2025 is here, and we are happy to know that several big sci-fi shows will be returning for our viewing pleasure. From the likes of Severance to Andor to Stranger Things, streaming services will be delivering new seasons of some of our favorite series, even if most of them do not have an official release date yet.
On the other hand, one of our most anticipated returning sci-fi shows is already running! Find out what you'll be watching this year on TV below:
Severance season 2 (Apple TV+)
Starting off our list is the return of the psychologically captivating Severance, a wonderfully weird workplace drama on Apple TV+. Taking the streaming world by storm with its first season in 2022, Severance has come back stronger than ever. The first couple episodes of season 2 have already aired, and so far they have the fans buzzing with theories, just like old times.
Severance is about a the lives of employees who have had their consciousnesses "severed"; when they're at home, they don't remember anything of what happened at work, and vice versa. Why would anyone subject themselves to such drastic measures? It depends on the person. What is Lumon's ultimate plan for this procedure. That's just one of the many mysteries fans can't wait to see unfold.
The second season of Severance will run through the end of March, so there's stil plenty of time to hop on board if you're intrigued.
The Last of Us season 2 (HBO/Max)
Who isn't looking forward to The Last of Us season 2? Well, it's possible you're a bit trepedacious if you played the video game of the same name, which famously inspired a firestorm online when it came out in 2020, but we don't know how closely the new season will follow the source material.
Premiering in April (probably April 13), audiences will be returning to Jackson, where Joel and Ellie are living alongside Joel's brother Tommy, his pregnant wife Maria, and a whole town of people who have survived the zombie apocalypse and are now protected against raiders and infected. But things might not be as easy as they seem, as there's animosity simmering between Ellie and Joel. Could the truth about what actually happened during the season 1 finale come to light?
The Last of Us, alongside Fallout, have proven that video game adaptations can be as successful, if not moreso, than most other TV shows. Now it's up to the second season to prove that the first wasn't a fluke.
The Last of Us is a new take on the apocalypse, focusing mainly on the budding father-daughter relationship between jaded smuggler Joel Miller and the sassy Ellie, the one person in all the world immune to the zombie pathogen. The Last of Us tells a compelling story with well-written characters living in a dark yet beautiful landscape where survival is key, but so are trustworthy, lifelong relationships.
Star Wars: Andor season 2 (Disney+)
Following the success of The Mandalorian, Disney+ released the heavy, heart-pumping, and gritty Star Wars TV show Andor. A prequel to the 2016 movie Rogue One, Andor follows our main character Cassian Andor, a jaded loner living under the Empire.
Cassian isn't the king of guy who you might think would get involved with the Rebel Alliance, but he ends up a key figure in its early formation. Slowly, he turns from cynic into true believer. The second and final season will take Cassian up to the beginning of Rogue One, which ends his journey for good.
Although Andor isn't as lighthearted or humorous as The Mandalorian, it's still one of the better Star Wars television shows in recent memory; depending on who you ask, it might even be the best. We look forward to getting just as invested in Cassian Andor himself when the show returns on April 22.
Squid Game season 3 (Netflix)
Technically, Squid Game may not quite be sci-fi. It's set in a world very much like ours, expect that a group of billionaires have financed a series of elaborate games where cash-strapped individuals are recruited to to fight to the death in the hopes of maybe walking away with a huge cash prize, all while the wealthiest people in the world watch and laugh.
Is that too close for comfort? It's just close enough to make Squid Game the most successful show in the history of Netflix, and it'll all wrap up with a third and final season. We don't technically know when the final episodes will drop, but the rumor is that it'll happen on June 27.
The second season of Squid Game returned Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) to the deadly squid games arena, this time with the intent of taking down the games from the inside. Things have not gone as planned. Season 2 basically ended in the middle of the story, so we expect season 3 to hit the ground running.
Stranger Things season 5 (Netflix)
This year will bring us the final season of Netflix's Stranger Things, one of the most successfull original shows the streamer has produced yet! We don't know when the new episodes might drop, nor do we have any idea how the series might conclude. It's frustrating on both counts.
While we're hoping that our group of small-town heroes will defeat the inter-dimensional menace known as Vecna and return peace to Hawkins, IN, I'm nervous not everyone will make it out of the show in one piece. What started as a group of D&D friends searching for their missing friend Will has turned into a thrilling adventure across five seasons of TV.
In the first season, the group comes across a mysterious girl named Eleven and learn that a secret lab has been performing experiments right in their own backyard. That leads to the discovery of an entire alternate realm called the Upside Down, filled with unimaginable horrors.
Considering season 4 ended on a cliffhanger with the Upside Down leaking into our reality, we have to wonder how our heroes may save not only their town but the world.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 (AMC)
The Walking Dead concluded after 11 seasons in 2022, but three spinoffs have followed several characters who were lucky enough to survive through to the end of the series. The first of these spinoffs to release was The Walking Dead: Dead City (once titled Isle of the Dead, but that's a different story for a different day).
Dead City follows Maggie (Lauren Cohan) as she seeks out former villain Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), whose help she needs get back her young son, who has been kidnapped by a man called the Croat. Negan is familiar with the man, and Maggie figures Negan owes her after brutally killing her husband Gleen years ago. So together they embark on a journey into walker-ridden New York City.
But that's only half the story. By the end of first season, everything we thought we'd known about Maggie and Negan's adventure was flipped on its head, and audiences were hungry for more. Definitely one of the better Walking Dead spinoffs thanks to the talented cast, developed characters, superb writing, and unforgettable soundtrack, we've been missing pining for more Dead City ever since the second season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon concluded.
Will Negan return to his old ways and help the Dama rule NYC? If he does, will it be because he likes it or because he wants to protect Maggie's son? Will Maggie finally seek her revenge against Negan? We'll have to wait until this spring to find out.
Gen V season 2 (Prime Video)
When Amazon Prime released The Boys, truly no one was prepared for what was to come. The show traded on the then-booming popularity of superheroes, but with a twist: most of the heroes in this universe were morally depraved monsters, and the protagonists were those few people fighting an uphill battle to take them down.
The Boys only has one season left, but this spinoff could continue the franchise after its gone. Gen V follows the lives of several super-powered college students attending Godolkin University, where they intend to hone their powers with the hopes of becoming rich and famous Supes. But the university is full of secrets, including the means to kill all supes.
By the end of season 1, our surviving characters are framed for an incident they didn't caused, leaving us curious as to how they will get out of the situation, not to mention what they will do with the information they learned.
Black Mirror season 7 (Netflix)
The sci-fi anthology show Black Mirror has been running since 2011, delivering up stand-alone episode after stand-alone about of chilling speculative fiction. With the rise of generative AI, it should have a lot to work with in season 7, which will come on Netflix sometime this year. The exact date eludes us, although we know there will be six episodes.
One interesting tidbit about this upcoming season is that it will feature a sequel to "USS Callister," the season 4 fan favorite episode that was at once a loving homage to Star Trek and a scary critique of people who love Star Trek too much. This is the first time Black Mirror has ever done a sequel, and this is definitely the episode to do it with.
Which returning sci-fi TV show are you most excited to see this year?
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