The best streaming shows we can’t wait to watch in 2023

2022 was a year that brought us new streaming shows like Dahmer, Star Wars: Andor, House of the Dragon, and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. It also brought several great returning shows like The Boys, The Handmaid’s Tale, Bridgerton, and especially the fourth season of Stranger Things. While we may have to wait a while for that show’s fifth and final season, there are a ton of other major new streaming shows we are looking forward to in 2023.

So what shows are we most excited to watch in the next 12 months? They range from new Star Wars and MCU series to shows based on popular video games. We will see Godzilla and other kaiju destroy cities and assassins at work in the same universe as the John Wick movies. There are also tons of returning shows in 2023, including The Boys, The Witcher, The Mandalorian, Loki, and many others.

We have our list of streaming shows due out in 2023, and we are sure you have your own lists. Remember that the shows on our 2023 streaming list could get delayed or canceled altogether, so take it with a small grain of salt. That being said, this list was researched and compiled with the best information possible about production and release timelines for these series, so we feel pretty confident that most, if not all, of these shows, will debut in the next year.

What you need to know:

• Creator: Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin
• Main cast: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Nick Offerman, Gabriel Luna

It used to be that TV and movie adaptations of video games were not good at all. However, we have seen more recent adaptations that have stayed true to the source material. That will hopefully be the case for The Last of Us show on HBO and HBO Max. It has some creative involvement from Neil Druckmann, the main developer of the two PlayStation games in the post-apocalypse franchise.

The series looks like it will follow the first game’s storyline. Years after a viral event that turns humans into zombie-like creatures called “clickers,” Joel (Pedro Pascal) is tasked with escorting a young girl, Elle (Bella Ramsey), to a place in the western part of the US. She was infected but didn’t turn into a clicker, so her blood may be the basis for a cure. However, this journey is not going to be an easy one.

What you need to know:

• Creator: Kyle Bradstreet
• Main cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman

The Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney Plus shows of 2021 were all a bit underwhelming (with the exception of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special). That will hopefully change with this new mini-series. This looks to be a bit more serious than some of the more recent MCU shows. We will see the alien shape-changing Skrulls (introduced in the Captain Marvel movie) infiltrating critical parts of the Earth.

Samuel L. Jackson is back as former S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Nick Fury along with Ben Mendelsohn as one of the friendly Skrulls. We will also see Emilia Clarke and Olivia Colman make their MCU debuts as well.

What you need to know:

• Director/Creator: Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan
• Main cast: Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell, Kyle MacLachlan

Here’s another big video game franchise with a post-apocalypse setting that will be adapted into a big-budget TV series, this time on Amazon Prime Video. Bethesda Softworks’ RPG series looks like it will get a faithful adaptation based on the single official image that shows the big door to Vault 33 opening up. The creative team behind this show, Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, previously developed Westworld into a series for HBO. Hopefully, we will get a straightforward series from them rather than switching around the time narrative that was a hallmark of Westworld.

What you need to know:

• Director/Creator: Rian Johnson
• Main cast: Natasha Lyonne

Rian Johnson, who wrote and directed Star Wars: The Last Jedi and wrote and directed Knives Out and its sequel Glass Onion (coming soon to Netflix), also created this upcoming series for Peacock. Natasha Lyonne is the only regular character in this upcoming streaming series. She plays Charlie, who drives around the country and becomes involved in investigating crimes and murders. Her unique ability is that she can always tell when someone is lying.

Johnson has said this show will be a bit of a throwback to detective TV shows of the 1970s, especially Columbo, where the hero had to solve a new crime, with a different cast of characters every week. The list of guest stars will include actors like Adrien Brody, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Judith Light, Nick Nolte, Ron Perlman, and many more.

What you need to know:

• Creator: Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni
• Main cast: Rosario Dawson, Hayden Christensen, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Ahsoka Tano, the former Jedi Padawan to Anakin Skywalker, made her first appearance in the Star Wars universe in the animated series The Clone Wars. In the second season of The Mandalorian on Disney Plus, Rosario Dawson portrayed Ahsoka in live-action. Soon we will get a Mandalorian spin-off series in 2023, with Dawson again playing Ahsoka, sometime after her appearance on that show. Besides that, the storyline is a secret, although we know Hayden Christensen will be appearing (most likely in flashback sequences) as Anakin Skywalker. We will also see appearances by characters who first showed up in the Star Wars: Rebels animated series.

What you need to know:

• Creator: Alison Schapker
• Main cast: Emily Watson, Shirley Henderson, Indira Varma

The Dune movie adaptation, released in 2021, was a big critical hit, and the sequel, which will wrap up the adaptation of the first novel in the epic sci-fi novel series, is due to hit theaters in late 2023. However, we may also see this spinoff series drop on HBO Max next year. It takes place thousands of years before the events of the Dune novel and movie. It will show how the Bene Gesserit, the female-led group of powerful humans, was first established in the Dune universe.

What you need to know:

• Creator: Michele Fazekas, Tara Butters
• Main cast: Lizze Broadway, Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, Maddie Phillips, London Thor

The Boys has become one of the most popular shows on Amazon Prime Video. The superhero satire has lots of sex, gore, and mature themes, and it looks like this spinoff series will have all of that and more. It’s set in a university where young people with superpowers learn how to handle their special abilities. These college students will be doing a lot more than just learning to be superheroes. Look for appearances from members of The Boys cast in the spinoff.

What you need to know:

• Creator: Chad Stahelski, Derek Kolstad
• Main cast: Mel Gibson, Colin Woodell, Katie McGrath

The John Wick action movie franchise has been a huge success, with three films and a fourth on the way in 2023. Also coming in the same year is The Continental, a three-part series on Peacock that also serves as a prequel to the John Wick franchise. The series is set at The Continental, a New York City hotel that serves as a place of rest for John Wick and this franchise’s other skilled assassins.

The series will actually be set in the 1970s and will star Mel Gibson in a currently unknown role. The first episode will be directed by Chad Stahelski, who has directed or co-directed all four of the John Wick movies.

What you need to know:

• Creator: Chris Black, Matt Fraction
• Main cast: Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell

The MonsterVerse series of movies that began with the 2014 film version of Godzilla will continue in this spinoff TV series on Apple TV Plus in 2023. Kurt Russell returns to TV in this series and will star alongside his real son Wyatt Russell. They will play characters that seek to learn the secrets of Godzilla and the other massive beings on this Earth, along with the secrets behind the mysterious company Monarch.

What you need to know:

• Creator: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Alexander Woo
• Main cast: Liam Cunningham, John Bradley, Jonathan Pryce, Elza González, Benedict Wong

Based on the acclaimed sci-fi novel by Chinese author Liu Cixin, this Netflix series is being developed by the same team responsible for adapting George R.R. Martin’s fantasy novels into the Game of Thrones series. The storyline will follow the first contact between humanity and an alien race called the Trisolaris. Some Game of Thrones cast members, like Liam Cunningham, John Bradley, and Jonathan Pryce will have roles in this show, along with Elza González, Benedict Wong, and Tony Leung.

Other streaming shows coming in 2023

There are a ton of other streaming shows of 2023 that will debut in the next 12 months. Here’s just a sample of what’s to come.

• Ironheart (Disney Plus):  The further MCU adventures of the super-armor creator Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), first seen in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
• Echo (Disney Plus): The hearing-impaired assassin Echo, first seen in the Hawkeye MCU series, gets her own show.
• Agatha: Coven of Chaos (Disney Plus): Kathryn Hahn returns as Agatha Harkness in this WandaVision MCU spinoff.
• Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Netflix): This spinoff of the popular historical romance series will tell a tale of the young Queen of England.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix): This will be a live-action adaptation of the popular animated TV series.
• The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix): This will adapt the classic Edger Allen Poe story, and will be written and directed by Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass).
• X-Men 97 (Disney Plus): This animated show will continue the storylines in the 1990s X-Men animated series first shown on the Fox network.
• Ted (Peacock): Seth MacFarlane returns to this comedy franchise in this prequel series about the early days of Ted, the walking and talking teddy bear.
• Twisted Metal (Peacock): The car combat video game series comes to life in this show, starring Anthony Mackie.
• Rabbit Hole (Paramount Plus): Kiefer Sutherland plays a spy in this series who gets framed for a murder.
• Fatal Attraction (Paramount Plus): A new adaptation of the classic thriller movie about a woman who becomes obsessed with a married man following a brief affair with him.
• Dark Matter (Apple TV Plus): A man finds himself shifted to an alternate universe and tries to get back to his own reality.
• Time Bandits (Apple TV Plus): Based on the 1980s movie about a gang of thieves that steal relics with the help of a time travel map.

Returning series

In addition to the all-new streaming shows of 2023, many old favorites are coming back with new seasons in the next year. Here are just some of those shows that we can’t wait to return to.

• Loki Season 2 (Disney Plus): Tom Hiddleston is back as Loki in the second season of this MCU series which will continue the alternate universe storylines from the first season.
• What If Season 2 (Disney Plus): Speaking of alternate universes, this animated series will show even more different timelines in the MCU for its second season.
• Succession Season 4 (HBO/HBO Max): One of the most acclaimed HBO shows of recent years returns for its fourth season this spring.
• The Boys Season 4 (Amazon Prime Video): Look for more gory and adult storylines in this superhero series.
• Reacher Season 2 (Amazon Prime Video): Jack Reacher is back to fight crime in this second season of the show that’s based on the best-selling Reacher novels.
• Invincible Season 2 (Amazon Prime Video): This very adult animated superhero series, based on the acclaimed comic, is coming back for a second season.
• The Witcher Season 3 (Netflix): Henry Cavill is back, for the final time, playing Geralt the monster killer in the third season of this fantasy series.
• The Mandalorian Season 3 (Disney Plus): The flagship show of Disney Plus returns, as the Mandalorian and Grogu (Baby Yoda) go on new adventures in the Star Wars universe.
• Ted Lasso Season 3 (Apple TV Plus): The feel-good comedy about a UK soccer team that has an American football coach returns for its third season.