiently. A practical suggestion: watch the first two films now. They are the shortest path into the world and they will tell you quickly whether the material is for you. Then decide in December 2026 whether to continue with the films or start again with the series — the first season covers the same ground as the first film, so you lose nothing by trying both.