Daemons of the Shadow Realm debuts on Crunchyroll April 4. New episodes will follow every Saturday.

The premiere episode of Daemons of the Shadow Realm has everything you’d want in a premiere episode. It introduces compelling characters, gives them some big problems to solve, and presents a vast world with interesting mythology and history that’s intriguing enough to want to keep watching. It has more in common with Attack on Titan or even the pilot for Lost than, say, Demon Slayer, with some shocking twists that set the stage for a must-watch anime.

From the opening scene where we see a woman giving birth to twins that are said to “divide night and day” and “will command the Daemons someday,” Daemons of the Shadow Realm gives enough hints to its larger world of supernatural beings and untold dangers without outright spelling things out to the audience. When we jump forward in time 16 years, we learn that one of the twins, Yuru, is now a teenager working as a hunter for his isolated village. Meanwhile, his sister Asa is kept hidden in a cage, with most people in the village having never laid eyes on her.

There is an economic approach to worldbuilding and storytelling in this episode, slowly building up to a big reveal in the most efficient way. At every turn, it is clear there is more to this village than it lets on, from the way the adults constantly give each other secretive looks and the mentions of “the world below” to the seemingly single trader who brings trinkets and even shamans when needed, as well as the way Yuru and others look up at the sky and talk of dragons when seeing condensation trails of some unseen creature.

The show is adapted from the manga of the same name by Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa. Immediately, Arakawa’s style is felt throughout the episode, most notably in her recognizable character designs. The anime is produced by Bones Film, a subsidiary of the same studio that made both adaptations of Fullmetal Alchemist, and it shows in the vibrant colors, attention to backgrounds, and dynamic action.

And make no mistake: Once the bodies hit the floor, Daemons of the Shadow Realm kicks into high gear. In an instant, the premiere pulls a twist worthy of Lost, and whatever it was pretending to be up to that point goes out the window. It opens up a myriad of possibilities for what the rest of the show will be, raising some fascinating questions about the nature of the show’s world and how it works. The shift in tone is seamless, with the first half establishing how quiet and idyllic Yuru’s life is before taking that away with brutal fight scenes. The action is kinetic and hard-hitting, with the use of vibrant colors making the violence pop even more. We see a bit of the titular daemons, who act kind of like Stands in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and manifest different powers. Unfortunately, some of the 3D used in the second half of the episode doesn’t work, but at least it’s used in quick shots that don’t linger.

By the end of the episode, we have an idea of where the story might go (at least in its first story arc), the dynamic between the main characters, and the abilities we’ll encounter. At the same time, the doors are wide open for a show full of surprises; this isn’t Fullmetal Alchemist, and that’s okay. But much like that show, Daemons of the Shadow Realm is clearly an anime that’s more than meets the eye, with a fascinating and complex world worth exploring.

Streaming never really slows down in this day and age… We’re a far cry from the typical fall to spring broadcast schedule of yesteryear. But things are heating up significantly in April of 2026. And that’s all because of Emmys, baby!

Wait, what? Aren’t the annual TV awards in the fall? Yes, that’s true, but – not to get too in the weeds here – shows must broadcast at least six episodes by the end of May in order to be eligible, and submissions are due by the end of this month. That means the amount of Prestige TV is ramping up starting on the ol’ April Fool’s Day, and won’t stop until around Memorial Day.

Don’t worry, there are plenty of non-Emmys-bait shows that are hitting everything from Disney+ and Prime Video to Netflix and HBO Max throughout the month of April… It’s not all incredibly serious stuff that you must respect. But there are also some huge debuts, including the beginning of the end of The Boys, the long-awaited/dreaded return of Euphoria, and even the semi-surprise continuation of Stranger Things (hey, didn’t that just end)?

So with that in mind, let’s break down 10 of our most anticipated streaming shows and episodes coming throughout the month of April, and consider this your list of some of the best new TV shows to stream in April of 2026. Got a Top 10 pick of your own? You can let us know in the comments below.

(Note: This list is presented in release date order.)

Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord (April 6)

Other than the anthologies Visions and Tales, it’s been a minute since we got a legit, serialized Star Wars animated series. That all changes this month on Disney+ with Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord, which flips the script from The Bad Batch to bring on one of the baddest bad guys the franchise has ever seen.

Created by Dave Filoni, the new series finds Sam Witwer reprising his voice role as Maul after the end of the Clone Wars – and to be clear, after the end of the Clone Wars TV series, as well, since this is set in the same corner of the galaxy. As Maul begins to rebuild his criminal empire, he’s joined by a new potential Sith apprentice, Devon Izara (Gideon Adlon, who you may know from her role in Blockers, or as being yet another Pamela Adlon child alongside Odessa A’zion). Also in the series are Wagner Moura and Richard Ayoade as a detective and his droid partner who may come into conflict with Maul’s plans.

What’s perhaps most interesting about this series, and an unfair level of hype to throw on it, is that this is the first Star Wars TV show/movie from Filoni since he took the reins of Lucasfilm. Yes, it was created well before, and a lot more eyes will be on the theatrical release of The Mandalorian & Grogu (which is also probably not fair). But heavy is the head that wears the crown of Dathomirian bone horns.

See everything else coming to Disney+ in April.

The Boys (April 8)

Oh boy (pun intended), where to start? This is the fifth and final season of the massive hit Prime Video series, so there’s a lot of nervous anticipation around the ultimate showdown between Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and Homelander (Antony Starr). When we pick up in The Boys Season 5, America is under fascist rule as superhuman rights are – according to Homelander – under attack, and he’s therefore suppressing the Starlighter resistance (led by, who else, Erin Moriarty’s Annie January) and throwing people in detention centers.

That’s just the tip of the Compound V-berg, though, as pretty much every actor who has been in the franchise, from the Gen V kids to Giancarlo Esposito’s machiavellian Stan Edgar and Jensen Ackles’ demented Captain America-esque Soldier Boy are back in the mix. Add in a Supernatural reunion with Ackles, Jared Padalecki, and Misha Collins (and maybe Jim Beaver?) and hype is through the roof.

Somewhat tempering that hype? Showrunner Eric Kripke has been careful to explain that the show won’t have Game of Thrones-level battles because of budgetary restrictions. Somewhat puncturing that protective bubble? Urban has teased big character deaths right from the start of the season.

Look, for five seasons (plus spin-offs), The Boys has been one of the most eerily prescient, profane, outrageous, and often heartfelt shows on TV. If Kripke and company can stick the landing here? It’ll be fucking diabolical.

The Testaments (April 8)

First announced in 2019 (!!!), the upcoming sequel series to Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale is based on the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name. It’s set years after the end of the original series, and transports the action to a prep school for future wives.

Before you think this is The Handmaid’s Tale: The Teen Years, well… It sort of is, as it stars Chase Infiniti (hot off her turn in One Battle After Another) alongside Lucy Halliday, Rowan Blanchard and others at least initially living and sparring in this school. But it also features the return of Ann Dowd as the iconic Aunt Lydia. And it comes from original Handmaid’s Tale showrunner Bruce Miller, who stepped back from the OG show before the final season to focus on developing this spinoff.

While Handmaid’s Tale fever (please see your doctor if you are suffering from symptoms) may have cooled a bit over the past few years, the themes, ideas, and stark warnings presented by the now-franchise are as pressing as ever. Given Atwood’s novel was widely lauded and award-winning, and Miller has spent at least three years or more carefully developing The Testaments, this may just be the injection of relevance Hulu needed.

Euphoria (April 12)

Speaking of long-gestating seasons of TV, Euphoria finally returns for a third season at HBO and HBO Max, and it’s been so long the characters aren’t even in high school anymore. In fact, for a good long while, given the, shall we generously say “intense” creative process show creator Sam Levinson goes through (and the insanely busy cast), it looked like this might not happen. Well, it is – or at least as of this writing we presume it is… Filming finished in November of 2025, but Levinson famously tinkers until the last second, so we’ll see what happens.

Picking up several years after the end of Season 2 (which aired over four years ago), Rue (Zendaya) is in serious trouble with various drug dealers, while Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) is making a living as an OnlyFans creator while getting ready to marry Nate (Jacob Elordi). Meanwhile, Jules (Hunter Schafer) is at school and exploring the world of sugar daddies.

Also returning for the third season are Alexa Demie, Maude Apatow, Martha Kelly, and Chloe Cherry, as well as Colman Domingo. Eric Dane, who sadly passed away in February from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), filmed scenes for Season 3 and will be included, while Angus Cloud, who played the soulful drug dealer Fezco, passed away from an accidental drug overdose in 2023, so will unfortunately not be featured. (Barbie Ferreira and Storm Reid, who were in the previous two seasons, will not be returning as well.)

Look: Euphoria looks and feels like nothing else on TV, and features jaw-dropping performances by Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney, as well as the rest of the cast. Whether any of this works devoid of the initial premise of the series is TBD, but we’ll certainly be there to find out.

See everything else coming to HBO Max in April.

Margo's Got Money Troubles (April 15)

Based on the novel by Rufi Thorpe, Apple TV’s new series stars Elle Fanning as the titular Margo, a stellar student who suddenly finds herself with the also titular money troubles when she becomes pregnant after an affair with her English professor. So naturally she turns to OnlyFans (maybe she can get some tips from Cassie?).

Behind the scenes you’ve got David E. Kelley, one of the most consistent showrunners in TV history, while in front of the camera alongside Fanning are Michelle Pfeiffer as her Hooters waiter mother and Nick Offerman as her ex-wrestler father. Plus Nicole Kidman, who is clearly cloning herself to star in all these TV shows lately, Greg Kinnear, and more.

While this has the potential to be either too maudlin or too quirky (modes Kelley has delved into time and again), the trailer looks extremely charming and Fanning has a knack for choosing interesting projects. The big question, though, is whether the Predator will show up. Probably not, but it would certainly make those money troubles feel less important!

See everything else coming to Apple TV in April.

Beef (April 16)

One of the more surprising second seasons in recent history, Netflix returns to the world of the hit series Beef for a second round of spiraling anger and fighting. In the first season created by Lin Sung Jin, Steven Yeun and Ali Wong tangled after a road rage incident. In Season 2? It’s a whole new fight-game.

This time around we’re getting eight binge-worthy episodes instead of 10. But as compensation, the cast is wild, including Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton, and Cailee Spaeny. Per Netflix, “a Gen-Z couple witnesses an alarming fight between their Millennial boss and his wife.”

What characterized the first season beyond the propulsive pace and engrossing performances was the show’s nuanced explorations of class and race, which looks to continue in Season 2: The main setting is a country club, with a focus on the billionaire owner, the members a level lower, and the people who work at the club.

The big question? Whether Beef Season 2 can avoid the outside beef that overshadowed the conversation about the series itself, due to controversy about statements offered by the artist, David Choe, who crafted the credits.

See everything else coming to Netflix in April.

The Pitt Season 2 Finale (April 16)

A massive hit for HBO Max, the second extended shift at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center ends (potentially) with one of the most anticipated motorcycle rides since Evel Knievel attempted to jump Snake River Canyon.

So far this season on The Pitt, we’ve seen a potential cyberattack make the Emergency Department (ED) go analog, a waterslide collapse, and surprisingly only one firework injury (as of this writing) on the July 4-set season. But with mere hours left to go before Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) heads off on a three-month sabbatical that he’s strongly implied he may not return from, fans are on tenterhooks to know what will happen when we hit the end of hour 15.

Given that HBO Max has already picked up the hospital drama for Season 3, and Wyle has indicated they’re fleshing out character arcs, we shouldn’t expect Robby to die. But there are a lot more balls in the air this season, including what’s going on with new attending Dr. Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi) spacing out, what’s up with that abandoned baby they seem to have forgotten about, whether Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) is going to have a total breakdown, and most importantly, what fun new nicknames everyone can come up with for Dr. Whitaker (Gerran Howell), though we’re probably not going to top “fuckle-berry.”

Look, there’s nothing like The Pitt on TV – engrossing, heartfelt, propulsive – and while Season 2 may not have been as streamlined as Season 1 (which IGN gave a 10 out of 10), we just want everyone in the ED to be okay by the end of the season. And for Robby to remember to wear his helmet.

Invincible Season 4 Finale (April 22)

Prime Video’s animated adaptation of the comic from Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley doesn’t really hold back on the violence or gore. But the finale episodes really let loose, so get ready for the red on your TV to get maxed out by the end of the month, thanks to likely copious amounts of blood.

Without getting into any spoilers from the book, it’s pretty clear that Invincible Season 4 is heading to all-out war with the Viltrumite Empire, something that’s been promised and teased since the first episode of the series. With everyone’s lives in the balance, and the season already (as usual) challenging Mark’s (Steven Yeun) morality, how far will he go to protect his friends and family?

And there’s one other big thing beyond the show’s usual 50,000 subplots to deal with: Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs) is pregnant. Will Mark find out? Will they have the baby? And will we ever find out how babies are made (let us know in the comments below!)? With Season 5 already in production, there’s plenty of show to go, but it’s that core relationship which keeps Invincible going… So beyond seeing yet another Viltrumite smash Mark’s face through a crowded populace, we need to get some sort of closure on the emotional storyline.

Stranger Things: Tales From '85 (April 23)

Is it too soon for more Stranger Things after the series ended (or did it? No, it did) just a few months back? Netflix clearly doesn’t think so, as they’re already releasing a new, 10-episode animated spinoff series, Stranger Things: Tales From '85, set between the events of Seasons 2 and 3.

The in-canon show depicts what happened in the winter of 1985, after the gate was closed in Hawkins Lab, and before the kids had a horrible summer featuring a rat-infested Mind Flayer attacking them in the Starcourt Mall. While the spinoff media has often avoided the supernatural entirely, this series from showrunner Eric Robles will somehow bring back aspects of the Upside Down to Hawkins for a season that has alternately been described as monster-of-the-week, inspired by classic animated ‘toons like The Real Ghostbusters, and a lost season of the show. Square those two ideas, friends!

While none of the live-action cast are voicing their characters, Odessa A’zion (big month for the Adlon sisters!) voices a new character named Nikki Baxter who joins the gang, alongside Janeane Garofalo and Lou Diamond Phillips in mystery roles.

If you are hankering to find out more about this intriguing project, the first two episodes will premiere in theaters in limited release on April 18.

Man on Fire (April 30)

Into every generation, a Man on Fire is born. Or at least, after film adaptations in 1987 and 2004 (starring Scott Glenn and Denzel Washington, respectively), Netflix is getting in on the A.J. Quinnell adaptation game with this seven-episode series starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

Also starring Bobby Cannavele, Scoot McNairy, Alice Braga and more, the series stars Abdul-Mateen II as John Creasy, a former special forces mercenary with PTSD who spends a quiet life gardening, and that’s it. Just kidding, he gets sucked back into the game, bent on revenge.

For what, exactly, we don’t know, as this show seems to have tweaked or ditched entirely the “hard-edged merc becomes the bodyguard for a precocious little kid” premise that characterized the previous two film adaptations. Instead, we’ve got 20-year-old Billie Boulet as Poe, who is the sole witness to a “tragic incident” and is protected by John.

Abdul-Mateen II is on a hot streak with the debut (and second season renewal) for Marvel’s Wonder Man… Based on title alone, Man on Fire should keep that hot streak going.

Will you be watching any of these series this month? What else are you looking forward to that we didn’t get to? Vote in our poll and let’s discuss in the comments!

You can chat with Alex Zalben on BlueSky @azalben.bsky.social, or find him regularly yapping on the Comic Book Club podcast.

What’s going on with Prime Video's Mass Effect TV show? According to a new report, it’s on “the verge” of a series order, but the boss of Amazon TV has allegedly requested rewrites to make it “more appealing to non-gamers.”

The Ankler reports that Peter Friedlander, who stepped in as Head of Global TV, Amazon MGM Studios, in October, has set about reading scripts so he can make firm decisions on Prime Video’s many in-development projects. One of these is Mass Effect, which, based on the report, still sounds like it could go either way.

Friedlander has apparently requested rewrites to make Mass Effect, which The Ankler described as a “pricey genre drama,” more appealing to non-gamers. It is said to be “on the verge” of a series order.

What “more appealing to non-gamers” means in the context of Mass Effect is anyone’s guess. I wouldn’t characterize Mass Effect’s story or characters as particularly hardcore gamer, for want of a better term. On the contrary, I’d say the show’s themes, universe, and fundamentals should appeal to mainstream sci-fi fans without much in the way of tweaking. Maybe Amazon wants to make the Mako easier to make sense of? I wouldn’t blame them for that.

Maybe it’s more about getting away from fan service, or references to the Mass Effect trilogy people who haven’t played the games before might not get. Maybe it’s about distancing itself from the games so it feels unshackled from the events at the end of Mass Effect 3. All I’d say to that is, Amazon’s own Fallout adaptation did a pretty great job of telling a brand new story in the Fallout canon while also keeping fans on-side with video game accurate settings, factions, and characters. I’m sure Mass Effect could do the same.

The last time we heard anything on the record about the Mass Effect show was in November last year, when Mass Effect boss Mike Gamble said the adaptation would focus on an original story rather than rehashing BioWare's classic trilogy of video games starring Commander Shepard.

"We’ve been partnering closely with Amazon on [the series], and we’re really excited with what the talented team over there is coming up with," Gamble said. "The writers room is going strong, and we’ve got a lot figured out about how it fits within the Mass Effect canon, and where it sits in respect to the new game. The show will explore a brand-new story within the universe’s timeline, and will be set after the original trilogy. It won’t be a retread of Commander Shepard’s story — because after all … that’s YOUR story, isn’t it?"

As previously announced, Fast & Furious 9 scribe Daniel Casey is attached as the series' writer, while Star Trek Beyond and Mindhunter writer Doug Jung is set to serve as showrunner. Gamble and former Marvel Studios producer Ari Arad are executive producing alongside Karim Zreik, previously executive producer on Marvel TV's Jessica Jones series.

Meanwhile, progress is continuing on Mass Effect 5, which is believed to be set hundreds of years after the original Mass Effect trilogy. An early trailer showed a return for fan-favorite character Liara, now sporting an older look.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is reportedly on-track to run for five seasons, with the $1 billion Prime Video show said to be still under the protection of Amazon boss Jeff Bezos’ “magical halo.”

A new report from Lesley Goldberg in The Ankler shines a light on Amazon’s vision for Prime Video, which is seemingly still in flux. In that report is word that The Rings of Power, which is still awaiting a release date for Season 3, will make it to Season 5, as per Amazon’s initial deal for the rights.

This is despite the huge costs associated with producing and marketing the expansive, visual effects-heavy fantasy show, which The Ankler believes is TV’s first $1 billion series.

It seems Amazon boss Jeff Bezos is personally keen for it to continue, no matter the cost. “That’s still under Bezos’ magical halo,” a source told The Ankler. “That’s protected for its run.”

Amazon TV boss Peter Friedlander is said to have visited the set and provided an assurance that the creatives will get the chance to finish the story, although there’s a line in the report that that may be done in “four seasons or five.” Season 3 is reportedly due to hit Prime Video later in 2026. However, it sounds like plans for a spinoff are dead, according to The Ankler.

In 2018, Amazon beat Netflix for a $250 million rights deal with the Tolkien estate, publisher HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema that included a five-season commitment to bring The Lord of the Rings to TV screens. But there had been some concern about its future, given the huge costs involved and viewership numbers for Season 2.

In October last year, The Ankler reported that Amazon TV was “trapped” in a “Lord of the Rings nightmare” as a result of what it described as “an insanely high kill fee to the Tolkien estate.” According to that report, The Rings of Power Season 1 episodes cost $20 million each, but that figure fell for Seasons 2 and 3. Season 1 in total cost north of $465 million, The Ankler said, although it’s worth noting that doesn’t include the $250 million Amazon spent on the rights, or marketing and promotion.

The new information in this report is that the Tolkien estate is apparently due a $20 million per season kill fee if Amazon fails to deliver on its original five season plan. Sources speaking to The Ankler last year suggested Amazon should cancel the show and move on, insisting it overpaid for Lord of the Rings in the first place. Apparently shows such as Reacher and Fallout are bigger hits than The Rings of Power and cost a lot less to make.

All eyes are on Amazon to announce The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 release date, and perhaps in the same breath confirm plans for Seasons 4 and 5. Until then, we have a glimpse at what to expect via a short clip that shows Elendil (once again played by Peter McKenzie) training for battle. In costume, we then see the actor picking up the legendary blade Narsil, and readying himself while standing on a shoreline.

Elendil received Narsil in The Rings of Power's most recent episode, Shadow and Flame, the series' second season finale which aired in October 2024. Still in Númenor, Elendil is given the sword by deposed Queen Míriel and told to leave and reclaim his lordship — something which he's now off presumably doing.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

When Daredevil: Born Again debuted last year, many fans weren’t particularly happy with the way the show dropped Matt Murdock’s best friends at the start of the season. Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson was killed off, and Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page moved to San Francisco for the majority of the season. Nelson, Murdock & Page was no more!

Meanwhile, behind the scenes Born Again Season 1 underwent an upheaval during production, with the original creative team let go by Marvel and new showrunner Dario Scardapane brought in to fix the show, which Marvel execs reportedly felt “wasn’t working.”

And while bringing Foggy back from the dead wasn’t in the cards (yet?), Scardapane says that he always knew Karen, after returning at the end of Season 1, would be back full time for Season 2.

“There wasn't even a decision,” the showrunner recently told me. “It was kind of built into Season 1. When I came in and talked to these guys, and we outlined what we wanted to do, big picture, Karen was a big part of that. And then as we ended Season 1, she returned to Daredevil's life. She's there for a reason, now that Kingpin has taken over New York. And she's an integral part of the resistance. God, that was built in. That's been around for a long time.”

Executive producer Sana Amanat agrees, and points out that the character has evolved much over the years. In addition to her time on Daredevil – both the Netflix and now Disney+ versions – she was also an integral part of the Jon Bernthal Punisher series as well.

“You've seen her in so many different forms,” says Amanat. “And we were excited about continuing to take her further. So her relationship with Matt was important, how they're affected by Foggy's loss. It's so rich with story that we knew she was going to be in there.”

Charlie Cox, who of course stars as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, points out that Karen and Matt’s storyline has felt “incomplete” for years because of the will they/won’t they aspect of it.

“We’ve teased their love for one another, their relationship, for so many seasons,” he says. “And for one reason or another, it's never quite managed to work out for them. And in this season, their respite from the world is in each other, and we get to see them being pretty sweet together and quite romantic, and kind of in love.

“That's the stakes for them,” he adds. “That's what they're risking. That's what they'll lose if all this falls apart.”

The original Netflix Daredevil show debuted all the way back in 2015, and Karen Page certainly has come far in the 11 years since then. We’ve already seen that she’s battle-ready these days, and certainly hanging out with guys like Daredevil and the Punisher has pointed her in that direction. But the influence of Frank Castle on her worldview may be starting to spill into her relationship with Matt this season as well.

“Yeah, well, in every great relationship there's disagreements,” Cox laughs when asked about Karen and Matt’s different philosophies about how to handle the current crisis in the MCU’s New York City. The mayor of that city, or at least the guy who plays him, Vincent D’Onofrio, is more blunt.

“Well, I mean, she's a killer,” he says. “She may be all those sweet little things that [Cox] said, but she's also a killer.”

D’Onofrio would know, as Karen did in fact kill his character Wilson Fisk's assistant, James Wesley, back on the Netflix show. That incident traumatized Karen, but has she learned to accept that sometimes killing is the way to go? (There's also the matter involving her brother, but that's a whole other story...)

Says Cox: “She's more badass in this season than we've ever seen her.”

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is streaming on Disney+ now.

Talk to Scott Collura at @scottcollura.bsky.social, or listen to his Star Trek podcast, Transporter Room 3. Or do both!

Although there are many folks out there who think the books were better than their film adaptations, the Harry Potter movies have become an essential part of the franchise. The film universe has even extended beyond the original series with three additional Fantastic Beast prequels that introduced us to a new part of the wizarding world. After getting a firm release date for the new TV series, it's a good time to revisit the Potter timeline to see where everything fits within it. The first movie is even making its way back to theaters this summer in celebration of its 25th anniversary.

Whether you're new to the series or have just forgotten the proper order of the films, we've got you covered with our guides below. Take a look at how to watch the Harry Potter movies in chronological order or by release date.

Jump To:

• How to watch in chronological order
• How to watch by release order

How Many Harry Potter Movies are There?

Although there were only 7 books in the original series, there are a total of 11 movies in the Harry Potter franchise. This includes 8 films based on the Harry Potter books (2 parts for the Deathly Hallows) and 3 Fantastic Beasts prequels. Outside of the films there is a Broadway play called Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as well as quite a lot of Harry Potter games -- including Hogwarts Legacy.

How Long to Watch All of the Movies

If you want to exclude the Fantastic Beasts movies from your streaming marathon, you can watch all 8 of the Harry Potter movies in just under 20 hours. Adding in the prequel films will add another 6 hours and 49 minutes to that total. These films make for a fantastic movie marathon if you're looking for something you can binge in a single weekend. You can currently stream the Harry Potter movies on both HBO Max or Peacock.

The Harry Potter Movies in Chronological Order

1. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

Set all the way back in 1926, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was the first Harry Potter spin-off prequel to hit theaters. Considering it takes place around 70 years before Harry starts school at Hogwarts, it is the first film you'll want to watch if you're going by chronological order. The first Fantastic Beasts film focuses on Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) as he navigates his way through New York and the magical underpinnings of the United States.

Read our review of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

2. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

Just a few months after the end of the first prequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald takes us back to England and features even more tie-ins to the original Harry Potter Movies. We get a look at a young Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and even get introduced to a youthful Minderva McGonagall (Fiona Glascott). The film itself largely focuses on the villain revealed in the first movie, Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp).

Read our review of The Crimes of Grindelwald

3. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is the first film in the Fantastic Beasts series that sees a true time jump. Set 5 years after the events of The Crimes of Grindelwald, the third film in the Fantastic Beasts series largely focuses on Grindelwald himself once again -- who is actually played by Mads Mikkelsen this time. There are a few time jumps due to a creature named Qilin, but most of the movie is set in the 1930s.

Read our review of The Secrets of Dumbledore.

4. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone is the first film in the original series. And while the majority of the film takes place in 1991, the true start of the film is technically 1980 -- the year when Harry was born and Hagrid drops him of at the Dursley residence. Since this is the first Harry Potter movie released, it gives us our first look at Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) as well as our initial forray into wizarding world through a Muggle lens.

See more about The Sorcerer's Stone.

5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second film released in the franchise and thus follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts. This places the movie between 1992 and 1993 as Harry uncovers truths of the past from giant spiders and a young ghost-like Voldemort. It also gives us our first indroduction to Professor Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh) and Dobby the House Elf.

See more about The Chamber of Secrets.

6. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third film in the original series and coincides with Harry's third year of classes at Hogwarts -- taking place in 1993. This is the first film where we start to truly see the darker side of the wizarding world as we get introduced to the likes of Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) and Peter Pettigrew (Timothy Spall). We also get an introduction to werewolves from the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Remus Lupin (David Thewlis), and of course the creepy soul-sucking Dementors of Azkaban.

Read our review of The Prisoner of Azkaban.

7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth movie in the original series and coincides with Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts. Taking place in 1994, The Goblet of Fire breathes new life into Hogwarts with the addition of the Triwizard Tournament and the Yule Ball. We get introduced to new important characters like Mad Eye Moody (Brendand Gleeson) and Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson). We also get our first look at a professional Quidditch tournament as well as members and faculty from other wizarding schools. This also the first film Harry comes face to face with a fully alive Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).

Read our review of The Goblet of Fire.

8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth film in the original series and takes place in 1995. Harry starts his fifth year of Hogwarts with a newfound family of sorts and we get our first look at some of the other members of The Order of the Phoenix like the shapeshifting Nymphadora Tonks (Natalia Tena). We also get our first introduction to Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch), who plays an important role in the coming films. There is also a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor with a penchant for cruelty that everyone gets to hate, Delores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton).

Read our review of The Order of the Phoenix.

9. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (2009)

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is the sixth film to be released and takes place in 1996. As Harry enters his sixth year at Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry, he is starting to truly grow up after being faced with even more death. In this film we get our first true look into the motives of Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) and Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton). We also get to see Voldemort and the Deatheaters fully on the loose as Dumbledore reveals more secrets about the prophecy Harry is a part of. Although this film starts to get pretty dark, it's also where we see more of Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright) and expand her relationship with Harry.

Read our review of The Half Blood Prince.

10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010)

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 takes place in 1997 and coincides with the seventh and final book in the series. This is the first film that breaks up the story of a single book into two movies, and for good reason as there's a lot of story to unpack. In what would have been Harry's seventh year at Hogwarts, Harry, Hermione, and Ron instead set out into the real world to find and destroy Horcruxes. With quite a bit of action and deep character growth between Harry, Ron, and Hermione it's clear the franchise is reaching it's climax here. We also get a deeper look at the relationships between Voldemort and the rest of the Death Eaters.

Read our review of The Deathly Hallows - Part 1.

11. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (2011)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is the final movie in the Harry Potter series chronologically. Set in 1998, this film is a continuation of part 1 starting right where the previous film left off. As Harry and his friends reveal more information about the prophecy Harry is part of, they eventually make their way back to Hogwarts for a final showdown against Voldemort and the Deatheaters. It's an emotional battle that ends in the death of a some fan favorite Harry Potter characters, but we do get to see the true heroics of Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) and a rather definitive end to story.

Read our review of The Deathly Hallows - Part 2.

How to Watch Harry Potter Movies By Release Date

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
6. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (2009)
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010)
8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (2011)
9. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
10. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)
11. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)

The Future of Harry Potter

There are no current plans to make any new Harry Potter movies, and even the the main actor of Fantastic Beasts admitted there probably won't be any new films in that series. However, there will be a new Harry Potter TV series based on the books.

The series will feature an entirely new cast, many of which have already been announced. The first trailer recently revealed our first look at that new cast in action. The new series will be premiering on Christmas Day, but we'll also be getting a documentary about the new series on HBO Max this month.

Outside of the Wizarding World films, the success of Hogwarts Legacy has led to the developers teasing a Hogwarts Legacy 2, which would expand the Hogwarts prequel timeline even further.

Looking for more movies like Harry Potter? Check out our guide on how to watch Lord of the Rings in order as well as our guide to Star Wars in order. And if you're looking for merch, check out our collection of Harry Potter Merchandise from the IGN store.

Jacob Kienlen is a Senior SEO Strategist and Writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has considered the Northwest his home for his entire life. With a bachelor's degree in communication and over 7 years of professional writing experience, his expertise is spread across a variety of different topics -- from TV series to indie games and popular book series.

Full spoilers follow for For All Mankind Season 5, Episode 2, which is streaming on Apple TV now.

Given Ed Baldwin’s penchant for risky moves, it was inevitable he’d go and do something bold for his old pal Lee Jung-gil, now in MPK custody for allegedly committing murder. The natural endpoint for the natural troublemaker is organizing a mission to bust Lee out of the M-6 jail in order to keep him from being extradited back to Earth for a trial that would, no doubt, lead to a conviction. The build-up, execution, and fallout from the slow-speed Hopper chase — give the guy a break, he’s in his 80s! — is just the kind of stuff For All Mankind does so well, and gives the necessary jolt to a season that struggled a bit out of the gate. Are we so back, FAM fam? I think we’re kinda back.

The episode opens minutes after the premiere left off, with Lee in handcuffs being perp-walked through the Happy Valley food court. It spends plenty of time dropping into pockets of conversations among the residents who don’t believe Lee could have killed a guy. As we’re reminded when Ed (Joel Kinnaman) tries to appeal to Governor Lenya Polivanov (Costa Ronin) to try Lee (C.S. Lee) on Mars, Lee was the one who saved the American crew’s life support systems all those years ago; without him, there would be no colony now.

But something fishy is obviously happening: Polivanov is insistent on Lee leaving Mars, and a concurrent investigation by lower-ranking MPK officer Celia Boyd (new cast member Mireille Enos) starts to surface that the Russian company/Helios analogue Kuragin is doing something unsavory and unsanctioned on the Martian surface at night. Whatever it is that they’re up to, it involves exploiting “Crater” labor, aka undocumented people who have made their way to Mars, and the murdered North Korean man, Yoon Tae-min, was one of those people. (At least no one can accuse For All Mankind for ever being too subtle in making connections to our real present day.)

Meanwhile, the other major thread in “The Hard Six” is that the search for life has gotten a major breakthrough via a Helios SEEKER probe sent to Titan, Saturn’s biggest moon: something’s creating proteins out there. The annoying engineer Walt Griebel (Christopher Denham) makes his smarmy return here, insisting on an emotionless by-the-book further exploration of arguably one of the biggest scientific discoveries ever – that life exists beyond Earth – by sending more “glitchy” probes. Kelly Baldwin (Cynthy Wu) insists on a manned mission, not wanting to give any other company an opening to make the actual discovery of extraterrestrial life before them. (Of course it’s NOT because she really, REALLY wants to go to Saturn. Nah, it’s proper science and a capitalistic boon that she cares about. Obviously, she does, and everyone else around her knows it. It’s quite funny to watch Kelly doing the song and dance for others around the conflict of acting like her stance is strictly for the Greater Scientific Good and completely unmotivated by her personal and professional excitement. How couldn’t she be!)

It’s at Baldwin family dinner where the two main narrative arteries reconnect. Kelly’s talked into fighting for her manned mission — and succeeds! — and Ed and his grandson Alex (Sean Kaufman) have it out. Lee’s arrest, which was speculated as being a romantic dispute (??) on the news, lit a fire in Alex and he wants to help Ed fight back. Ed gives a surly response: Alex never showed up for a Sons and Daughters of Mars meeting despite multiple invites and he should stick to running around his beach in his “little video games.” Though the rebuff seems meant to mark Alex safe from getting involved in the dicey plot he was hatching to save Lee, it was of course not a very nice thing to say, especially given Alex’s own health issues and the reasons why he was indulging in the VR beach at all. But Alex storms off, and he’ll almost definitely be laden with guilt over where he left things with Ed’s life in limbo at the episode’s close.

And back to the jailbreak: The last third of this episode is great, delivering the season’s first breath-holding flight action sequences – even if, like I already mentioned, the rovers are nowhere near as speedy as the kind of planes and ships Ed used to fly in his prime. But it’s the spirit that counts! Ed’s not even supposed to be flying, as we learned in Episode 1 during his check-up. But of course he would defy that mandate for one more major act of bravery to save (and repay) his friend from a worse fate, even if that means putting his own health on the line. Is he still alive when the MPK agents find him slouching in the seat of the Hopper? We'll find out next week! Hang in there, buddy!

Transmissions from Happy Valley:

• A Starbucks in the Happy Valley food court… at this rate, we’ll be getting a new chain reveal an episode.
• Related thought: If Mars is growing its own food now, did they hack the right climate for coffee beans, too? Frankly, I’m very hung up on this supply chain.
• There will always be something entirely uncanny about the weird Mars/Baldwin spaghetti.
• Apparently, Lee and Ed are the only two jailed people in Happy Valley, going off their cell numbers (A001 and A002).
• I’m acknowledging Miles Dale’s (Toby Kebbell) suspicious meeting with Palmer James (Myk Watford) where Palmer tries to get Miles to turn informant since that will definitely be a relationship that blows up at some point this season.
• Fun fact: Battlestar Galactica writer/producer vets Bradley Thompson and David Weddle wrote this episode. The fellas sure do love a heroic captain type talking about rolling some unlikely dice!

Warning: This article contains full spoilers for The Pitt Season 2, Episode 13!

Things have been growing really tense on The Pitt in recent weeks, which is exactly what one would expect given how close to the finish line we are. In Season 1, this was the period where all hell broke loose in the wake of the Pitt Fest shooting. Heck, Season 1's 13th episode marked the pivotal point where Robby (Noah Wyle) finally snapped and had his panic attack. Dramatically, it would seem 13 is the show's lucky number.

But surprisingly, Season 2's Episode 13 doesn't continue the process of ratcheting up the tension. Quite the opposite. There's almost a sense of emotional release to this episode as the day shift characters finally start to shrug off their respective burdens and allow the night shift to start taking charge. Even Shawn Hatosy's Dr. Abbot is back in action. It's an unexpected tonal swerve for the series, and not necessarily a welcome one. My hope is that this is all a deceptive calm before one final storm (we do still have two episodes left, after all), but that doesn't change the fact that "7:00 PM" feels a bit underwhelming compared to its immediate predecessors.

To be fair, it's hardly as though there's no drama to be had in the ER this week. This episode builds on last week's cliffhanger involving the return of Orlando Diaz (William Guirola), who clearly should not have run off back to his second job. Now Orlando is in even worse shape than before, facing potentially permanent brain damage as a result of a nasty fall.

My read on the situation is much the same as Robby's. Orlando was probably seeking a more permanent solution to his medical debt woes. Whether or not that proves to be the case (and given Orlando's current physical state, we may not find out), it's a sobering commentary on the absolutely deplorable state of American health insurance. The series may not have us quite as on the edge of our seats this week, but it can still channel a righteous anger.

Similarly, the show introduces another case of a patient struggling against an unfeeling, uncaring system with the teen suffering from a bad case of asthma. In this case, the boy's mother got summarily booted off Medicaid and has been fighting an uphill battle just to get him the meds he needs to live. This particular case seems to have a relatively happy ending, but it's still enough to boil the blood.

He may not be suffering from any panic attacks this time around, but this did still prove to be a pretty pivotal episode for Robby. He gets some very bad news about Duke (Jeff Kober), he butts heads with various student doctors who clearly want nothing more than to go home for the day, and most importantly, he really has it out with Dana (Katherine LaNasa). That last little brouhaha is easily the highlight of this episode, proving just how much one bad day can tear apart a rock solid friendship. Naturally, both Wyle and LaNasa are in top form during this scene, which plays out exactly like your two beloved parents fighting.

In the end, we're left to contemplate whether Robby has any real intention of returning to The Pitt after his sabbatical. Is he planning on making it permanent? Is he burnt out for good? Is he dying? Whatever the case, he's clearly panicking at the thought of leaving his ER in the state it's in. One would like to be as optimistic as Dana about the situation, but there's a nagging sense that Robby might be right to worry.

As much as this episode is a bit underwhelming as a total package (as always, "underwhelming" being a very relative term here), I'll give the show credit for finally coming full circle with Ogilvie (Lucas Iverson). This character started out as easily the most annoying and frstrating addition to the Season 2 mix, but he's finally evolved into a more human and fully realized person. Ogilvie's heart-to-heart with Whitaker (Gerran Howell) really cements that transformation, showing just how much pain and self-doubt lurks beneath the arrogant facade. At this point, I only wish Joy (Irene Choi) were fleshed out to the same degree. Though, in her case, you can't deny that she had a pretty badass exit scene last week.

Netflix revealed a first look at two new Peaky Blinders sequel series starring Fantastic Four actor Jamie Bell as Duke Shelby, son of Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby.

Barry Keoghan played Duke in the recent film Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, while Conrad Khan played the character in the sixth and final season (series) of Peaky Blinders.

The new Peaky Blinders series are set in the 1950s, a decade after the events depicted in The Immortal Man. Here is the official plot synopsis:

“In this new era of Peaky Blinders, a decade after World War Two, the race to rebuild Birmingham becomes a brutal contest of mythical dimensions. This is a city of unprecedented opportunity and jeopardy. At its blood-soaked heart is Duke Shelby (Jamie Bell): older, wiser, more ambitious, and most certainly more dangerous.”

First look at Jamie Bell as Duke Shelby in the new Peaky Blinders series:

In addition to Bell, the cast includes Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things), Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey), Lashana Lynch (The Marvels), and Lucy Karczewski (Stereophonic). No details on their roles have been revealed yet.

Peaky Blinders creator and writer Steven Knight said in a statement:

“I am thrilled that we are announcing a new era of Peaky Blinders, moving the story to post-war Birmingham in the early 50s. We are incredibly fortunate to have Jamie Bell taking the role of Tommy Shelby’s oldest son, Duke, and to have the incredible Charlie Heaton also leading the cast. There are more exciting cast announcements to come, and Peaky is on the road again.”

Filming is currently underway in and around Digbeth Loc. Studios in Birmingham, England.

Banijay UK's Kudos and Garrison Drama are producing Peaky Blinders for Netflix and the BBC.

In IGN’s Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man review, Hanna Ines Flint said the movie “may not have reinvented the wheel with conventional wartime escapades, but it ticks most of the boxes for Peaky Blinders fans, with Murphy and the cast playing a blinder.”

Brian Cox, the first actor to ever play Hannibal Lecter on screen, will play another serial killer in Season 2 of Dexter: Resurrection.

Cox will reportedly portray Dom Framt, aka The New York Ripper, according to Variety:

“The character was originally introduced in Season 1, though he was not seen onscreen. He is described as ‘a serial killer who terrorized the City years ago. Though no longer active as a killer, he’s found a new way to live into his infamy by continuing to taunt the survivors of his long-ago murder spree.’”

The Succession star and McDonald’s pitchman played “Hannibal Lektor” in director Michael Mann’s 1986 film Manhunter, based on Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon. (The movie was later remade as Red Dragon with Anthony Hopkins reprising his Oscar-winning role as Hannibal.)

Brian Cox’s many film credits include X2, Troy, the Jason Bourne movies, Trick ‘r Treat, Braveheart, Super Troopers, Zodiac, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

Dexter: Resurrection was renewed last year by Paramount+ at the same time as the prequel series Dexter: Original Sin was canceled, a move that did not go over well with the latter’s showrunner Clyde Phillips.

Dexter: Resurrection Season 2 will see Michael C. Hall return to play the killer of killers, Dexter Morgan.

Disney has officially confirmed the release schedule for Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, one of the biggest Star Wars projects of the year.

The new animated series will premiere exclusively on Disney+ on April 6. Subsequent episodes will continue to be released in batches every Monday, with the full season running for ten episodes total. The final two episodes will stream on May 4, otherwise known as Star Wars Day.

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Release Schedule

For starters, Disney revealed the episode release schedule for the entire season, detailed below.

• Chapter 1: "The Dark Revenge" - April 6
• Chapter 2: "Sinister Schemes" - April 6
• Chapter 3: "Whispers in the Unknown" - April 13
• Chapter 4: "Pride and Vengeance" - April 13
• Chapter 5: "Inquisition" - April 20
• Chapter 6: "Night of the Hunted" - April 20
• Chapter 7: "Call to the Oblivion" - April 27
• Chapter 8: "The Creeping Fear" - April 27
• Chapter 9: "Strange Allies" - May 4
• Chapter 10: "Finale" - May 4

The streamer also revealed exact episode release times. New episodes will drop at 3am ET/12am PT, or 8am BST for those in the U.K.

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord will pick up a year after the beloved animated series The Clone Wars. Sam Witwer, who voiced Darth Maul in the original series, will be reprising the titular role.

Lucasfilm Animation VP, Athena Portillo, went on record with IGN to describe Shadow Maul as “an upgrade from what we've done, and even from the Bad Batch, even from Tales of the Underworld.” Portillo also spoke highly of Witwer’s involvement in developing the villainous character.

We got the chance to speak with Witwer himself last year, who offered his own insight into what it means to return to such an iconic role. Most notably, the actor cited the importance of looking to the character’s past, digging up unanswered questions about his life and the decisions we’ve already seen him make. (If you could use a refresher before the new series, we've broken down Darth Maul's story so far.)

We’ll get to see whether the new series answers any of those questions when new episodes drop on Monday. For what it's worth, Disney is certainly confident about this one, having already renewed the series for a second season.

Blythe (she/her) is an Audience Development Coordinator at IGN who, when she isn't following streaming news, spends way too much time in character customization screens and tracking down collectibles.

The live-action adaptation of Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl series is officially in development at Peacock, according to a report from Variety. The project was first picked up by Universal International Studio back in 2025 without any sort of streaming service attached.

The last we heard about the series was from an interview with Dinniman in March where he said the series was "still very much alive" despite no formal announcements about its status. The news that Peacock is officially developing the series is the first confirmation we've gotten that the project will actually be moving forward.

The plot of the series is based on the massively popular LitRPG book series of the same name, which follows a guy named Carl and his ex-girlfriend's talking cat as Earth gets sucked into a twisted intergalactic gameshow. Here's the official logline for the show:

“An alien invasion has wiped out most of humanity and any survivors are forced to fight for their lives on a sadistic intergalactic game show. Sounds bad, right? Now try doing it with bare feet and a stuck-up, self-centered, tiara-wearing talking cat as your partner. Welcome to Dungeon Crawler World: Earth, where the apocalypse will be televised … and Coast Guard vet Carl finds himself stuck with his ex-girlfriend’s award-winning show cat, Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk, as they try to survive the end of the world, fighting monsters, aliens, an insane A.I. and even other survivors … all for the sake of good TV. Survival is optional. Entertainment is not.”

The news that the series will be landing on Peacock isn't too surprising given that Seth McFarlane's Fuzzy Door Studios is attached to the project. McFarlane's popular Ted TV series is currently streaming exclusively on the platform, after all. What has been a surprise for some fans is the choice to make the series live action. Dinniman previously defended that decision, pointing out the studio's record: "Fuzzy Door, specifically, if you watch Ted or The Orville, you’ll see that they know what they’re doing when it comes to this. So I would say, don’t knock it till you try it."

While we don't yet have a release window for the series, there are currently seven Dungeon Crawler Carl books you can check out while we wait. The eighth book in the series, titled A Parade of Horribles, is set to be released next month (May 12) alongside the first graphic novel adaptation of the story.

The first three episodes of The Testaments premiere on Hulu on Wednesday, April 8, with new episodes arriving weekly thereafter. This is a spoiler-free review of the first season.

When Bruce Miller’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale dropped in 2017, we were three months into President Donald Trump’s first term. The show initially had a seismic impact on the zeitgeist as subsequent protests featured iconography and quotes from it, but attention waned as time went on and The Handmaid’s Tale’s cardinal sin was testing the resolve of viewers to watch heroine June Osborne/Offred (Elisabeth Moss) and her handmaiden kind weather the horrific slings and arrows of Gilead for six long seasons.

No, it wasn’t a fun watch, but Atwood’s cautionary tale and Miller’s interpretation of her text remains important storytelling about what resistance looks like in action. It’s also why Atwood wrote the sequel, The Testaments, based in part on her appreciation for what actress Ann Dowd did with the Aunt Lydia role. Atwood wanted to flesh out the character’s path to Aunt status, and now Miller is back with another richly made series adaptation, this time focusing on the grooming of the young women of Gilead into docile breeders under God’s eye.

Overall, The Testaments is an odd amalgam of Gossip Girl meets The Handmaid’s Tale, which is a bit disconcerting to process in the watching. The series is both fascinating and disturbing at how well it portrays the mundanity of fascist life. The stakes haven’t changed at all from the scenarios of The Handmaid’s Tale, but it’s still disturbing to watch these young women navigate the benign norms of teen social orders and then see them act out the sadism of their patriarchal regime. What helps smooth out the rough tonal patches is the throughline of the outside resistance infiltrating the Gilead system as they plant moles who will give these girls an opportunity to take off their blinders.

Much like The Testaments book, the series is told from three perspectives. The pilot, titled “Precious Flowers,” and the second episode, “Perfect Teeth,” as well as several others are told through the eyes of Agnes (Chase Infiniti), a teen on the cusp of puberty and still designated as a Plum girl in training. More importantly, and unbeknownst to her, Agnes is the Gilead-kidnapped daughter of June (Moss) and Luke (O-T Fagbenle) from The Handmaid’s Tale.

The second narrator is Daisy (Lucy Halliday), a Pearl girl managed by Aunt Lydia (Dowd, reprising her role) and her equally restrictive teachers. Always dressed in austere white outfits, she is one of the female teens from the outside world who were either recruited into Gilead or taken by force, then retrained to be “godly” servants. On the surface, Daisy acts like a pious recruit who is tasked by Lydia to get to know her fellow students, but she’s holding back secrets of her own that get revealed – thankfully – sooner than later.

Aunt Lydia provides the third narrative perspective, particularly in the episode “Stadium,” where her pre-Gilead origin story is expanded upon from what we knew in The Handmaid’s Tale. Otherwise in this series, we’re observing an evolved, post-The Handmaid’s Tale Lydia who is far more weathered by the loss of her favorite handmaidens and has fully learned the hypocrisy of the Gilead patriarchy through ruthless loss, giving the character fresh motivation.

While many of the details of the season are under review embargo, what I can say is that the series is a satisfying, slow-building thriller. Characters are slowly defined by their actions in the present and through flashbacks about their lives before Gilead. The season does take its time creating urgency, which is going to tax less patient viewers; ultimately, there are rewards in observing these separate factions creep towards a united goal of undermining Gilead’s shaky hold on power.

Early episodes lay a lot of foundation for audiences to understand the doctrines and strict penalties imposed upon the girls of Gilead, and that’s important, as several of them will find reasons to rebel from within as they experience the darker sides of their world. Agnes, in particular, is eager to achieve the milestones of their society, yet she also possesses the internal musings of a rebel who’s not entirely sure about what everyone is asking her to give up and accept without question. Chase Infiniti is very good at playing Agnes’ warring morals as she barrels towards puberty to become a Green girl, eligible to be married off to a much older Commander. Halliday is an equally spirited scene partner for Infiniti as the two girls attract and repel one another in various situations as they decide if one another is to be trusted.

The Testaments is almost more sobering for exposing how fascist and patriarchal regimes start their control from the womb. There are fairly frequent sequences that had me wincing in disgust, but that’s because they cut a little too close to the bone in our current times. The truth is that Gilead remains some folks’ foulest desires put into action, where the most subjugated readily accept their subservience because so much work has been done to make sure they know nothing else. But all regimes fall, and that’s what Miller, Atwood, and this series are laying bare for audiences to witness and internalize. Their thesis remains that even the best laid authoritarian plans can’t quell the power of rebellion, and perhaps The Testaments is a potent reminder that the young, and women, can save us all.

Producer David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies) and director Matt Reeves (The Batman) are teaming up for a streaming series adaptation of The Bonfire of the Vanities for Apple TV.

Kelley will script the adaptation of the bestselling Tom Wolfe novel The Bonfire of the Vanities (which has nothing to do with Assassin’s Creed II, mind you). Published in 1987, the book captured the essence of the greedy ‘80s when self-proclaimed "masters of the universe" dominated Wall Street.

Wolfe’s novel follows hugely successful bond trader Sherman McCoy, who accidentally runs over a young black man with his car when he and his mistress Maria get off the highway. They flee the scene, which unleashes a racial and political firestorm upon Manhattan. An ambitious, alcoholic reporter named Peter Fallow turns Sherman's woes into a vehicle for his own success.

The Bonfire of the Vanities was previously adapted for the big screen as a notorious 1990 box office flop directed by Brian De Palma and starring Tom Hanks, Melanie Griffith, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, F. Murray Abraham, Kim Cattrall, and a very young Kirsten Dunst as Hanks' daughter. (The Devil's Candy is a great book that examines how this project went horribly awry.)

Variety reports that “Kelley will also executive produce under his David E. Kelley Productions banner. Matt Reeves is attached to direct and executive produce via 6th and Idaho Productions.”

Reeves’ next project is, of course, The Batman: Part II, which films this summer.

Kelley’s other Apple TV projects include Presumed Innocent and Margo’s Got Money Troubles.

A television mainstay of over three decades, Kelley’s credits include Ally McBeal, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Lincoln Lawyer, Mr. Mercedes, Boston Public, Boston Legal, The Practice, Ally McBeal, Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, and Doogie Howser, M.D.

Lucasfilm has confirmed Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Season 2 ahead of the debut of Season 1 on streamer Disney+.

In a post on StarWars.com, Lucasfilm President & Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni said Darth Maul’s journey will continue with a second season, showing a real confidence in the upcoming animated show. Season 1 debuts on Disney+ with a two-episode premiere on Monday, April 6, then two episodes released weekly. No release date for Season 2 was mentioned.

Here’s the official blurb:

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord presents fans with a pulpy adventure that finds Maul plotting to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire. There, he crosses paths with a disillusioned young Jedi Padawan who may just be the apprentice he is seeking to aid him in his relentless pursuit for revenge.

The cast includes Sam Witwer as Maul, Gideon Adlon as Devon Izara, Wagner Moura as Brander Lawson, Richard Ayoade as Two-Boots, Dennis Haysbert as Master Eeko-Dio Daki, Chris Diamantopoulos as Looti Vario, Charlie Bushnell as Rylee Lawson, Vanessa Marshall as Rook Kast, David W. Collins as Spybot, A.J. LoCascio as Marrok, and Steve Blum as Icarus.

Last month, it emerged that Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord will show a changed version of the infamous Star Wars: The Phantom Menace villain — one who has learned that there's "something to respect" about the Jedi.

Witwer, speaking to Star Wars Insider (via The HoloFiles), discussed how things have changed in the years since he killed Qui-Gon Jinn, and then was cut in two by Obi-Wan.

For those who haven't followed what happened next to Darth Maul (who ended Phantom Menace in two pieces), the short version is he was revived, somehow, and enjoyed a popular run in the Star Wars: Clone Wars TV show. Now, he’s back for more, this time as the star of Maul: Shadow Lord, a 10-episode animated show set to feature more of his exploits.

"We pick up after The Clone Wars," Witwer said, setting the scene. "The Empire has taken over, and Maul's reassessing everything. There were plans in place that were supposed to insulate him from the changes when the Empire came to power, and a lot of the people that were supposed to be there for him were not. He's getting back on his feet, the dust is clearing, and he's looking around at the Empire — the thing he and his master had been working toward since he was an apprentice — and thinking, 'Is this what Palpatine had in mind? How do I feel about this?'"

As the series will apparently show, Maul does not have a great feeling about this — what the Empire is up to and how it is simply a regime that exists for "influence, power and money." At the same time, Maul is also harbouring changed thoughts on his former master, following Darth Sidious' murder of Maul's brother Savage Opress.

"He was trained to hate and destroy the Jedi without ever questioning it," Witwer continued. "Now he’s looking at the galaxy going, 'Boy, we could sure use a Jedi Knight or two.' At least with the Jedi you knew where they stood. There's something to respect there. This Empire, he sees no values there, just the naked grab for influence, power, and money. Principles are gone. And he looks at that with a certain level of distaste. He may not have agreed with the Jedi Knights, but at least they had principles. You knew who you were dealing with and you could reason with that. There’s no reasoning with the Empire."

All of that said, don't expect Maul to suddenly become a cuddly character. "This show is bad guys versus worse guys," Witwer concluded, "and Maul's on the bad-guy side of that equation."

If you need a catch up, check out IGN's feature, Darth Maul's Story So Far: What to Know Before Watching Maul - Shadow Lord.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The Pokémon 30th Anniversary tour is the gift that keeps on giving. Following February’s blowout celebrations - which saw the debut of the colossal 6,838-piece LEGO Kanto starter set, those viral cutesy Loungefly accessories, and even a high-end GRIND coffee line - The Pokémon Company is proving the party is just getting started.

PUMA is the latest heavyweight to join the rotation. Dropping today, April 2, 2026, the PUMA x Pokémon “Sun and Moonlight” collection is a massive 51-piece capsule collection, perfect for the hoopsters among us. If you spent any time in Nimbasa City’s Big Stadium, you know the look.

If you’re looking to cop this gear before it speeds out of stock (and there's already plenty that's now unavailable!), you’ll need to move quicker than a Regieleki. Here’s everything you need to know about the latest PUMA x Pokémon collaboration.

All the power of the Pokémon world is channelled into this latest drop, with Pokémon designs taking adults and kids alike from day to night. It spotlights Umbreon and Espeon, perfect timing for anyone nostalgic for the Orre region, with Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness having just joined Nintendo Switch Online last month.

The Umbreon Fade Nitros are the undisputed MVPs of the footwear line. These black sneakers are accented with energizing yellow hits and - my personal favorite detail - the sparkly gold flecks in the sole that mimic Umbreon's glowing rings. PUMA has crafted distinct daytime and nighttime colorways for both Espeon and Umbreon, both with custom hangtags, and subtle but expressive Pokémon detailing.

HBO has announced plans to launch a major documentary charting the making of its big budget new Harry Potter TV series.

Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic will begin streaming on HBO Max from this Sunday, April 5, at 3pm Eastern, 12pm Pacific or 8pm in the UK. A trailer for the documentary released today, meanwhile, gives a sense of what to expect — with a look at more of the series' sets and interviews with key cast members.

Clips seen in today's trailer show fresh looks at Hagrid leading students into the Great Hall for the first time, as well as behind-the-scenes footage revealing what looks like Snape's potions dungeon, plus the construction of an animatronic owl. There's a glimpse at Diagon Alley, which fans recently saw in more detail via a major set leak. The scale and budget of the production are also made clear — something the streamer has recently commented on, when admitting it was committing to a level of financial investment it normally wouldn't make in order to film the full Harry Potter story over the next decade.

An exclusive look inside the HARRY POTTER TV series is coming to HBO! 🤩

Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic is streaming April 5 on HBO Max

D-3 🔥 pic.twitter.com/pfZ2I3sTWz

— Wizarding World Direct (@WW_Direct) April 2, 2026

"The Harry Potter stories are this extraordinary phenomenon," states John Lithgow, who has taken on the mantle of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore. "To reimagine the Harry Potter canon, to let it breathe, we get to enact all the things you know are going on in the wings, but you don't see them."

Here, Lithgow is referring to the fact that HBO's new Harry Potter adaptation will include scenes based on events referenced but not explicitly seen in the original novels (or the later films, which were forced to cut down the series' story to fit a traditional movie runtime).

Last year, fans spotted filming that featured Lithgow's Dumbledore spending time with Nicolas Flamel — something referenced in the books but not actually shown, since the saga essentially follows the actions of Harry himself, with only a handful of chapters across the entire series without him present.

We've subsequently learned of other such scenes set to feature in the series, too, such as a glimpse at Draco Malfoy's home life, and a scene where Hermione receives her Hogwarts acceptance letter. The series will also likely benefit from having been created in a world where the books are now complete — something that wasn't the case for the previous movies. Famously, the films had to course correct during production when they were planning to leave out elements that author J.K. Rowling was planning to draw from in the series' final then-unpublished final books.

For HBO, the documentary is also a canny move — as it will likely encourage several Harry Potter fans who aren't yet subscribers to sign up to the service now, rather than wait for the series to begin streaming later this year.

"It's been 25 years since audiences first walked the hallowed halls of Hogwarts," reads a description of the documentary. "Now, this exclusive special offers an inside look at the epic scale and meticulous care behind HBO’s new Harry Potter series — told through the lens of the artists, craftspeople, and technicians bringing J.K. Rowling's beloved books to life for a new generation.

"Featuring interviews with members of the casting, production design, costume design, and creature effects teams, the special chronicles the extensive process behind finding our new Harry, Ron, and Hermione — while celebrating the awe-inspiring commitment to detail and immense talent that has come together to fill out this extraordinary world. With appearances from key cast members including John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, and Paapa Essiedu, and narrated by Nick Frost, Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic explores the exciting new era of one of the most enduring stories of our time."

Last month, HBO announced that it would begin releasing episodes this Christmas, with the show's eight-episode first season set to conclude in early 2027. After that, though, there's concern from Harry Potter fans over how long it will take for the series to complete the saga's story. HBO boss Casey Bloys has said he wanted the show to "not have a huge gap" between seasons — but has admitted that episodes won't be released annually, and its second year of production is still at the script stage. Indeed, Bloys has previously said the series would likely launch in a pattern similar to House of the Dragon and The Last of Us due to its complex, effects-heavy nature — something that could mean its final episodes are released in the early 2040s.

Image credit: HBO.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

With The Boys Season 5 almost upon us, showrunner Eric Kripke has discussed the creation of this fifth and final season of Amazon’s Prime Video superhero show. And in doing so he has revealed that it has become almost impossible for the writers to effectively parody modern America.

First, a quick recap. The Boys Season 5 revolves around evil supervillain Homelander's attempt to realize what he believes to be his true destiny: immortality. The Boys, led by Billy Butcher, lead a resistance to Homelander's fascist rule over America, and hope to use a virus to wipe out every supe on the planet. “We need to prepare America for my ascension,” Homelander says in a recently released trailer, sitting pretty in the Oval Office.

Here’s the official blurb on The Boys Season 5:

In the fifth and final season, it’s Homelander’s world, completely subject to his erratic, egomaniacal whims. Hughie, Mother’s Milk, and Frenchie are imprisoned in a “Freedom Camp.” Annie struggles to mount a resistance against the overwhelming Supe force. Kimiko is nowhere to be found. But when Butcher reappears, ready and willing to use a virus that will wipe all Supes off the map, he sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the world and everyone in it. It’s the climax, people. Big stuff’s gonna happen.

Clearly in reference to recent events in America, and with a nod to Homelander as a take on President Donald Trump, Kripke told TV Guide that he was “bummed out” that Season 5 was written before the presidential election, which took place in November 2024.

“I’m totally bummed out to say we wrote it before the election. It sounds super naive now, but I swear the plan was, ‘Let’s write a 1984 version of what creeping authoritarianism looks like in America,’ and maybe everyone will be like, ‘Whew, we really dodged a bullet.’ But instead, we got hit with the bullet,” Kripke said.

Kripke went on to say that the writers would come up with outlandish ideas that at the time seemed implausible, but have since become reality. “And a lot of things that were far-fetched for us, we’re like — ‘That’s crazy!’ — have come to pass in a way that’s really really f***ing troubling,” he explained.

And without spoiling the show, Kripke revealed that in Episode 7 of Season 5, Homelander says a line that the writers felt was the “craziest” they could think of, but “it’s already happened.

“There’s a line — I won’t give it away — but there’s a line in Episode 7 that Homelander says that was the craziest line we could think of, and it’s already happened,” Kripke said.

The Boys is a super gory satire of the superhero genre based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. It follows the eponymous team of vigilantes who work to bring down a group of supervillains (The Seven). Homelander, played by Antony Starr, is a demented despot who rules The Seven with an iron fist. The other supes on the team live in fear of his mood swings and his overpowered abilities, which give him carte blanche to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants.

In May 2025, Starr spoke of his surprise at the glorification of Homelander by some The Boys fans, calling it “surreal.”

"We had a bunch of guys that we all kind of knocked them down a little but on social media to say, 'This guy is not the hero of any story.'" Starr said. "They were really glorifying him, they loved him. Which is surreal."

Starr added that he was surprised to find some The Boys fans siding with Homelander, given the outrageously evil actions he takes in the show. "What I didn't expect was that people would be so conflicted around it and, you know, finding themselves finding empathy for this monster."

And in 2024, ahead of The Boys Season 4, Kripke responded to fans saying Homelander is a hero, saying: "Some people who watch it think Homelander is the hero. What do you say to that? The show’s many things. Subtle isn’t one of them. So if that’s the message you’re getting from it, I just throw up my hands.”

Kripe has also said that Homelander was always intended to be a proxy for Donald Trump. “When Seth [Rogen] and Evan [Goldberg] and I took it out to pitch, it was 2016," he explained. "We just wanted to do a very realistic version of a superhero show, one where superheroes are celebrities behaving badly.

"Trump was the, ‘He’s not really getting the nomination, is he?’ guy. When he got elected, we had a metaphor that said more about the current world. Suddenly, we were telling a story about the intersection of celebrity and authoritarianism and how social media and entertainment are used to sell fascism. We’re right in the eye of the storm. And once we realized that, I just felt an obligation to run in that direction as far as we could.”

In August last year, actor Antony Starr waved goodbye to Homelander after Season 5 wrapped production, saying: “This complicated character allowed the space and range to discover and push boundaries in a way I never expected and I will always be grateful for this experience.”

Thanking Kripke, Starr added: “We created a monster, sir. And I will miss him, and you.”

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

NASA’s launched the rocket Artemis II today, the first manned mission to the moon in over 50 years. The 10-day mission will see three American astronauts and one Canadian travel around the moon and back, although they will not land on the moon itself.

The Artemis II aims to travel 250,000 miles into outer space in an attempt to break the record of 248,655 miles made by Apollo 13 in 1970. Artemis II’s mission hopes to pave the way for further space exploration and manned missions to Mars.

All this moon chatter got us thinking about how Hollywood has chronicled humankind’s relationship with our closest celestial neighbor.

We’ve settled on these 12 projects – 11 movies and one miniseries – you might want to add to your queue if you’re still over the moon about Artemis II, starting with:

First Man

Before he went into space to save the world in Project Hail Mary, Ryan Gosling portrayed astronaut Neil Armstrong in director Damien Chazelle’s 2018 film, First Man.

In IGN’s First Man review, critic Rafael Motamayor hailed the film as “a stunning cinematic achievement that celebrates one of humanity’s biggest triumphs (and mourns the tragedies that happened leading up to it), yet it never loses sight of its personal and small-scale story about a man going to work.”

Says the review: “When we finally get to the moon landing the screen expands, changing from 35mm to 70mm IMAX. It is a breathtaking shot, aided by the format, that really puts the viewer in the shoes of Neil Armstrong as he makes his iconic first steps. The sound is completely cut off, and most of the screen goes pitch black to immerse the audience and make them feel like they are in the void of space. First Man acknowledges how magnificent an achievement the moon landing was, yet it never loses sight of the inner struggle and journey of the first man who stepped on its surface.”

Two From Tom Hanks: Apollo 13 and From the Earth to the Moon

Tom Hanks’ other well known passion beyond World War II is the Space Race of the 1950s and ‘60s where the United States sought to reach the Moon before the Soviets. In 1998, Hanks exec-produced the HBO 12-part docudrama miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, which chronicled NASA’s Apollo program of the ‘60s and early ‘70s.

Hanks directed the first episode – covering NASA’s creation and the early Mercury and Gemini programs – and hosted the first 11 episodes. In the show’s twelfth and final episode, Hanks portrays the assistant to Georges Méliès, the director of the 1902 sci-fi film A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune).

Hanks has revisited the troubled Apollo 13 mission twice in his career, first in 1995’s Apollo 13 and then again in From the Earth to the Moon. Director Ron Howard’s dramatization recreates the suspenseful 1970 lunar mission in which astronauts Jim Lovell (Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton), and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) became trapped in space after their craft's oxygen tanks exploded, crippling their power and air supply. Howard's film painstakingly recreates how the astronauts and the NASA ground crew (supervised by Ed Harris' Flight Director Gene Kranz) worked feverishly to return Apollo 13 safely to Earth.

While most filmgoers knew the story's outcome beforehand, the fun and suspense of Apollo 13 is in watching how brilliant men use their wits and all available resources to get the job done. Top-notch performances by the entire cast, a taut screenplay, and assured direction make Apollo 13 a great piece of entertainment and a stirring tribute to the American "can-do" spirit. Meanwhile, From the Earth to the Moon’s depiction of the Apollo 13 mission is grounded in the homefront where two reporters jockey to cover the crisis.

2001: A Space Odyssey

The moon plays an integral role in director Stanley Kubrick’s meditative 1968 classic, which ranks as IGN’s No. 1 on our list of the Top 100 sci-fi movies of all time. In the film, Dr. Heywood Floyd is tasked with investigating a mysterious object that’s been discovered on the moon, having been buried there 4 million years before.

This object – a tall, smooth, black monolith – was first seen in the film’s prehistoric opening sequence, where a group of hominins encounter it. The monolith appears at various points in human technological evolution, from the moment a hominin learns to use a bone as a weapon (cue cinema’s greatest jump cut of all time) to humankind’s exploration of the moon and later Jupiter. What exactly the alien monolith means remains the subject of many cinephile essays.

Kubrick’s realistic depiction of the moon and space exploration in 2001 beget the long-standing conspiracy theory that Kubrick helped the US government fake the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.

The Dish

This charming Aussie dramedy from 2000 uses the 1969 moon landing as the backdrop for a story about culture clash and human ingenuity. The Parkes Radio Telescope in New South Wales is the only satellite dish on Earth capable of broadcasting the moon landing. NASA officials are on hand when the dish loses power and the Aussie engineers (Sam Neill among them) have to wing it to get things working again in time for the whole world to watch the first man step foot on the moon.

“Beautifully realized and well paced, the film successfully captures the zeitgeist of a generation without drowning us in the same trite details we've heard a million times before in documentaries and other films,” Smriti Mundhra wrote in IGN’s The Dish review.

“​​There are points in the movie where the nostalgia and good cheer become diabetically sweet, and the array of stock footage of 1969 news coverage infused into the film does go a bit overboard, but it’s a miniscule price to pay for such an otherwise brilliant film.”

Moon

Duncan Jones made his feature film directing debut with this cerebral sci-fi film from 2009 featuring a tour-de-force performance from Sam Rockwell. Set a few decades in the future, Moon follows Sam Bell, the lone employee working at a lunar mining facility that provides the natural resource which has solved much of Earth's energy problems. Sam's sole companion is "Gerty," the station's computer (voiced by Kevin Spacey).

Sam is nearing the end of his three-year contract with the corporation that owns the lunar mining operation, and he can't wait to return home to his wife Tess and baby girl Eve. As the days dwindle down towards his return to Earth, Sam begins seeing things, such as a woman sitting in one of the station's bays and glitches in recordings that flash images of conversations that have already happened or that he can't recall ever having. Sam's mental state rapidly deteriorates, culminating in an accident that leaves him badly injured. Is he going mad, or is Sam not as alone on the moon as he has believed?

Moon is a valentine to the smart genre films of the '70s and the very best Twilight Zone and Outer Limits episodes. The movie begins, as our IGN UK colleagues described it at the time, as The Shining in space, with touches of 2001 thrown in for good measure. But then this Kubrickian homage segues into Cronenberg country, and even has nods to Ridley Scott's sci-fi classics as well as the 1981 "High Noon in space" thriller Outland. And yet despite all these stylistic and narrative nods to films past, Moon manages to feel completely fresh and authentic.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Director Michael Bay’s third installment in the movie franchise revealed that the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing was actually a secret mission involving the wreckage of a Cybertronian spaceship and legendary astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were in on it.

As explained in our A History of the World According to Michael Bay’s Transformers Movies: “The entire Apollo 11 operation was merely a cover for Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's true mission. During a brief period of radio silence, the two astronauts explored the wreckage of a ship called the Ark. Coming on the heels of the discovery of N.B.E.-01, mankind had further proof it wasn't alone in the universe. But it wasn't until 2011 when the Autobots learned of the Ark's existence and figured out how to wake up its pilot, Sentinel Prime.”

Voiced by Leonard Nimoy, Sentinel Prime later brings the Decepticons left aboard the Ark to Earth to unleash a wave of Bayhem that only the Autobots and their human allies can stop.

Moonfall

Independence Day director Roland Emmerich revisited the disaster genre with his 2022 film about a mysterious force that dislodges the moon from its orbit, putting it on a collision course with Earth. Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson star as a pair of disgraced NASA astronauts, teamed with John Bradley’s conspiracy theorist, who must find a way to save the day.

For all its cosmic spectacle, IGN critic Siddhant Adlakha wasn’t over the moon about Emmerich’s film, writing in his Moonfall review that it’s “a hodgepodge of retread ground, with less humanity and artistry than Emmerich is known for, all stitched together in mechanical and uninspired fashion.”

Adlakha added that “the version of Moonfall that exists in the imagination, based on its various trailers and synopses, is much more delightful, intriguing, and awe-inspiring than what ends up on screen.”

Despicable Me

The original Despicable Me follows supervillain Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), who lives in a nice house in a nice neighborhood, which serves as the perfect cover for his vast underground lair where his Minions and his mad scientist colleague, Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), builds gizmos and weaponry.

Having fallen on hard times, Gru aims to pull off his biggest heist yet: stealing the moon by shrinking it! But he's competing with a younger upstart, the nerdy Vector (Jason Segel), and finds his cold heart slowly but surely melting when three adorable orphans -- Margo, Edith and Agnes -- enter his life. Suddenly finding himself responsible for something other than his own wicked schemes, Gru may just go from bad to dad.

Well, of course, Gru redeems himself in the end because otherwise Illumination and Universal never would’ve been able to launch their flagship animated franchise, which has so far yielded video games, theme park attractions, three movie sequels and three Minions spin-off movies, with the next installment, Minions & Monsters, hitting theaters in July.

In the Shadow of the Moon

This 2007 documentary chronicles NASA's manned moon missions of the 1960s and ‘70s, interviewing 10 of the 24 astronauts from the Apollo program who reached the moon (Neil Armstrong, however, declined to be interviewed).

“Rather than framing their comments with superfluous narration, however, director David Sington allows the participants to speak for themselves, compiling rich, riveting and personal tales taken directly from the cockpits of their ships,” critic Todd Gilchrist writes in IGN’s In the Shadow of the Moon review.

“Moreover, the descriptions of the trips themselves are awe-inspiring -- not the least of which because they were successful -- and prove invigorating as they demonstrate an interest and a pursuit of things larger than personal comforts or local interests. These brave men were genuinely and passionately interested in going to new places no one had ever been, and it's exhilarating to hear about them solving problems -- both simple and complex -- that ultimately and literally generate one historical precedent after another.”

Airplane II: The Sequel

While nowhere near the comedy classic that the 1980 original remains, Airplane II: The Sequel still offers plenty of yuks and memorable moments, many of them thanks to William Shatner’s send-up of his Captain Kirk persona.

Made in the heyday of the USA’s space shuttle program, Airplane II: The Sequel takes place in a near-future when a colony exists on the moon. The lunar shuttle Mayflower One isn’t ready for its inaugural flight, but that’s not going to keep the powers-that-be from letting it launch. It doesn’t help that the whistleblower claiming the shuttle isn't ready is Ted Stryker, the PTSD-struck hero of the first film who once again finds himself behind the controls of a doomed flight, this time bound for the moon.

Although a few familiar faces from the first film return, it’s Shatner’s turn as the lunar base’s Commander Buck Murdock who steals the show this time. Shatner devours every moment of screen time he gets, making a meal out of riffing on his iconic Star Trek character.

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

This sequel to the 1997 blockbuster comedy sees Dr. Evil and his minions travel back in time to 1969 to steal Austin Powers’ mojo, rendering the swingin’ spy impotent.

Austin travels back in time to regain his mojo and thwart Dr. Evil’s plot to destroy Washington D.C. using a giant laser cannon – what he likes to call a “death star” – on his moon base and developed by the “Alan Parsons Project.”

The Spy Who Shagged Me introduces notable characters like Fat Bastard and Mini-Me, the latter of whom gets the upper hand in fighting Austin until he is “pooped” out into space.

What are your favorite moon movies and shows? Let us know in the comments.

Spoilers follow for Invincible Season 4, Episode 5, “Give Us a Moment,” which is available on Prime Video now.

If you’ve been wondering what creator Robert Kirkman has been calling Invincible’s most brutal scene to date, look no further than this week’s climax. The current season’s fifth episode proves the show works best when contrasting moments of quietly affecting drama with physically wince-inducing scenes. It doesn’t always get this balance right, but it most certainly does here in what proves to be a pivotal entry — not to mention a much needed step up from Episode 4’s meandering underworld detour.

Last week’s cliffhanger saw Nolan returning to Earth for the first time since leaving as a barbaric conqueror. And while he’s done plenty of introspecting in the meantime — thanks in part to Allen, without whom he would’ve gladly embraced dying — this doesn’t change much for the people who once knew and loved him. “Give Us a Moment” kicks off with the anticipated reunion between father and son, as Nolan tries to gently recruit Mark while laying out the stakes: He can stay behind if he wants, but the Viltrum empire will make its way to him eventually, leaving him without much of a choice. The timing of this recruitment couldn’t be worse, since Eve was just about to come clean about her pregnancy, but she decides not to after a family dinner with the Graysons.

Since Nolan and Mark crossed paths after his departure, perhaps even more anticipated is the uneasy reunion between Nolan and his ex-wife Debbie, who’s been desperately trying to rebuild a normal life. Their confrontation is impeccably staged, with Debbie avoiding eye contact, and actress Sandra Oh doing the heavy lifting through her shuddering voice performance, letting out her mounting frustrations in ways that call Nolan’s ongoing arc into question. He’s apologetic, sure, but who is he really apologizing for?

Shortly thereafter, he catches up with Art as well, who — in his own words, about only designing suits for heroes — turns down Nolan’s request for a new costume, while also letting him know what he thinks of his former friend. This new Nolan wouldn’t hurt his former pal, but Art doesn’t know that, and lets out a deeply-held breath the moment he leaves, as though he expected their reunion to go sideways. Without directly confronting it, this makes for a superb way to further highlight the dichotomy between Nolan’s soul-searching and making actual amends: People are still terrified of the villainous Omni-Man, and rightly so. On a secondary note, this chat also addresses a small but valuable change in design: Nolan’s new barefooted onesie, which he says keeps him grounded. And while that may be true, the reason it works in a visual sense is that it makes him appear more vulnerable. So, as much as he may receive well deserved dressings-down from former allies, he still occupies an empathetic presence on screen, à la Kill Bill’s the Bride or Die Hard’s John McClane.

As eager as Nolan is to make amends with Mark, Debbie and Art, he concocts seemingly altruistic reasons to stay away from Oliver, the only person who might actually want to see him. Spurned by his father’s rejection, the younger Grayson sibling decides to test his heroism by joining Mark on his interstellar journey to fight the Viltrumites, forcing an explanation out of Nolan in the process. He also insists on going in order to protect his mom, which is all kinds of heart-melting, and although it brings with it the realization that we don’t see much of what else is at stake for him, that we don’t really know much about his non-superhero life might just tragically suggest that, even at his tender age, he doesn’t really have one.

The Graysons are joined, on their weeks’ long voyage, by the Earthbound, mecha anime-inspired hero Tech Jacket, aka Zoe — a gender-bent version of Zach from Kirman’s Tech Jacket comics — who makes for a jovial presence, and whose transforming nanotech adds some interesting visual wrinkles to this week’s proceedings. But before we dive into any action, the show (as is its MO) presents us with another musical montage, this time set to the thoughtful sounds of Omar Apollo’s “Drifting.” The newfangled superhero troupe gets acquainted, but Nolan is left at an emotional distance, an image interspersed with a remorseful flashback of him first dating Debbie — which, in retrospect, is essentially him entrapping her for the purpose of breeding a genocidal heir.

However, before Nolan can deal with these emotional burdens, a crisis arises aboard their spaceship. The Grayson trio are separated from the rest of the team in outer space. It turns out a trio of Viltrum warriors have attacked, and among them is a ruthless, revenge-seeking Conquest, who Jeffrey Dean Morgan voices with a sinister snarl. This rematch with Mark breaks out quicker than expected, only now it comes with the added weight of Conquest having gravely injured Eve the last time they met, and having nearly killed Mark as well. He turns his sights on Oliver this time, nearly squashing his head like a grape, but this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the episode’s brutality.

While it’s not quite clear who the robotic figures shooting at the heroes are — more Viltrumites? Their alien slaves? Perhaps some kind of robots? — the fistfights themselves crackle with momentum and blood-curling impact, while emotionally charged character moments unfold between Nolan and his sons. The embattled characters eventually land on a desert planet, where Mark and Conquest engage in some of the most sickening violence on the show thus far, as our young hero tries to choke the life out of the aged soldier until his face turns gray and eyes fill up with blood. Conquest in turn spears his arm all the way through Mark’s torso before slowly disemboweling him, as the two remain locked in twitchy, squelching agony.

Jesus Christ.

By a hair, Mark emerges the victor before passing out. Even the most hardened viewers will likely find these images tough to swallow, and as an extension of both last season’s climax, and of Mark’s newfound commitment to doing whatever is necessary, it feels like the curling of a monkey’s paw. Sure, it’s the fight we might have wanted, but that it takes such barbaric form is sure to leave the season in a markedly different place next week.

Thankfully, the episode ends with a comedic button as Allen and Zoe, disguised together within the Tech Jacket suit, hide out on the surface of the Viltrumite ship (in Millenium Falcon fashion). Like Art letting out a sigh when Nolan finally leaves, it’s a much needed relief after some of the series’ most unrelenting, vicious intensity.