10 epic shows I can’t wait for on Netflix, Prime Video, Max, and more in mid-2024
Superheroes, dragons, lightsabers, and time travel – oh my!
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It’s hard to believe we’re already a third of the way through 2024. That said, when we’ve had so many fantastic shows to stream since the year began, it’s little wonder the time has flown by.
The world’sbest streaming servicesaren’t done bringing us more potentially great series, either. Between now and September 1, there are lots of new shows, plus the highly anticipated return of fan favorites, to look forward to. With that in mind, I’ve handpicked 10 of the most exciting shows I can’t wait to watch in mid-2024 (NB:I would’ve includedCobra Kaiseason 6, whose first installment is out on July 18, but it was too late to include in this article. Sorry,Cobra Kaifans!).
Anyway, from epic sci-fi adventures and bloody fantasy to stellar superhero outings and romantic royal dramas, here are the shows I’m excited for in the weeks and months ahead.
Dark Matter (Apple TV Plus)
Release date:May 8
Apple TV Plushas become my go-to streamer for all things sci-fi over the past two years - with good reason. FromFoundationandSilotoSeveranceandConstellation, there are plenty of top-tier shows of this genre to immerse myself in on the tech giant’s streaming platform.
Dark Matterwill hope to add its name to that growing list. Based on Blake Crouch’s mind-bending, best-selling novel of the same name, it stars Joel Edgerton as Jason Dessen, a physics professor and devoted family man who becomes embroiled in a multiversal mystery after he’s abducted from his reality. Jennifer Connolly, Alice Braga, and Oakes Fegley are among its strong supporting cast.
Considering how mind-bogglingly inventiveDark Matter’s trailer looks, I suspectApplewill have another sci-fi hit on its hands. Expect, then, to see it join our illustriousbest Apple TV Plus showslist in due course.
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Dark Matter will launch with a two-episode premiere. New episodes will air weekly.
Doctor Who season 14 (Disney Plus/BBC iPlayer)
Release date:May 10 (US); May 11 (UK and Australia)
Fourteen years after ending his initial tenure as the showrunner ofDoctor Who’s revival (if you discount the 60th-anniversary specials and 2023 Christmas episode), Russell T Davies returns to take the legendary British sci-fi series in a bold, new direction.
Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson reprise their roles as the 15th Doctor and Ruby Rose from the aforementioned Christmas special, to lead the rebooted show’s 14th season filled with daring, fun-filled adventures across time and space. Indeed,Doctor Who season 14’s official trailer invites you to get your groove onbefore it materializes onDisney Plusinternationally and BBC One/BBC iPlayer in the UK.
Incidentally, this is the first time a new season ofDoctor Whowill air on Disney Plus due to a landmark deal that’lleven seeDoctor Whoseason 14 debut on the service before BBC One. Here’s hoping Davies, Gatwa, and Gibson can get the Who-niverse back on track after the lackluster Jodie Whittaker era and earn it a spot on ourbest Disney Plus showslist.
Doctor Who season 14 will launch with a two-episode premiere. New episodes will air weekly.
Bridgerton season 3 part 1 (Netflix)
Release date:May 16
Okay, I’m going to level with you –Bridgertonisn’t really my idea of a good time. But, considering one of thebest Netflix showsis set to return to our screens later this month, I felt I had to include it.
This time around,Netflix’s aristocratic drama will focus its attentions on Nicola Coughlan’s Penelope Featherington and Luke Newton’s Colin Bridgerton, with the duo engaging in some rather steamy scenarios that’ll no doubt set the cat among the Regency-era pigeons.
Like a number of other Netflix TV Originals in recent times,Bridgertonseason 3 will be released in two parts – volume 1 arriving in mid-May, and volume 2 launching in early June. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether to wait until the full season is out before getting your latest romantic period drama fix.
Bridgerton season 3 part 1 will release in full on May 16.
Outer Range season 2 (Prime Video)
Release date:May 16
If risqué period dramas aren’t your thing, the return ofPrime Video’s most underrated sci-fi seriesis worth catching instead. And, based on its official trailer,Outer Rangeseason 2 will be even stranger than its forebear.
Picking up in the immediate aftermath of its predecessor’s surprising (and bizarre) finale,Outer Rangeseason 2 reunites us with the Abbott family – led once more by morally complex patriarch Royal (Marvelalumnus Josh Brolin) – as they contend with their questionable decisions from season 1.
That’s not all they’ll have to deal with, mind you. The Wyoming-based family will have to fight off threats on multiple fronts, including slanderous and physical attacks from vengeful rivals the Tillersons. Oh, and they’ll need to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the black hole that suddenly appeared in their backyard last season. Catch up on this fascinating neo-Western sci-fi show before its second installment arrives ASAP.
Outer Range season 2 will debut with a single-episode premiere. New entries will arrive weekly.
Eric (Netflix)
Release date:May 30
Billed as a mystery/psychological thriller, this forthcoming limited series starringDoctor Strange’s Benedict Cumberbatch will make for uneasy viewing for any parent. Judging from its first trailer, thepuppet-based thriller looks like it’ll be even more bizarre than I expected, too.
Ericwill see Cumberbatch take on the role of Vincent, a New York-based puppeteer whose nine-year-old son goes missing one morning on his way to school. Increasingly desperate for answers about his child’s whereabouts, Vincent becomes more unhinged as the story progresses. He eventually becomes convinced that his son’s drawings of the titular ERIC – a blue monster puppet that Vincent created – are the only way to bring his son home.
Ericwas one offour new Netflix shows I said I couldn’t wait forearlier this year. Thanks to its first-look images – released in late March and showedCumberbatch on the other side of aSherlock-style mystery tale– and its official trailer (see above), I’m convinced it’ll be another solid TV win for Netflix.
Eric will release in full on Netflix in late May.
Star Wars: The Acolyte (Disney Plus)
Release date:June 4
The next bigStar WarsTV show kicks off a packed June for the world’s most popular streamers. Set 100 years beforeEpisode I: The Phantom Menace,Star Wars: The Acolytewill bring the legendary franchise’s High Republic era to life in live-action for the first time. Based on the footage I’ve seen, and the stuff I’ve read about it,The Acolytesounds like it could be the best Disney Plus show ever made in that galaxy far, far away.
Surprisingly positioned as a neo-noir mystery-thriller, it stars Amandla Stenberg (Bodies Bodies Bodies) as Mae, a former Padawan who reluctantly reunites with her Jedi Master Sol (Squid Game’s Lee Jung-sae) to investigate a series of murders. An all-star cast, including Carrie-Anne Moss, Jodie Turner, Dafne Keen, Manny Jacinto, Charlie Barnett, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, and Joonas Suotamo, is also set to feature.
Created by Russian Doll showrunner and diehard Star Wars fan Leslye Headland,expectThe Acolyteto deliver more than an ominous disturbance in the Force. Indeed, it could up-end everything we thought we knew about Lucasfilm’s popular franchise.
Star Wars: The Acolyte will debut with a two-episode premiere. New installments will be released weekly.
The Boys season 4 (Prime Video)
Release date:June 13
The Boysare back in town – well, next month, anyway. That’s right, the hugely successfulPrime Videosuperhero series returns in shockingly hilarious fashion in mid-June asAmazon, Disney, and HBO (more on HBO below) go head-to-head for viewers' attention throughout June.
The Boysseason 4will pick up events following its predecessor andGen Vseason 1, the college-based spin-off that proved equally popular with audiences. It’ll continue to explore the increasing tensions between the titular Supe hunters and The Seven, aka the world’s best superhero team led by the erratic Homelander, in typically gory and satirized fashion.
Easily one of thebest Prime Video showsof all time, I’m delighted thatThe Boyswill be back to humorously shock us all once more. Make sure you watch its first teaser, whichteases new Supes, Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s mystery character, and Homelander versus Starlight, before it takes flight. Oh, and then check out its official trailer, whichreveals ties toGen V, Supe-d up farm animals, and a battle for America’s soul.
The first three episodes of The Boys season 4 will be released on launch day. New episodes arrive weekly.
Presumed Innocent (Apple TV Plus)
Release date:June 14
Apple continues to adapt best-selling novels for its streaming platform in June with Scott Turow’sPresumed Innocent, an eight-part series that aims to offer a more intriguing and twisty-turny murder mystery than Tom Holland’sThe Crowded Roomdid.
Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Chicago deputy chief prosecutor Rosat ‘Rusty’ Sabich, who finds himself at the center of a horrific murder case when he’s shockingly accused of committing said crime. Of course, it doesn’t help that the married Rosat had an affair with the woman he’s suspected of killing. Ruth Negga, Bill Camp, O-T Fagbenie, and Elizabeth Marvel join Gyllenhaal on the show’s roster. J.J. Abrams is amongPresumed Innocent’s many executive producers, too.
Presumed Innocent will premiere on Apple TV Plus with two episodes. Subsequent entries will be released every week.
House of the Dragon season 2 (Max)
Release date:June 18 (US); June 19 (UK and Australia)
A stacked June is rounded out by the return of this critically acclaimedGame of Thronesprequel series, which will be available to stream on HBO andMaxin the US.
Set in the immediate aftermath of season 1’s stunning and emotion-laden finale,House of the Dragonseason 2will mark the start of the ‘Dance of Dragons’ – an epic civil war that destroyed House Targaryen, the family that ruled Westeros for generations, from the inside. Expect plenty of fire (and the odd glimpse of ice, judging by the footage I’ve seen) from this high-fantasy show.
House of the Dragon’s sophomore outing was given anofficial Max release date and three (!) fiery trailersin late March, which confirmed it’ll go up againstBridgerton,The Acolyte, andThe Boysin June. You and I, dear reader, are being well and truly spoiled on the TV front in mid-2024, aren’t we?
NB:House of the Dragon season 2 will be viewable on Sky Atlantic in the UK and Binge in Australia.
The Umbrella Academy season 4 (Netflix)
Release date:August 8
With July looking like a sparse month for shows that piqued my interest, we’re fast-forwarding to August for the final entry of this article. Step forwardThe Umbrella Academyseason 4, the last outing in Netflix’s hit superhero series. Bizarrely, it will only comprise six episodes instead of the 10 its three forebears were made up of.
Netflix hasn’t released a plot synopsis or trailer forThe Umbrella Academy’s last hurrah yet. The only information we have on it, other than thatits apocalyptic end was announced in July 2022, is thatit’ll make its debut on the world’s most popular streamer in early August. Netflix doesn’t tend to release trailers for new shows (or new seasons of returning TV shows) until around a month before they launch, so we might have to wait until July for our first official look at this show’s last season.
All six episodes of The Umbrella Academy season 4 are expected to be released on launch day.
For more TV streaming coverage, read our guides on thebest Hulu showsand the bestParamount Plus shows. Alternatively, find out what we know about Amazon’sFalloutseason 2(release date TBA) and FX’sThe Bearseason 3, which could make a surprise return to our screens in June if online speculation is to be believed.
As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.
An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as thisMoon Knight TV spot.
Away from work, Tom can be found checking out the latest video games, immersing himself in his favorite sporting pastime of football, reading the many unread books on his shelf, staying fit at the gym, and petting every dog he comes across.
Got a scoop, interesting story, or an intriguing angle on the latest news in entertainment? Feel free to drop him a line.
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