40 fantasy and sci-fi shows to watch this year
By Daniel Roman
The Witcher season 3
Season 3 of Netflix’s monster-hunting fantasy series The Witcher is on the way this year, and it’s set to be a pretty big event for the series. The Witcher’s third season will mark the final time that Henry Cavill will don the white wig as Geralt of Rivia. Given how upset fans were when they heard he was leaving the show, as well as the dismal response to The Witcher: Blood Origin spinoff, season 3 has a lot to prove. It’s also adapting one of the most beloved books in Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher saga, Time of Contempt, which means there’s plenty of good material we could see onscreen. Will it be a return to form for the series?
We’ll certainly find out. “We really feel like it’s when everything changes in the series,” showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich recently told EW. If season 3 even remotely follows the events of the book series, that’s very easy to imagine; this is when Geralt’s vow of neutrality is really tested, when Ciri is forced to start fending for herself, and when a pivotal moment comes for the sorcerers of the Continent. So even barring Cavill’s exit, this was always going to be a big one.
Following in the footsteps of Netflix shows like Stranger Things and You, The Witcher season 3 will be split into two volumes. Volume I will consist of five episodes and release on June 29. Volume II will contain the season’s final three episodes and release a month later on July 27.
Foundation season 2
One of the weirder genre shows to debut in the past few years is Foundation on Apple TV+. Based on the book series of the same name by legendary sci-fi author Isaac Asimov, Foundation details the efforts of Dr. Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) and a group of other great minds to preserve the gathered art, science, and technology of the human race in the face of a looming societal collapse. Set in a far distant future where humanity has colonized the galaxy and the Earth is but a distant memory, Foundation is one of the seminal early science fiction series of the 20th century.
So there was a lot riding on the show’s first season. It received mixed reviews, but did well enough that Apple is telling more of the story. A new trailer for season 2 released just this past week, right in time to get people talking again as we head into the new year.
The trailer also confirmed a release date for the show’s sophomore outing: Season 2 of Foundation premieres on Apple TV+ on July 14.