There's a lot of good sci-fi and fantasy fare to watch on Netflix this year. Let's hit some of the highlights coming round the corner, starting with...
1. Avatar: The Last Airbender (February 22)
Avatar: The Last Airbender began life as an animated series on Nickelodeon back in the mid-2000s. Inspired by myths and legends from East Asia, the series bewitched fans with its story of a young man and his friends charged with saving the world. The show was smartly written, charmingly animated, and featured characters who could control the four elements riding through the skies on the back of a flying bison. It was destined to become a classic.
There was an unfortunate live-action movie version of The Last Airbender made in 2010, but most fans want to forget that it ever happened. Will Netflix's new live-action TV version be any better? The trailers look pretty good, but some fans have concerns. We'll soon be able to judge for ourselves.
2. 3 Body Problem (March 21)
Liu Cixin Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy is a landmark series of science fiction books that challenged readers with its frightening story about mankind's first encounter with a hostile alien race. The books span multiple generations, take place across the stars, and are not afraid to throw a lot of technical and scientific jargon at us. Adapting them for TV will be a challenge, but if anybody can do it, it's David Benioff and Dan Weiss, the guys behind HBO's Game of Thrones. They're back after a four-year hiatus from big-budget TV, and they've brought some friends with them.
The new show will change things from the books, bringing some characters from later in the trilogy into the first part and dividing the duties of others up among several newcomers. Plus, the show will have to find a way to represent visiually what Liu Cixin spends copious amounts of ink explaining in words. It's a big risk that could yield big rewards.
3. Damsel (March 8)
In Damsel, Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) plays Elodie, a medieval maiden who marries a handsome prince...only for him to turn around and sacrifice her to a dragon. Elodie must escape the dragon's lair in this twist on the traditional princess-meets-prince fairytale.
The premise of this movie is simple, but Oscar-nominated director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo could bring some heft to it. As for Brown, she's one of the biggest stars to come out of Netflix, headlining not only Stranger Things but also the Enola Holmes movies. Clearly, she and Netflix aren't done with their partnership.
That takes us through next month. What about the rest of the year? Click the button below for more: