When we were putting together a podcast episode about all the best sci-fi and fantasy TV show coming out in 2025, I was surprised by how much there was to talk about. I keep expecting the big-budget prestige TV bubble to pop, or for the slack in production during COVID to catch up with the industry, or for something to stop the firehose of content from soaking us wet. But if anything, the pressure is getting turned up.
And although it's a lot to keep up with, that's mostly great news! There are a ton of quality sci-fi and fantasy TV shows on the way in 2025, some of them brand new, some of them continuations of old favorites, and some of them conclusions to once-in-a-generation TV phenomena. Before the end of January, we thought we'd put together a guide to the best sci-fi and fantasy TV we'll get to watch over the next 12 months. Rest assured that we'll be eating well all year round.
I've chosen a show to go with each month of the year. In some cases, we know for sure that these shows are debuting new episodes in that month. For others I'm guessing at the release months, especially as we get later down the list. But even if they all dropped right now, there's so much to go around that it might take to the end of the year to watch it all.
January: Severance season 2 (Apple TV+)
Our pick for January is already off and running. The second season of Severance kicked off on January 17 and is already serving up the kind of mind-bending, unpredictable storytelling fans of the first season came to expect.
Mark, Helly, Dylan and Irving are employees at Lumon, a mysterious corporation working towards some mysterious end. All of them underwent a procedure that makes it impossible for them to remember anything they've done at work when they're at home, and vice versa. Essentially, their work selves — called their "Innies" — are wholly new people, and over the course of the first season they were getting pretty fed up with their office-bound existence. But will their "Outies" sympathize with this, or will they have to fight the other personality living in their bodies?
Severance has a wonderfully warped premise. It's impeccably made and stuff with both tantalizing mysteries as well as a lot of great office humor. Fans have waited a long time for new episodes, and so far the second season isn't disappointing.
February: Invincible season 3 (Prime Video)
Invincibe is a superhero comic book series from Robert Kirkman, best known as the guy who created The Walking Dead. Prime Video's animated adaptation has distinguished itself as one of the best superhero TV shows around, which is saying something when there are 30 Marvel series running on Disney+ at any given time.
The upcoming third season starts on February 6 and willing follow budding superhero Mark Grayson, aka Invincible, as he shoulders more responsibility. With the brutal Viltrumite empire setting its sights on Earth, the third season promises to be the most exciting yet.
What I love about Invincible is that it commits so hard to the fundamentals. There's no big gimmick to the series. It's a pretty straight-forward tale of super-heroics, but the show really believes that such a story is worth telling, so we believe it to. The cast is excellent, the animation lovingly drawn, the expanding cast very endearing and the violence bone-crunchingly satisfying. This could be the year when Invincible goes from popular show to animated phoenomenon.
March: The Wheel of Time season 3 (Prime Video)
The Wheel of Time is one of the most beloved epic fantasy book series of all time. The first season of Prime Video's adaptation had some rough edges, but the second was much better and the third will adapt The Shadow Rising, one of the most beloved books in Robert Jordan's series. The stage is set for The Wheel of Time to become the best epic fantasy show now running.
The Wheel of Time has embraced the density of its source material; it has tons of characters to meet, plotlines to follow and placenames to learn, and it trusts that its audience will be drawn in by this complexity rather than repelled. The third season, which I hope wins the show enough plaudits for it to truly break into the mainstream, will premiere on March 13.
March will also see the premiere of Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+, on March 4. That's another big deal of a show, a revival of the beloved Netflix Daredevil series, but I'm only limiting myself to one show per month of 2025. Personally, I'm more excited for The Wheel of Time. That's how packed this year is: some shows are going to get left behind.
April: The Last of Us season 2 (HBO/Max)
Video game adaptations have improved markedly in the past couple decades, and HBO's The Last of Us — based on Naughty Dog's video game series about a zombie apocalypse — may be the best yet. Subtle, heartfelt and beautiful, it tells the tale of Joel and Ellie, two survivors who become like father and daughter as they make their way across the ruined United States.
That was the first season. The upcoming second season will adapt the The Last of Us: Part II, which throws some crazy wrenches into the mix. The video game inspired furious debate online when it dropped in 2020. Will the second season of the TV show do the same?
We know that The Last of Us season 2 is premiering in April. We don't know the exact date, but smart money is on April 13. Another heavy hitter coming out that month is the second and final season of Star Wars: Andor, which premieres on Disney+ on April 22.
May: The Handmaid's Tale season 6 (Hulu)
Okay, here's where we start guessing at dates. The sixth and final season of The Handmaid's Tale is coming out sometime this spring, which could mean anytime from late March to late June. We're going to take a stab and say it will arrive in May.
Hulu's adaptation of Margaret Atwood's lauded novel started with a bang; lots of people were watching and writing about The Handmaid's Tale when it first came out, with many pointing out the chilling relevance of a story about a post-apocalypstic society where women are reduced to the role of second-class citizens, as well as praising Elizabeth Moss for her performance as June, a handmaid who pushes back.
It feels like the buzz around the show has decreased over the years as the producers went well beyond the pages of Atwood's book, but reviews are still strong. And this will be the final season, so if there was ever a time to catch up on The Handmaid's Tale, it's now.
June: Squid Game season 3 (Netflix)
The first season of Squid Game dropped on Netflix in 2021 and quickly became the most successful original series in the history of the streamer. People really connected with this story about cash-strapped individuals hoodwinked into participating in a series of deadly games in the hope of winning a huge cash prize. While the contestants fight and die for a chance at financial stability, the group of billionaires who fund the games watch on. It was thrilling, funny, and felt uncomfortably trenchant at a time when the divide between the halves and the have-nots is growing ever wider.
The second season back away from the class war aspects a bit and ended on a cliffhanger, but the third season is coming along this year to wrap up the story. The exact date hasn't been confirmed, but leakers have it that the final episodes will drop on Netflix on June 27. If true, that means fans only have to wait a few months between seasons 2 and 3, much better than the multi-year wait they had to endure between seasons 1 and 2.
I'm hoping the final season of Squid Game pulls back the curtain and focuses on the billionaires who are watching poor people kill each other for their entertainment. That was part of what made the first season so universally relatable, and it'd be great to return to that.
July: Stranger Things season 5 (Netflix)
And we're back to guessing. In fact, we'll be guessing at the dates for the rest of the shows on this list. We know that the fifth season of Stranger Things is heading to Netflix sometime this year. Of the five times Netflix has dropped new episodes of the show in the past, three of those drops have happened in July. Expect Netflix to divide this final season into two chunks. We're going to predict that the first will stick to tradition and land in July.
As for the show itself, they don't get much bigger than Stranger Things. This sci-fi story about a group of kids who come upon an interdimensional mystery in small town America came out of nowhere in 2016 and has grown by leaps and bounds with every new season. Now, the cast will face down the villainous Vecna for one huge, earth-shattering climax.
August: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (HBO/Max)
Several of the shows on this list likely wouldn't exist if Game of Thrones hadn't been a record-shattering success for HBO in the 2010s. That show is over, but HBO already has one spinoff, House of the Dragon, on the air. As we wait for the third season of that show, HBO is readying another spinoff: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which is set just shy of 100 years before the original series.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is based on the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas by author George R.R. Martin. They follow a stalwart knight named Dunk (Peter Claffey) and his precocious squid Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) as they wander around the Seven Kingdoms having adventures. All told, the stakes are lower and tone lighter than either Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, but we'll still get plenty of the rich character work and fantastic medieval period detail Martin is known for.
So far as we've heard, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is coming out in "summer 2025" or "late 2025." We'll split the difference and guess it'll premiere in August. It's one of the only brand new show on our list and I hope it does well.
September: The Witcher season 4 (Netflix)
Filming on the fourth season of The Witcher ended late last year, with post-production continuing into 2025. We can confidently say it'll be out sometime this year, but the lack of any firm information makes us think it won't release in the back half. Why not in September?
The Witcher, based on the epic fantasy books by author Andrzej Sapkowski, has had its ups and downs since premiering on Netflix since premiering in 2019. The first season was warmly received, the second less so, and the third least of all. A lot of the bad reception to season 3 may have to do with the news that, starting with season 4, actor Henry Cavill — a regular internet darling — will no longer be playing the lead role of Geralt of Rivia, professional monster hunter. He'll be replaced by Liam Hemsworth, who has a lot to prove if he wants fans to accept him.
If you ask us, the third season was the high point of the series so far, and we're willing to give Hemsworth a chance. If the series continues the roll it began with season 3, and final two seasons could ring out the show in style. But are fans still willing to give it the time of day?
Another Netflix show that might return around this time is Wednesday. The first season of that show was a bona fide mega hit, so season 2 will have a lot of eyes on it at the very least.
October: IT: Welcome to Derry (HBO/Max)
IT: Welcome to Derry is a spinoff of Stephen King's horror book IT, adapted to the big screen with a pair of movies in 2017 and 2019. This prequel series will explore the past of Derry, the sleepy Maine town which happens to be the nesting ground for a child-eating monster that preys on fear. On the plus side, the property values are great.
IT: Welcome to Derry will adapt the "interludes" from King's original book, each of which detailed a gruesome chapter in the town's history. This first season will be set in the 1960s, when the monster known as It whipped up racial hatred and then feasted in the aftermath of a brutal attack. If that's a hit, producer Andy Muschietti — who directed the movies — has a couple more seasons planned.
And I think it will be. Horror is always an easy sell — we love to be scared — and a horror show that also sports that signature HBO brand of polish is especially appealing. We don't know exactly when Welcome to Derry will premiere, but it's a spooky show, so why not air it in October?
November: Outlander season 8 (Starz)
Squid Game and Stranger Things are two hugely popular series coming to an end in 2025. Here's one more for you: Outlander will air its eighth and final season sometime this year.
This show has been running since 2014; it's the oldest show on our list, and fans may not know what to do with themselves when it finally wraps up. Hopefully Starz has readied a worthy ending for Jamie and Claire Fraser, the couple with a connection so intense that not even being born hundreds of years apart can't keep them away from each other.
Filming on Outlander season 8 wrapped up in 2024, so Starz could probably air the new episodes earlier than November if it wanted to. However, first they're planning to air a new prequel series called Outlander: Blood of My Blood, which will be out sometime this summer. Only after that will we see the last season of Outlander. November feels like a good guess.
December: One Piece season 2 (Netflix)
It is extremely hard to make a live-action version of an anime series that doesn't suck, but somehow the wizards behind Netflix's One Piece pulled it off. The first season of this show was as daffy and caroon-like as fans of the long-running anime and manga series could expect, but grounded enough in reality that none of it seems outright ridiculous to new viewers who went in just wanting a good pirate story. The second season will be along late this year, and we're going to put it here in December.
The One Piece manga and anime are famously lengthy; the team behind the Netflix show doesn't lack for source material. I'm looking forward to seeing them continue to stretch themselves as they adapt one of Japan's most enduring popular series for live-action.
There are shows without release dates that didn't even make it on this list, including Alien: Earth, the second seasons of Gen V, The Sandman, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians, as well as the seventh season of Black Mirror. 2025 might just end up being the biggest year for sci-fi and fantasy TV yet, so strap in and enjoy.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.