It’s fair to say our television screens have become a huge source of comfort over the past year. Whether you’re looking for a laugh, a scare, or just some quality escapism, there’s more than enough to go around. Whether it be from returning series or brand new shows, 2021 brought us a host of great programming.
WandaVision kicked off the year in great fashion and Marvel continued to unleash a steady flow of content throughout the year. Squid Game took the world by storm, becoming Netflix’s most-watched series of all time. Midnight Mass brought us another horror classic, while Only Murders In The Building delivered a true-crime comedy to be remembered. And there was so much more!
As 2021 comes to a close, we look forward to a new year of exciting returns and brand new content that is set to explode onto the small screen.
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON
FIRE WILL REIGN
House of the Dragon is the eagerly awaited Game of Thrones spin-off series and is based on George R.R Martin’s 2018 novel Fire and Blood. Set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series will chronicle the story of House Targaryen from its beginning, all the way through to the infamous Targaryen civil war known as Dance of the Dragons.
Miguel Sapochnik, director of GOT episodes “Battle of the Bastards” and “The Long Night” will serve as showrunner.
The pressure will be on for the series to right the wrongs of the highly criticized final season of Game of Thrones.
House of The Dragon will star Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Milly Alcock, Steve Toussaint, and Rhys Ifans. More cast announcements and character details can be found here.
House of the Dragon will air on HBO and HBO Max.
THE LAST OF US
The Last of Us is a series adaptation of the critically acclaimed video game of the same name.
The series takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
Fresh off guiding Grogu through the Galaxy, Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) will star alongside Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones, His Dark Materials) as Joel and Ellie.
Also joining the cast are Gabriel Luna as Joel’s younger brother and former soldier, Tommy, Merle Dandridge as resistance leader Marlene, and Anna Torv as Tess, a smuggler, and fellow hardened survivor. The series will also guest star Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) as Frank and Bill, two post-pandemic survivalists living alone in their own isolated town.
The series will be written and executive produced by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann, of The Last of Us and Uncharted video game franchises.
The Last of Us will air on HBO and HBO Max.
THE WALKING DEAD (FINAL SEASON)
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
Fans of the long-running post-apocalyptic horror series The Walking Dead will say goodbye to the beloved show in 2022. Part 1 of the final season has already aired, and the final two parts will arrive in 2022. The final episodes promise huge moments as our gang delves deeper into The Commonwealth community and deal with the ongoing Reaper threat. How will it all end? Who will make it out alive? Will we ever see Rick Grimes again!?
Part 2: Release date, February 20th.
The Walking Dead airs on AMC and AMC+.
PEACEMAKER
Following the huge success of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, HBO made an order for a Peacemaker original series. John Cena will reprise his role as Peacemaker as the show explores more behind the character that is “a compellingly vainglorious man who believes in peace at any cost, no matter how many people he has to kill to get it.”
The show will be the first extended DCEU series with many more in the works.
Robert Patrick, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma, Chukwudi Iwuji, Danielle Brooks, and Christopher Heyerdahl will all star alongside Cena. James Gunn will also return as showrunner, so expect more bizarre and high octane shenanigans in this one.
Release date, January 13th.
Peacemaker will air on HBO and HBO Max.
STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 4
WE’RE NOT IN HAWKINS ANYMORE
After what seems like an eternity, Netflix’s smash hit series Stranger Things will return in the Summer of 2022. The new season will see the series move out of Hawkins for the first time, with California and Russia used as locations for the story moving forward.
Series creators the Duffer Brothers confirmed the season would be very different and would explore newer locations outside Hawkins in order to “open up plot-lines”. They also confirmed it would address the mid-credits scene of the season 3 finale with Hopper confirmed to be alive! Albeit now imprisoned in Russia. They have also promised that this season will be the “most frightening yet” with “a new horror” emerging that would connect everything.
Series regulars Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalie Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Winona Ryder, and David Harbour will all return.
Stranger Things season 4 will air on Netflix, where you can currently stream seasons 1,2 and 3.
THE BOYS: SEASON 3
Erik Kripke’s superhero epic The Boys will return to Amazon Prime. The series, which takes a dark look at the superhero world, has already delivered many outrageous moments and Kripke promises even more in the upcoming season. According to Kripke, the show’s third season will adapt the notorious Herogasm miniseries from the comics. This ambitious run, which chronicles a big superhero orgy festival, will form the basis of the sixth episode of the season. Kripke would add that the episode resulted in “the craziest dailies he had ever seen,” and “that people are not ready to watch.”
All characters from The Boys and The Seven will return, but the addition of Soldier Boy is set to change the dynamic moving forward. Supernatural star Jensen Ackles has been brought in to play Soldier Boy who is expected to be the show’s version of Captain America. The character has been described as “Homelander before Homelander.” While Soldier Boy is sweet and innocent in the comics, Kripke claims the TV series will make him even worse than Homelander.
The Boys will be released in 2022 on Amazon Prime.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
The year of big fantasy revivals continues as Amazon Prime brings the beloved Lord of the Rings to the small screen. An epic drama set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.
With a reported budget of $1 billion, we can expect to see the epic visuals and cinematography the films are renowned for.
Release date, September 2nd on Amazon Prime.
MOON KNIGHT
Marvel’s television portfolio continues to grow with the new miniseries Moon Knight heading to Disney+ in 2022. Starring Oscar Isaac as Moon Knight/Marc Spector, the series will follow the brooding and menacing vigilante who is suffering from a dissociative identity disorder.
In the comics, Spector is a former marine and CIA operative who becomes a mercenary despite his conflicted feelings about violence and morality. During an overseas mission, he is badly wounded and taken to an unearthed tomb for shelter. It is there, he believes, that he connects with the Egyptian moon god Khonshu, who heals him and sets him on course to become Moon Knight – an avenger of the innocent.
Ethan Hawke will also star in the series that is rumored to give us our first look at Mahershala Ali’s day-walking vampire hunter, Blade.
Moon Knight will air on Disney+ sometime in 2022.
OBI-WAN KENOBI
Ewan McGregor returns in the iconic role of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi for a special event series on Disney+. Officially titled Obi-Wan Kenobi, the series begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where he faced his greatest failure: the corruption of his best friend and former Padawan Anakin Skywalker into the evil Sith Lord Darth Vader. The series is directed by Deborah Chow, who helmed memorable episodes of The Mandalorian, Season 1, and features the return of Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader.
Deborah Chow, gave us some insight on what to expect, saying:
“This is quite a dark time that we’re coming into with [Obi-Wan]. Just being a Jedi, it’s not safe. There are Jedi hunters out there.”
Obi-Wan Kenobi will be the third live-action Star Wars series to hit the streaming platform after The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
This series will air on Disney+ in 2022.
ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING: SEASON 2
Hulu’s original true-crime comedy, Only Murders In The Building, delivered 2021 one of its most unexpected thrills. (Check out our review here.) Season 1 ended with the truth-seeking podcasters unveiling the true identity of the murderer, as yet another resident is found dead. Subverting the plot, we left the building with the trio in handcuffs as they were arrested at the scene of the crime. It is likely the second season will focus on their pursuit of innocence and desire to bring the real killer to justice. How is the audio in prison?
Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez will all return, with Cara Delevingne added to the cast for the upcoming season.
Only Murders In The Building airs on Hulu and season 2 is expected in 2022.
BETTER CALL SAUL: SEASON 6
The Breaking Bad spin-off series has gathered huge accolades throughout its five-season run, with some even suggesting it surpasses the original! The show has done a great job in showing us the evolution of the title character Jimmy McGill as he slowly transforms into Saul Goodman. The Season 5 finale brought us one of the series most thrilling episodes ever and ramped up the tension for the final season.
Given the events of Breaking Bad, we know Saul will make it through whatever comes next, but other character fates remain in the balance. With Lalo Salamanca on the warpath, Kim going up against her old boss, and Jimmy/Saul facing a crisis of confidence, there is so much to conclude.
What excites fans the most is the possibility of certain characters making an appearance – will we see a Walter White or Jesse Pinkman cameo? I’m calling the last scene of the series will introduce Saul to one of the duo!
Bob Odenkirk will return after recovering from his recent health scare, alongside Rhea Seehorn, Jonathan Banks, Tony Dalton, and Giancarlo Esposito.
Better Call Saul airs on AMC and AMC+.
Other notable TV series airing in 2022 are as follows.
- Ozark season 4 – Jan. 21
- Billions season 6 – Jan. 23
- Pam and Tommy – Feb. 2
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4 – Feb. 18
- Killing Eve season 4 – Feb. 27
- Peaky Blinders season 6
- She-Hulk
- Ted Lasso season 3
- The Crown season 5
- Andor
- The Flight Attendant season 2
- The Umbrella Academy season 3
- The Witcher: Blood Origin
