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With so many shake-ups across the industry — Netflix’s mass layoffs, Disney’s CEO swap, and Warner Bros. Discovery’s messy merger — it’s easy to assume that the subscription video on demand (SVOD) model is on the outs. But, while it’s true that a good number of major players are rethinking their strategies and how they frame success to their investors, streaming has continued to break records in 2022. Nielsen reports that viewers opted for streaming options more often than both broadcast and cable combined for the first time in history, and it did it two months in a row, largely due to the fact that this year was positively packed with streaming titles.
While we’re happy to leave duds like The Terminal List, The Book of Boba Fett, and Blockbuster in the dust, 2022 brought us so many gems. High fantasy returned in earnest with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, House of the Dragon and Neil Gaiman’s long-awaited The Sandman adaptation. Meanwhile, weird reigned across platforms with The Boys, Peacemaker and Moon Knight, while exciting mysteries came back to the forefront with Severance, Yellowjackets and The Afterparty.
‘An embarrassment of riches’ almost feels like an understatement when you look at that list and consider both its contents and all the amazing titles not highlighted. So, what does the future hold? Do all of these shakeups mean that we’ll see fewer exciting series from the major players in the SVOD space? I’m more magic eight than crystal ball, but I can tell you that the answer is largely dependent on viewers.
2023 will see limited changes on the consumer end, and future shakeups are dependent on viewer behavior (that’s us!). Everything from Chapek’s ousting from Disney to Netflix’s mass layoffs are reactionary moves to investor panic, yes. But that panic is because in a world with endless competition (affectionately dubbed “the streaming wars”), companies have more reasons than ever to keep their subscribers happy.
So, what does that mean? Well, mostly that there is so much to look forward to in the coming year.
Fantastic Horrors Await
Fantasy and horror can live on opposite sides of the genre spectrum, but if they have one thing in common it’s that they were the two genres that seemed best fit to sit together on this here list.
I’ll be honest, 2023’s fantasy offerings aren’t going to be the same treasure trove as 2022. We got spoiled, and we’ll have to wait a little bit longer for all those dragons and orcs to return to our lives. But that doesn’t mean that there’s not plenty coming out that we’re just dying to see. The Witcher Season 3 is right around the corner! Geralt, Jaskier, Yennifer and Ciri will return in the coming year with plenty of new monsters to face and trials to overcome. It’ll also be the last season featuring Henry Cavill before Geralt changes hands to Liam Hemsworth. Who, yes, we should be giving a chance before making a fuss.
The unconventional, curious, and still extremely exciting continuation to Good Omens will be coming our way in 2023, too. Though Season 1 was a perfect adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s incredible novel of the same name, Season 2 will be all Gaiman and will take us into uncharted territory for Crowley and Aziraphale now that the series is extending beyond the source material.
The horror train stops for no one, so get ready for the fourth and final season of M. Night Shyamalan’s Servant. Expect the threads that connect horror and grief to be at the forefront of the series more than ever as the horror master brings his series to a close.
We’ll also be seeing Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher sometime in the fall of 2023, which, with his new deal with Amazon, will likely be his last project with Netflix. Parting may be such sweet sorrow, but there is no sorrow sweeter than the marriage of Flanagan and Edgar Allan Poe short stories.
Of course, we’re all waiting with baited breath for the premiere of The Last of Us. The adaptation is a dream come true for many, with a stellar creative team matched only by its stacked cast, and we can’t wait to dive into Joel and Ellie’s ill-fated world.
Don’t expect an immediate follow up to AMC’s impeccable Interview with the Vampire in 2023 — it hasn’t even been renewed yet — but the entertainment giant will be returning with Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, which sits plenty high up on our most anticipated list. If it’s anywhere near Interview with a Vampire’s quality, we’re in for a real treat.
We’ll be getting Yellowjackets Season 2, too! The spooky, twisty, possibly cannibalistic sensation returns in March!
And yeah, both Mayfair Witches and Yellowjackets air on classic cable (AMC and Showtime respectively) but both feature SVOD options immediately after airing for cord cutters, so we’re counting them even if they aren’t a part of the larger streaming conversations!
Make Mine Marvel
Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness returns in the wildly anticipated Agatha: Coven of Chaos after her breakout role in the impeccable WandaVision. Expect plenty more witchy goodness as the series dives into Harkness’ complicated history, allegiances, and rivalries with the other members of Marvel’s coven.
Speaking of fan favorites, Loki, Sylvie and the rest of the TVA will be back on our screens in 2023 with Loki Season 2. The studio has been close to the vest when it comes to what the second season will cover — shocking for Marvel, I know — but no matter where the Variants’ journeys take us, we’re sure that there will be plenty of mischief.
Loki Season 2 and House of Harkness will be joined by several other thrilling spinoffs, sequels and continuations to the MCU — Secret Invasion will bring our beloved Skrulls back into our lives, Riri Williams will continue the journey she started in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in her own show, Ironheart, and Echo will return in her own title series as her feud with Kingpin only grows. (Yes. You will see Daredevil.)
In case all of that wasn’t enough, there are several very exciting Marvel animation projects in the works. But we’ll get to those in a moment!
In a Galaxy Far, Far Away…
I’m just kidding. I’m sorry. There’s so much to be excited for. Let’s go!
How could we not be thrilled by the return of The Mandalorian? After a brief sidequest on The Book of Boba Fett, Mando, Grogu, and the whole brood will be returning to our screens on March 1st. We haven’t seen any new footage since D23, but it’s pretty clear that “what it means to be a Mandalorian” will remain the central question as Bo-Katan takes the throne of Mandalore while Din Djarin reckons with the fact that he is no longer considered a Mandalorian before the rest of his people.
Leslye Headland — the co-creator of the acclaimed Russian Doll — is taking us to the final days of the High Republic with The Acolyte. The mystery-thriller is set to follow a former Padawan and her Jedi Master as they investigate a series of crimes and, despite that quick synopsis, is set to be quite Sith-heavy in nature!
And no “most anticipated of 2023” list would be complete without the inclusion of the long-awaited Ahsoka. The story of Anakin Skywalker’s ill-fated former Padawan continues in live action as she furthers her quest to hunt down the nefarious Grand Admiral Thrawn.
It’s All About the Bat, Man.
Ok, it’s not all about Batman, but we’re still mad excited to check out The Penguin when it hits HBO Max in 2023. One of several planned spinoffs from Matt Reeves’ The Batman, the series is set to focus on, you guessed it, The Penguin! Regardless of where we see this series go, we’re just excited to spend more time in Reeves’ Gotham. And, given that James Gunn has promised a more unified DCEU in coming years, we’re very interested to see how this first foray into that combined universe may look given that Reeves’ film was originally meant to be its own standalone story. We’ll have to wait and see what the studios new plan for cohesion means for these spinoffs.
Superheroing will continue until morale improves. Of course, there’s never really much morale to spare in The Boys universe, so we’re assuming the same will be the case with its high school spin-off, Gen V. The Boys-level gore will meet with Sky High-level hormones and The Hunger Games-level challenges in the newest addition to Eric Kripke’s universe and the show will be run by none other than Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters of Agent Carter fame.
And, yeah, Gen V is happening early enough in the year that you can probably expect The Boys Season 4 to hit in 2023 as well. There’s just been no solid confirmation as of yet.
Let us not forget about the one true American hero, either. Peacemaker and the rest of his former A.R.G.U.S. team will return for Season 2. Like The Boys, we’re not 100% certain that it’ll be in 2023, but we assume we’ll see Chris Smith and his band of vagabonds make a triumphant return before the year ends.
Exciting New Animation
We’re always excited for an animated slate. And, given how often the artform was maligned in 2022, we’re thrilled at how exciting the 2023 offerings look across genres and studios.
The Legend of Vox Machina is set to return early on in 2023, bringing the hilarious and rowdy Critical Role favorites back to our screens after their incredibly well-received first season. Those episodes blew us away, so there’s a lot of excitement bubbling around this territory.
The Bad Batch Season 2 will be hitting Disney+ nice and early in 2023, giving fans their Star Wars fix before The Mandolorian returns later in the year.
Our most anticipated animated title of the coming year might just be X-Men ‘97. Man oh man, a continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series didn’t even seem possible just a year ago, and now there’s one right around the corner! We don’t have a premiere window just yet, but stay tuned for release details!
And then there’s the Scooby-Doo spinoff that finally made Velma gay! (Something James Gunn tried to do all the way back in 2001!) Velma will follow the brains of Mystery Inc. before those meddling kids even had a chance to form their ghostbusting group. All of the humans of the group will be represented — which is important, because the series is pitched as a love quadrangle between the four of them — but don’t expect to see Scooby-Doo. Rights issues will keep the pup that we all spent our childhoods with from joining the series.
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
There are so many incredible series set to head our way in 2023, but I won’t dance around it: there’s a lot that you’re going to have to wait for, too. As mentioned, both House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power aren’t coming our way until 2024, but they’re not the only major players that we’ll have to wait to see return. The Sandman managed to nab a renewal from Netflix after delivering strong numbers still countered by high production costs, but we’re currently not even sure when the continuation will go into production, let alone release. Given the level of production that’s required for the series, it’s almost certain that we will not see anything until 2024.
There’s also the likes of major players like Apple TV+’s upcoming MonsterVerse series, tentatively titled Hourglass. Right now, all we know is that it focuses on Godzilla and the rest of the Titans and will be set after the events of Godzilla vs. Kong. While the series reportedly went into production on June 30th of this year, it’s a big show with big post-production needs. So, while there’s a tiny chance of a late 2023 release, probably safer to expect it in 2024.
What's your most anticipated streaming show coming in 2023? Let us know in the comments!