streaming television

They’re golden: Fictional band from K-Pop Demon Hunters tops the charts

animated film, culture, Entertainment, film reviews, films, K-Pop Demon Hunters, netflix, Reviews, streaming television / Paul Patrick / August 12, 2025

The fictional band Huntr/x, from K-Pop Demon Hunters, has a real-world hit with “Golden.”

Netflix has a summer megahit on its hands with its animated musical feature film, K-Pop Demon Hunters. Since its June release, the critically acclaimed film has won fans of all ages, fueled by a killer Korean pop soundtrack featuring one earworm after another. The biggest hit is “Golden,” which just hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 100 chart. (The last time a fictional ensemble topped the charts was in 2022 with Encanto‘s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”)

K-Pop Demon Hunters is now Netflix’s most-watched animated film of all time, and that’s not just because of the infectious music. The Sony Animation team delivers bold visuals that evoke the look and feel of anime, the plot is briskly paced, and the script strikes a fine balance between humor and heart.

(Spoilers below.)

The film deftly lays out the central premise in the first few minutes. In ancient times, demons roamed the Earth freely and preyed upon human souls, until a trio of women—gifted singers and demon hunters—created a magical protective barrier with their voices known as the Honmoon, trapping the demons behind it. The Honmoon has been maintained ever since by subsequent musical trios/demon hunters from each generation. The dream is that one day, the Honmoon will become so strong it will turn “golden” and seal away the demons forever.

Naturally the demons, led by their king Gwi-Ma (Lee Byung-hun), don’t want that to happen, but the latest incarnation of demon hunters—a K-Pop band called Huntr/x—is close to accomplishing the Golden Honmoon. Rumi (Arden Cho) is the lead singer, Mira (May Hong) is the group’s dancer/choreographer, and American-born Zoey (Ji-young Yoo) is the rapper and lyricist. But Rumi harbors a secret: her father was a demon, and she is marked by the telltale purple “patterns,” which she keeps hidden from her bandmates.

Hoping to destroy the Honmoon once and for all, Gwi-Ma sends five of his demons to form a K-pop boy band, the Saja Boys, led by Jinu (Ahn Hyo-seop). Their popularity soon rivals that of Huntr/x and threatens the Honmoon—just as Rumi’s patterns spread to her throat and weaken her singing voice.

How it’s done, done, done

Mira, Rumi, and Zoey take a timeout from fighting demons to carb-load with ramen. Netflix

That’s a big problem because their new hit single, “Golden” (performed by South Korean singer/songwriter Ejae), spans an impressive three-octave range, eventually hitting an A-5 on the chorus—a high note usually reserved for classically trained operatic sopranos. (Ejae’s performance on this song has impressed a lot of YouTube vocal coaches.) And the first live global performance of “Golden” is supposed to be the event that ushers in the Golden Honmoon. It’s a soaring, impeccably constructed “I Want” tune typical of Disney princesses.

They’re golden: Fictional band from K-Pop Demon Hunters tops the charts Read More »

Netflix drops One Piece S2 teaser, renews for S3

culture, netflix, One Piece, streaming television, Trailers / Mike M. / August 11, 2025

We have the first teaser for the second season of Netflix’s live-action series adaptation of One Piece, subtitled Into the Grand Line. The streaming platform also released some first-look images and announced that the series has been renewed for a third season.

(Some spoilers for S1 below.)

As previously reported, the original One Piece manga debuted in 1997, following the adventures of one Monkey D. Luffy, who heads a motley crew called the Straw Hat Pirates. There’s swordsman Roronoa Zoro, thief and navigator Nami, sniper and compulsive liar Usopp, and a cook named Sanji. They’re searching for the legendary One Piece, a mythical treasure that would make anyone who possesses it King of the Pirates. Monkey wants to be the Pirate King, but so do a host of other pirates with their own ships and crews.

An anime TV series based on the original manga premiered in 1999 and became a global hit; it was the most-watched TV show of 2022, even beating out Stranger Things. So Netflix decided to make a live-action version, which received critical and popular acclaim, particularly for its fidelity to the source material. Iñaki Godoy stars as Monkey, who has rubber-like abilities thanks to accidentally ingesting a Devil Fruit. Mackenyu plays Zoro, Emily Rudd plays Nami, Taz Skylar plays Sanji, and Jacob Romero Gibson plays Usopp, son of an infamous pirate father named Yasopp. The S2 teaser features several new faces that will be familiar to fans of the manga and anime series.

Netflix drops One Piece S2 teaser, renews for S3 Read More »

Review: The Sandman S2 is a classic tragedy, beautifully told

culture, Entertainment, Neil Gaiman, netflix, Reviews, streaming television, The Sandman, TV reviews / Mike M. / August 9, 2025

I unequivocally loved the first season of The Sandman, the Netflix adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s influential graphic novel series (of which I am longtime fan). I thought it captured the surreal, dream-like feel and tone of its source material, striking a perfect balance between the anthology approach of the graphic novels and grounding the narrative by focusing on the arc of its central figure: Morpheus, lord of the Dreaming. It’s been a long wait for the second and final season, but S2 retains all those elements to bring Dream’s story to its inevitably tragic, yet satisfying, end.

(Spoilers below; some major S2 reveals after the second gallery. We’ll give you a heads-up when we get there.)

When Netflix announced in January that The Sandman would end with S2, speculation abounded that this was due to sexual misconduct allegations against Gaiman (who has denied them). However, showrunner Allan Heinberg wrote on X that the plan had long been for there to be only two seasons because the show’s creators felt they had only enough material to fill two seasons, and frankly, they were right. The first season covered the storylines of Preludes and Nocturnes and A Doll’s House, with bonus episodes adapting “Dream of a Thousand Cats” and “Calliope” from Dream Country.

The S2 source material is drawn primarily from Seasons of Mists, Brief Lives, The Kindly Ones, and The Wake, weaving in relevant material from Fables and Reflections—most notably “The Song of Orpheus” and elements of “Thermidor”—and the award-winning “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” from Dream Country. This season’s bonus episode adapts the 1993 standalone spinoff Death: The High Cost of Living. All that’s really missing is A Game of You—which focuses on Barbie (a minor character introduced in A Doll’s House) trying to save her magical dream realm from the evil forces of the Cuckoo—and a handful of standalone short stories. None of that material has any bearing on the Dream King’s larger character arc, so we lose little by the omissions.

Making amends

After escaping his captors, regaining his talismans, tracking down the rogue Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), and dealing with a Vortex, S2 finds Morpheus (Tom Sturridge) rebuilding the Dreaming, which had fallen into disrepair during his long absence. He is interrupted by his sibling Destiny’s (Adrian Lester) unexpected summons to a family meeting, including Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), Desire (Mason Alexander Park), Despair (Donna Preston), and Delirium (Esmé Creed-Miles).

Review: The Sandman S2 is a classic tragedy, beautifully told Read More »

Invasion S3 trailer hints the series is finally finding its stride

Apple TV Plus, culture, Entertainment, Invasion, streaming television, Trailers / Rejus Almole / August 5, 2025

Chances are you haven’t been watching Invasion, an Apple TV+ sci-fi drama overshadowed to some extent by two of the streamer’s other sci-fi shows, Silo and Foundation. Yes, Invasion has received mixed reviews for its ponderous pacing (especially in the first season). Even its fans may admit to having something of a love/hate relationship with the show. But the cinematography is gorgeous, and the writers are clearly trying to explore some ambitious themes, with variable success. Apple TV+ just released a trailer for the upcoming third season that suggests this series with so much promise might finally be hitting its stride.

(Some spoilers for first two seasons below.)

Invasion was created by David Weil (Hunters) and Simon Kinberg (best known for writing and/or producing several X-Men films, as well as The Martian, which was nominated for several Oscars). The first season focused on the initial stages of the titular alien invasion, portraying the events through the eyes of ordinary people around the world—the series is in English, Japanese, and Pashto—as they come to terms with the existential threat Earth is facing. In fact, the aliens take a back seat to the human interactions, which irritated some viewers eager to see actual aliens in a show about an extraterrestrial invasion.

The full-on invasion closed out the first season. A much stronger, action-oriented S2 essentially re-invented itself to explore how our surviving main characters adjusted to their brave new world, as well as the occasionally terrible decisions that had to be made in order to survive. The aliens rapidly took over, with humans relegated to small safe zones. It was still a bit of a slow burn, but it set up several intriguing elements for S3, which takes place two years later. And the aliens are evolving. Per the official premise:

Invasion S3 trailer hints the series is finally finding its stride Read More »

Peacemaker S2 trailer finds our anti-hero in a parallel world

culture, Entertainment, HBO Max, Peacemaker, san diego comic con, streaming television, Trailers / Mike M. / July 28, 2025

HBO Max dropped the hotly anticipated full trailer for S2 of Peacemaker—James Gunn’s Emmy-nominated series spun off from his 2021 film, The Suicide Squad—at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend.

(Spoilers for S1 below.)

As previously reported, the eight-episode first season was set five months after the events of The Suicide Squad. Having survived a near-fatal shooting, Peacemaker—aka Christopher Smith—is recruited by the US government for a new mission: the mysterious Project Butterfly, led by a mercenary named Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji). The team also includes A.R.G.U.S. agent John Economos (Steve Agee) of the Belle Reve Penitentiary, National Security Agency agent and former Waller aide Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), and new team member Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks).

Project Butterfly turned out to be a mission to save Earth from an alien species of parasitic butterfly-like creatures who took over human bodies. The misfit members of the project eventually succeeded in defeating the butterflies in a showdown at a ranch, and even survived the carnage despite some severe injuries.

Cena, Brooks, Holland, Agee, and Stroma are all back for S2, along with Nhut Lee as Judomaster and Eagly, of course. Robert Patrick is also listed in the S2 cast, reprising his role as Chris’ father, Auggie. New cast members include Frank Grillo as Rick Flagg Sr. (Grillo voiced the role in the animated Creature Commandos), now head of A.R.G.U.S. and out to avenge his son’s death; Tim Meadows as A.R.G.U.S. agent Langston Fleury; Sol Rodriguez as Sasha Bordeaux; and Michael Rooker as Red St. Wild, described as Eagly’s “nemesis.”

The events of S1 played out within the old DCEU, while S2 takes place in the new DCU, but Gunn has said that those earlier events are nonetheless considered “canon,” apart from the cameos by DCEU Justice League members. S2 is part of Gunn’s “Gods and Monsters” slate; Cena’s Peacemaker even made a brief cameo in Superman. This time around, Chris will be struggling “to reconcile his past with his newfound sense of purpose while continuing to kick righteous evil-doer butt in his misguided quest for peace at any cost,” per the official synopsis.

Peacemaker S2 trailer finds our anti-hero in a parallel world Read More »

Linda Hamilton rocks Stranger Things’ S5 extended teaser

culture, Duffer brothers, Entertainment, netflix, Stranger Things S5, streaming television, Trailers / Tim Belzer / July 17, 2025

Netflix has finally released an extended teaser for the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, airing late this year. It’s got everything we could hope for in terms of the conclusive showdown—spooky shots of the Upside Down bleeding into Hawkins, attacking demo-dogs, flamethrowers—plus an armed and dangerous Linda Hamilton taking on the monsters beside our plucky Hawkins crew.

(Spoilers for prior seasons below.)

S4 ended with Vecna—the Big Bad behind it all—opening the gate that allowed the Upside Down to leak into Hawkins. We’re getting a time jump for S5, but in a way, we’re coming full circle, since the events coincide with the third anniversary of Will’s original disappearance in S1. The fifth season will have eight episodes, and each one will be looong—akin to eight feature-length films. Per the official premise:

The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.

In addition to the returning main cast, Amybeth McNulty and Gabriella Pizzolo are back as Vicki and Dustin’s girlfriend, Suzie, respectively, with Jamie Campbell Bower reprising his role as Vecna. Linda Hamilton joins the cast as Dr. Kay, along with Nell Fisher as Holly Wheeler, Jake Connelly as Derek Turnbow, and Alex Breaux as Lt. Akers.

Linda Hamilton rocks Stranger Things’ S5 extended teaser Read More »

Prepare to bid farewell to The Sandman with S2 trailer

culture, Entertainment, Neil Gaiman, netflix, streaming television, The Sandman, Trailers / Tim Belzer / June 18, 2025

There are some design changes from S1. “Design-wise, Dream has a new palace which symbolizes his intense desire to move on from the events of S1,” said Heinberg. “Which means his throne room has had a remodel. As has the outer lobby. We also explore a number of entirely new time periods, worlds, and realms. And all the designs—the sets, the costumes, the props, the VFX—have their roots in the comics.”

Naturally, Sturridge is returning as Morpheus/Dream, as are Kirby as Death; Mason Alexander Park as Desire; Donna Preston as Despair; and Christie as Lucifer. Judging by the trailer, we’ll also see Stephen Fry returning as Fiddler’s Green, Holbrook’s The Corinthian, Mervyn Pumpkinhead (voiced by Mark Hamill), and The Fates (Dinita Gohil, Nina Wadia, and Souad Faress played Maiden, Mother, and Crone, respectively, in S1).

New cast members include Adrian Lester as Destiny, Esmé Creed-Miles as Delirium, and Barry Sloane as Destruction, aka The Prodigal, as well as Ruairi O’Connor as Orpheus, Freddie Fox as Loki, Clive Russell as Odin, Laurence O’Fuarain as Thor, Ann Skelly as Nuala, Douglas Booth as Cluracan, Jack Gleeson as Puck, Indya Moore as Wanda, and Steve Coogan as the voice of Barnabas, canine companion to Destruction.

The second season of The Sandman will premiere on Netflix in two parts. Volume 1 drops on July 13, 2025; Volume II starts streaming on July 25, 2025. The bonus episode, “Death: The High Cost of Living,” will air on July 31, 2025.

Prepare to bid farewell to The Sandman with S2 trailer Read More »

Delightfully irreverent Underdogs isn’t your parents’ nature docuseries

Disney Plus, National Geographic Channel, ryan reynolds, Science, science documentaries, streaming television, underdogs / Kris Guyer / June 16, 2025

Narrator Ryan Reynolds celebrates nature’s outcasts in the new NatGeo docuseries Underdogs.

Most of us have seen a nature documentary or two (or three) at some point in our lives, so it’s a familiar format: sweeping, majestic footage of impressively regal animals accompanied by reverently high-toned narration (preferably with a tony British accent). Underdogs, a new docuseries from National Geographic, takes a decidedly different approach. Narrated with hilarious irreverence by Ryan Reynolds, the five-part series highlights nature’s less cool and majestic creatures: the outcasts and benchwarmers, more noteworthy for their “unconventional hygiene choices” and “unsavory courtship rituals.” It’s like The Suicide Squad or Thunderbolts*, except these creatures actually exist.

Per the official premise, “Underdogs features a range of never-before-filmed scenes, including the first time a film crew has ever entered a special cave in New Zealand—a huge cavern that glows brighter than a bachelor pad under a black light thanks to the glowing butts of millions of mucus-coated grubs. All over the world, overlooked superstars like this are out there 24/7, giving it maximum effort and keeping the natural world in working order for all those showboating polar bears, sharks and gorillas.” It’s rated PG-13 thanks to the odd bit of scatalogical humor and shots of Nature Sexy Time.

Each of the five episodes is built around a specific genre. “Superheroes” highlights the surprising superpowers of the honey badger, pistol shrimp, and the invisible glass frog, among others, augmented with comic book graphics; “Sexy Beasts” focuses on bizarre mating habits and follows the format of a romantic advice column; “Terrible Parents” highlights nature’s worst practices, following the outline of a parenting guide; “Total Grossout” is exactly what it sounds like; and “The Unusual Suspects” is a heist tale, documenting the supposed efforts of a macaque to put together the ultimate team of masters of deception and disguise (an inside man, a decoy, a fall guy, etc.). Green Day even wrote and recorded a special theme song for the opening credits.

Co-creators Mark Linfield and Vanessa Berlowitz of Wildstar Films are longtime producers of award-winning wildlife films, most notably Frozen Planet, Planet Earth, and David Attenborough’s Life of Mammals—you know, the kind of prestige nature documentaries that have become a mainstay for National Geographic and the BBC, among others. They’re justly proud of that work, but this time around the duo wanted to try something different.

Delightfully irreverent Underdogs isn’t your parents’ nature docuseries Read More »

A warlord brings chaos in Foundation S3 trailer

Apple TV Plus, culture, Entertainment, foundation, Isaac Asimov, streaming television / Mike M. / June 11, 2025

Foundation returns for a third season next month on Apple TV+.

Foundation, Apple TV+’s lavish adaptation (or re-mix, if you prefer) of Isaac Asimov’s seminal sci-fi series, returns for its third season next month, and the streaming platform has dropped an official trailer to give us a taste of what’s in store.

As previously reported, the first season ended with a major time jump of 138 years, and S2 focused on the Second Crisis: imminent war between Empire and the Foundation, along with an enemy seeking to destroy Empire from within. The Foundation, meanwhile, adopted the propaganda tactics of religion to recruit new acolytes to the cause. We also met a colony of “Mentalics” with psionic abilities. We’re getting another mega time jump for the Third Crisis.

Per the official premise:

Set 152 years after the events of S2, The Foundation has become increasingly established far beyond its humble beginnings while the Cleonic Dynasty’s Empire has dwindled. As both of these galactic powers forge an uneasy alliance, a threat to the entire galaxy appears in the fearsome form of a warlord known as “The Mule” whose sights are set on ruling the universe by use of physical and military force, as well as mind control. It’s anyone’s guess who will win, who will lose, who will live, and who will die as Hari Seldon, Gaal Dornick, the Cleons and Demerzel play a potentially deadly game of intergalactic chess.

Most of the main cast is returning: Lee Pace as Brother Day, Cassian Bilton as Brother Dawn, Terrence Mann as Brother Dusk, Jared Harris as Hari Seldon, Lou Llobell as Gaal, and Laura Birn as Eto Demerzel. Pilou Asbæk plays the Mule. New S3 cast members include Alexander Siddig as Dr. Ebling Mis, a Seldon fan and self-taught psychohistorian; Troy Kotsur as Preem Palver, leader of a planet of psychics; Cherry Jones as Foundation Ambassador Quent; Brandon P. Bell as Han Pritcher; Synnøve Karlsen as Bayta Mallow; Cody Fern as Toran Mallow; Tómas Lemarquis as Magnifico Giganticus; Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing as Song; and Leo Bill as Mayor Indbur.

A warlord brings chaos in Foundation S3 trailer Read More »

New adventures await the crew in Strange New Worlds S3 trailer

culture, Entertainment, paramount plus, star trek strange new worlds, streaming television, Trailers, TV trailers / Mike M. / June 9, 2025

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds returns for a third season next month.

Apart from a short teaser in April, we haven’t seen much of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ upcoming third season, debuting next month. But Paramount+ has finally released the official trailer.

(Spoilers for S2 below.)

As previously reported, the S2 finale found the Enterprise under vicious attack by the Gorn, who were in the midst of invading one of the Federation’s colony worlds. Several crew members were kidnapped, along with other survivors of the attack. Captain Pike (Anson Mount) faced a momentous decision: follow orders to retreat or disobey them to rescue his crew. Footage shown last October at New York City Comic-Con picked up where the finale left off, giving us the kind of harrowing high-stakes pitched space battle against a ferocious enemy that has long been a hallmark of the franchise. (Of course, Pike opted to rescue his crew.)

Per the official synopsis:

In Season 3, when we reconnect with the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, still under the command of Captain Pike, they face the conclusion of Season 2’s harrowing encounter with the Gorn. But new life and civilizations await, including a villain that will test our characters’ grit and resolve. An exciting twist on classic Star Trek, Season 3 takes characters both new and beloved to new heights, and dives into thrilling adventures of faith, duty, romance, comedy, and mystery, with varying genres never before seen on any other Star Trek.

In addition to the returning main and recurring cast members, Cillian O’Sullivan joins the recurring cast as Dr. Roger Korby, a legacy character (originally played by Michael Strong). Korby was a renowned archaeologist in the field of medical archaeology and Nurse Chapel’s long-missing fiancé. His reappearance in S3 is bound to cause problems for SNW‘s Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush), who is romantically involved with Spock (Ethan Peck). Rhys Darby and Patton Oswalt will also guest star.

New adventures await the crew in Strange New Worlds S3 trailer Read More »

FX/Hulu releases sinister Alien: Earth trailer

Alien: Earth, culture, Entertainment, FX/Hulu, streaming television, Trailers / Kris Guyer / June 5, 2025

Alien: Earth is set two years before the events of 1979’s Alien.

It’s been a long wait for diehard fans of Ridley Scott’s Alien franchise, but we finally have a fittingly sinister official trailer for the spinoff prequel series, Alien: Earth, coming this summer to FX/Hulu.

As previously reported, the official premise is short and sweet: “When a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat.”

The series is set in 2120, two years before the events of the first film, Alien (1979), in a world where corporate interests are competing to be the first to unlock the key to human longevity—maybe even immortality. Showrunner Noah Hawley has said that the style and mythology will be closer to that film than Prometheus (2012) or Alien: Covenant, both of which were also prequels.

Chandler’s character is named Wendy; she’s a human/synth hybrid described as having “the body of an adult and the consciousness of a child.” Timothy Olyphant plays her synth mentor and trainer, Kirsh. The cast also includes Alex Lawther as a soldier named CJ, Samuel Blenkin as a CEO named Boy Kavalier, Essie Davis as Dame Silvia, Adarsh Gourav as Slightly, Kit Young as Tootles, David Rysdahl as Arthur, Babou Ceesay as Morrow, Jonathan Ajayi as Smee, Erana James as Curly, Lily Newmark as Nibs, Diem Camille as Siberian, and Adrian Edmondson as Atom Eins.

FX/Hulu releases sinister Alien: Earth trailer Read More »

Squid Game trailer anchors Netflix Tudum event

culture, Entertainment, frankenstein, Knives Out series, netflix, Netflix Tudum, squid game, Stranger Things S5, streaming television, Trailers / Rejus Almole / June 2, 2025

Also: Wednesday S2 sneak peek, Stranger Things S5 premiere date, Frankenstein teaser, more Benoit Blanc.

Squid Game returns this month for its third and final season. Credit: Netflix

Netflix held its Tudum Global Fan Event in Los Angeles this weekend to showcase its upcoming slate of programming. Among the highlights: the official trailer for the third and final season of Squid Game, the first six minutes of Wednesday S2, a teaser for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, and date announcements for the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, as well as Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.

(Some spoilers below.)

Squid Game S3

As previously reported, Squid Game‘s first season followed Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-Jae), a down-on-his-luck gambler who has little left to lose when he agrees to play children’s playground games against 455 other players for money. The twist? If you lose a game, you die. If you cheat, you die. And if you win, you might also die. In the S1 finale, Gi-hun faced off against fellow finalist and childhood friend Cho Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo) in the titular “squid game.” He won their fight but refused to kill his friend. Sang-woo instead stabbed himself in the neck, leaving Gi-hun the guilt-ridden winner.

S2 was set three years later. Gi-hun successfully finagled his way back into the game, intent on revenge against the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun). Meanwhile, Front Man’s police officer brother, Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), hired mercenaries to track down the island where the game is staged. Alliances formed and shifted as the games proceeded, with betrayals galore, culminating in the loss of Gi-hun’s friend and ally Player 390 and a cliffhanger ending.

Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk conceived of S2 and S3 as a single season, but there were too many episodes, so he split them over two seasons. Back in January we got our first glimpse of S3 when Netflix released a 15-second teaser on X, introducing a brand-new killer doll dubbed Chul-su—similar to the giant “Red Light, Green Light” doll Young-hee. Per the official premise:

A failed rebellion, the death of a friend, and a secret betrayal. Picking up in the aftermath of Season 2’s bloody cliffhanger, the third and final season of Netflix’s most popular series finds Gi-hun, a.k.a. Player 456, at his lowest point yet. But the Squid Game stops for no one, so Gi-hun will be forced to make some important choices in the face of overwhelming despair as he and the surviving players are thrust into deadlier games that test everyone’s resolve. With each round, their choices lead to increasingly grave consequences. Meanwhile, In-ho resumes his role as Front Man to welcome the mysterious VIPs, and his brother Jun-ho continues his search for the elusive island, unaware there’s a traitor in their midst. Will Gi-hun make the right decisions, or will Front Man finally break his spirit?

The third season of Squid Game drops on Netflix on June 27, 2025.

Wednesday S2

Star Jenna Ortega put her own stamp on the iconic title character in the first season of Wednesday. At Tudum, Netflix introduced footage of S2’s first six minutes with a performance by Lady Gaga, who emerged from a coffin to perform a couple of spooky numbers—including “Bloody Mary” from Born This Way. (We can thank a viral video featuring the tune set to Wednesday’s fantastic S1 dancing sequence for that.)

As previously reported, along with Ortega, most of the main cast is returning for S2, including Emma Myers as Enid, and Joy Sunday as Bianca. Reprising their roles: Luis Guzman and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Gomez and Morticia Addams; Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams; Victor Dorobantu as Thing; Fred Armisen as Uncle Fester; Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo as Deputy Ritchie Santiago; Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin, revealed as a murderous Hyde in the S1 finale; and Jamie McShane as Donovan Galpin, the Jericho sheriff and Tyler’s father (McShane is a guest this season).

We’ll miss Gwendoline Christie’s Principal Larissa Weems and Christina Ricci’s diabolical botany teacher, Marilyn Thornhill (RIP to both), but at least we’re getting the fabulous Joanna Lumley as Hester Frump, Morticia’s mother. Other new cast members include Billie Piper as Capri, Steve Buscemi as new Nevermore principle Barry Dort, and Evie Templeton, Owen Painter, and Noah Tyler in as-yet-undisclosed roles. Bonus: Lady Gaga will make a guest appearance in the show, and, as we see in the new footage, Haley Joel Osment makes a cameo.

Wednesday S2 will air in two installments. Part 1 debuts August 6, 2025. Part 2 is coming on September 3, 2025.

Stranger Things S5

It’s been a long, wild ride with the plucky residents of Hawkins, but we’re finally approaching the ultimate showdown against the dark force that has plagued the town since S1. The fifth season will have eight episodes and each one will be looong—akin to eight feature-length films.

In addition to the returning main cast, Amybeth McNulty and Gabriella Pizzolo are back as Vicki and Dustin’s girlfriend, Suzie, respectively, with Jamie Campbell Bower reprising his role as the ultimate Big Bad, now known as Vecna. Linda Hamilton joins the cast as Dr. Kay, along with Nell Fisher as Holly Wheeler, Jake Connelly as Derek Turnbow, and Alex Breaux as Lt. Akers

S4 ended with Vecna opening the gate that allowed the Upside Down to leak into Hawkins. We’re getting a time jump for S5, but in a way we’re coming full circle, since the events coincide with the third anniversary of Will’s original disappearance in S1. Per the official premise:

The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished—his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming—and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone—the full party—standing together, one last time.

The fifth and final season of Stranger Things will drop in not one, not two, but three installments, because apparently Netflix wants to be as annoying as possible. Volume 1 premieres on November 26, 2025; Volume 2 drops on Christmas Day, December 25, 2025; and the series finale will air on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2025.

Frankenstein

Oscar-wining director Guillermo del Toro has been dreaming of adapting Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for the big screen for more than a decade. There have been so many adaptations of Shelley’s novel, of varying quality, and even more reinventions and homages (cf. Poor Things). We finally have the first teaser for del Toro’s take, and it’s as sumptuously horrifying and visually rich as one would expect from the man who made such films as Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water.

Per the official premise: “A brilliant but egotistical scientist brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.” The events take place in 19th century Eastern Europe. Oscar Isaac stars as Victor Frankenstein, with Jacob Elordi playing the monster. Christopher Waltz plays Dr. Pretorious, who hopes to continue in Victor’s footsteps by tracking his monster—who, it turns out, did not die in a fire 40 years before.

The cast also includes Mia Goth as Victor’s fiancee, Elizabeth; Felix Kammerer as Williams; Lars Mikkelsen as Captain Anderson; David Bradley as a blind man; and Ralph Inseon as Professor Kempre. Charles Dance will also appear in an as-yet-undisclosed role.

Frankenstein premieres on Netflix in November 2025.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Rian Johnson’s Knives Out series of films is still going strong, with the third installment featuring Daniel Craig’s languorously brilliant detective, Benoit Blanc, slated to premiere a couple of weeks before Christmas. It’s called Wake Up Dead Man, a title that pays homage to the 1997 U2 song of the same name.

Johnson is playing his cards close to the chest about the plot details. But we do know he’s assembled another all-star cast of murderous suspects: Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner—whose “Renning Hot” chili pepper sauce featured prominently in Glass Onion—Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery drops on Netflix on December 12, 2025—or if you want to be all Benoit Blanc about it, XII.XII.MMXXV.

Jennifer is a senior writer at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban.

Squid Game trailer anchors Netflix Tudum event Read More »