40 fantasy and sci-fi shows to watch this year
By Daniel Roman
The Last of Us
Video game adaptations have long had a reputation as being pretty bad. But that reputation is fast changing thanks to hits like Netflix’s Arcane. This year HBO will threw their hat into the ring in a big way with The Last of Us, a new zombie thriller based on the hit video game by Naughty Dog studios.
The Last of Us tells the story of Joel (Pedro Pascal), a weathered survivor of a zombie plague who needs to transport a young girl named Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across a post-apocalyptic United States. The game was an enormous hit in large part because of how cinematic it was and how much detail it paid its characters. This isn’t another substandard zombie tale; it’s a deeply human story about two mismatched survivors struggling to stay alive.
The HBO series is produced by Chernobyl creator Craig Maizin and Naughty Dog head Neil Druckmann. Between them and the pair of Game of Thrones veterans in the lead roles, there’s a lot of creative juice behind this thing.
The Last of Us was easily one of the biggest shows of the year so far. You can watch its entire nine-episode first season on HBO and HBO Max.
The Legend of Vox Machina season 2
Critical Role started out as a top-notch Dungeons & Dragons podcast featuring a cast of professional voice actors. In 2021, it branched out into other mediums like books and television, including the first season of The Legend of Vox Machina on Prime Video.
The animated show translates the podcast’s heart and humor to the small screen. And of course, they already had a great cast. It’s a high fantasy show with dragons, wizards, and all the other trappings you’d expect from a series with its roots in D&D. It can get intense and violent but never takes itself too seriously.
The Legend of Vox Machina returned this year for a second season on Prime Video. Season 2 consists of 12 episodes which were released in groups of three each week; you can watch the entire season now on Prime Video.
Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches
Everyone wants their own cinematic universe these days, and AMC has hosted a few, most notably The Walking Dead and its various spinoffs. The next big interconnected franchise they’re looking to launch is The Immortal Universe, based on the works of horror author Anne Rice.
The first show of The Immortal Universe, Interview With The Vampire, came out last fall and quickly won over a lot of people with its fresh take on the classic story of a brooding vampire telling his twisted life’s story. But AMC isn’t keen to rest on its laurels; the next installment in The Immortal Universe came out a scant couple of months later, right at the beginning of 2023.
Mayfair Witches isn’t quite as well-known as Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, which means AMC didn’t have to worry as much about it being compared to previous adaptations. The series follows neurosurgeon Dr. Rowan Fielding, played by Alexandra Daddario (The White Lotus), who discovers that she’s the unlikely heir to a bloodline of witches.
Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches premiered on AMC and AMC+ on January 8. Its eight-episode first season is available now on AMC+.