The series portrays female characters who engage in and win direct physical combat against male opponents. Milady de Winter is frequently shown to be victorious in fights against multiple men using melee weapons and martial arts. Constance Bonacieux also defeats a male attacker in a close-quarters struggle.

Porthos, one of the titular Musketeers, is canonically and historically depicted as white in Alexandre Dumas's source material. In this adaptation, the character is portrayed by Howard Charles, a Black actor, constituting a race swap.

The series prominently features Cardinal Richelieu as a primary antagonist, depicting the church's political power as corrupt, manipulative, and often ruthless. The narrative consistently portrays the institutional church, through its most powerful representative, as problematic and driven by secular ambition rather than spiritual virtue.