Television and streaming have had an exciting year in 2022, with a number of great fandoms represented while building new ones. Breaking Bad’s extended lifespan through the prequel Better Call Saul got its conclusion this year, while Game of Thrones took a new shot at redemption with the fans, and House of the Dragon won us back. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power took the streaming audiences by storm, and Wednesday produced some of the most iconic moments, looks, and people of the whole year. But what’s to look forward to in Entertainment for 2023?
Attack of the Fanboy’s Most Anticipated TV and Streaming Shows of 2023
2023 is a promising year for many fandoms, with new shows and exciting new seasons to keep viewers engaged and excited. This includes adaptations of iconic video games and follow-up seasons to critically acclaimed new shows. There’s even some nostalgia treatment thrown in the mix, and while it can be intimidating to keep up with the channel options and streaming services available, here are some of the standout upcoming titles. Suffice it to say, TV fandoms will be eating good, especially if you like shows in the universes of known IPs.
The Last of Us
We’ve made it no secret how excited we are for The Last of Us to come to HBO, HBO Max, and Sky TV. It shows extreme promise and serves as an example of how good a video game adaptation can be if its source material is taken seriously. The cast list is looking fantastic, the atmosphere looks suitably bleak, the drama potent, and the horrors suitably intense. It remains to be seen how it stands among other HBO shows, but it’s certainly an ambitious one.
Ultimately, we’ll know truly how good it is when it debuts on January 15, 2023. Available through HBO and HBO Max.
The Mandalorian
Star Wars fans finally received a spin-off that veered away from the controversy the sequel trilogy attracted. Regardless of your feelings about the latest movies, Star Wars has put out some excellent streaming shows, and the most famous, highly-anticipated among them has easily been The Mandalorian. The show steals focus away from the Jedi and Sith, focusing on worldbuilding through the eyes of Din Djarin as he finds his place among his people and braves dangerous missions. It’s so popular among fans that even a show focusing on perhaps one of the most fan-demanded characters, The Book of Boba Fett, was at its best when it had a guest appearance from Din.
Season 3 is set to premiere on March 1, 2023, with Pedro Pascal starring, meaning you’ll be seeing lots of him through the winter and spring. Available on Disney Plus.
Invincible
Invincible achieved something incredible as an animated series, putting superheroes into a world where their Superman analogue, Omni-Man, is not nearly as trustworthy and pulls no punches. It’s a violent, engaging adaptation of a great Image Comics property, with animation to the quality one might expect from the best DC animated shows. It also benefits from being possibly the most interesting, envelope-pushing animated western superhero series since 1995’s The Maxx.
Season 2 is set to premiere in 2023 on Amazon Prime Video.
That 90’s Show
That ’70s Show ended in 2006, and despite it having run out of steam by then, it made massive stars out of most of its cast. It was funny, even though it had parts that didn’t age quite so well (much like parts about the ’70s decade) but felt authentic, even if parts felt off, like Eric’s anachronistic Spider-Man sheets. But That ’90s Show seeks to tap into the similar nostalgia people have for the 1990s, where animated shows were at their best, video games were going 3D, and anime was slipping into the mainstream.
It also features the return of almost everybody from the original cast, and indeed everybody the fans wanted, along with their children to usher in a new generation. Maybe Leia Forman will still have those Spider-Man sheets as an Easter egg since they’re for the ’90s animated series?
That ’90s Show is set to premiere on January 19, 2023, on Netflix.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
This series instantly became the broad favorite Star Trek series to debut over the last 2 decades, due to its authenticity and tribute to the original greats. Strange New Worlds elevates the franchise to greater heights, sticking to its progressive roots while having great storytelling and an excellent cast. It doesn’t hurt that the visuals are stunning, too, and it continues to have some of the best production values, costumes, and makeup/prosthetic work on television.
Season 2 is set to premiere in 2023 on Paramount Plus.
Secret Invasion
Where would 2023 be without yet another Marvel streaming miniseries? This one will be among the most ambitious yet, with Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury cooperating with the Skrulls to determine just how badly one of the enemy Skrull factions has infiltrated planet Earth. The show features an all-star cast including Ben Mendelsohn, Cobie Smulders, Emilia Clarke, Martin Freeman, Don Cheadle, and Olivia Colman, among others.
Secret Invasion is set to premiere in early 2023 on Disney Plus.
Other Honorable Mentions
Fandoms will be eating good in 2023 regardless of what your poison is, be it sitcoms, superhero shows, fantasy, horror, or sci-fi. There’s something for everyone, and here are some additional shows to look out for, expected to release in 2023:
- Agatha: Coven of Chaos
- Echo
- Loki (Season 2)
- The Witcher (Season 3)
- Star Trek: Picard (Season 3)
- Star Trek: Discovery (Season 5)
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Season 2)
- Ted Lasso (Season 3)
The year of 2023 is sure to include even more exciting announcements and confirmations, but it’s packed full of exciting content no matter what your choice of streaming service is. Netflix is always a safe bet, but Apple TV+ has been impressing viewers with massive critical darlings like Ted Lasso in recent years. Whatever your tastes may be, this year is packed with flavor, but be sure to check any of these selections from the menu.
