House of the Dragon and 40 other sci-fi/fantasy shows to look forward to in 2024

11. Fallout (April 12, Amazon Prime Video)

Based on the popular Fallout role-playing games from Bethesda, this show is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland that, if the show stays true to the games, will have a 1950s aesthetic for reasons that may or may not become clear. After HBO had a big hit with its video game adaptation The Last of Us, can Amazon follow suit?

12. Dead Boy Detectives (April 2024, Netflix)

Dead Boy Detectives is what it sounds like: it’s about a pair of boys who are dead and also detectives. They have to solve mysteries while also avoiding moving onto the next life.

These characters were first introduced in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman series before getting their own comic and now their own TV show. With Gaiman behind the idea, you know it will be funny, inventive and a bit dark and twisted.

13. Interview With The Vampire season 2 (May 12, AMC)

Interview With The Vampire was another surprise hit back in 2022. Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles had been picked pretty clean over the years, but AMC managed to breathe new life into this story of a trio of vampires who form a little family while grappling with the problems of immortality.

Season 2 will split up the gang as Louis and Claudia head to Europe while the unpredictable Lestat stays behind in America. We left him for dead, but I think we all know that’s not going to last.

14. Doctor Who season 14 (May 2024, Disney+ and BBC)

Doctor Who has been on the air for 60 years and isn’t slowing down. Right now, David Tennant has returned for a trio of specials. In 2024, he’ll be replaced by Ncuti Gatwa, who will take over as the Fifteenth Doctor. That’s him and companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) above, dressed in their Swinging London 1960s finest above.

Season 11 will feature the return of showrunner Russell T Davies, the guy who originally rebooted Doctor Who back in 2005. Doctor Who goes in and out of periods of growth and stagnation. This is looking more and more like one of the growth periods.

15. The Boys season 4 (June 13, Amazon Prime Video)

Speaking of supervillains, 2024 will see the return of The Boys, the subversive superhero show where the superheroes are sociopaths and the good guys are the ones trying to take them down.

The Boys has built a lot of momentum over the course of its first three seasons. In particular, the homicidal villain Homelander (Antony Starr) — a warped version of Superman with arrested development and a god complex — has gotten a lot of attention. It’s been fun watching him spiral more and more out of control with each passing year. If season 4 plays its cards right, 2024 could be the year when The Boys goes from being a popular TV show to an outright pop culture phenomenon.

16. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (early 2024, Disney+)

Skeleton Crew is one of several Star Wars shows coming to Disney+ in 2024. This one is about a group of kids who find themselves in control of a spaceship. Their mission: somehow get home. Jude Law stars, presumably not as one of the kids.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is set after the fall of the Empire, which means it takes place roughly at the same time as The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka. Crossovers are possible.

For my money, this is the most sophisticated show to come out of the Star Wars cinematic universe so far, if not the most fun. But it may have some competition in the form of yet another Star Wars series:

17. Star Wars: The Acolyte (summer 2024, Disney+)

Yep, there are a lot of Star Wars shows coming in 2024. The Acolyte is a brand new series that will be set some 200 years before the Star Wars prequel trilogy, which means it will take us further back in time than any Star Wars movie or show before it. It sounds like The Acolyte will explore the reemergence of the Sith at a time when the Jedi are at the height of their power. Details on this one remain fuzzy, but we may spend a lot of time with characters who embrace the dark side of the Force, which could be fun.

Alright, that’s enough frolicking in outer space. Let’s turn to one of the big fantasy shows returning next year…