What we’re excited to stream

What upcoming movies and shows of 2022 are you most excited for? Every streamer has a massive slate for the new year, but what are the biggest titles to look forward to?

Disney Plus has a slew of new titles in its Marvel and Star Wars franchises. Netflix has major new adaptations like The Sandman and Avatar: The Last Airbender, along with returning fan-favorites like The Umbrella Academy and Ozark. Peacock is reviving The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air — with a twist. Paramount Plus continues to explore the Final Frontier with new Star Trek shows and an adaptation of Halo. And the list goes on.

Our list only skims the surface of what’s coming in 2022, of course. We’ll be sure to keep you updated about other upcoming shows and movies streaming throughout the year!

See also: The best original streaming series

Upcoming shows and movies of 2022: Highlights

The Lord of the Rings

Amazon Prime Video
September 2, 2022

After two decades since the release of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, get ready to return to Middle Earth in Amazon Prime Video’s new series exploring events long before Bilbo Baggins found the one ring to rule them all. Amazon is investing hard in fantasy, with 2021’s The Wheel of Time already establishing the streamer as a major player in the genre. The as-yet-untitled Lord of the Rings series should be a major conversation starter when it lands in late 2022.

The Star Wars prequel trilogy has its defenders, but it’s pretty polarizing among fans. Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi seems to be one of the few elements that virtually everyone agrees was great. It’s no surprise, then, that Disney’s expanding its slate of Disney Plus Star Wars series with an Obi-Wan Kenobi series, following the Jedi Master between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Look for familiar faces joining McGregor, including Hayden Christensen’s return as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.

Part one of the long-awaited final season of Ozark will be one of Netflix’s first new streaming releases in 2022. The season three finale saw the Byrde family getting themselves deeper into the criminal underworld of the Ozarks and reestablishing some degree of control for themselves. The season also ended with Ruth making some shocking discoveries that may put her in direct conflict with the Byrdes. No word yet on when part two of the final season will drop, but part one ought to keep us going for a while longer.

The DCEU’s first new streaming series is heading to HBO Max early in the new year. After making a splash in 2021’s The Suicide Squad, John Cena’s comically patriotic superhero Peacemaker will get to headline his own show. The series follows the origins of Peacemaker and his uneasy alliance with the US government task force in charge of The Suicide Squad. The Suicide Squad director James Gunn returns as writer of all eight episodes and directs five, including the first.

One of the major standouts of Apple TV Plus’ slate of original programming, Servant has been the sleeper hit of the platform. From M. Night Shyamalan, the series follows a grieving couple who find themselves reacquainted with their dead infant son when a mysterious new nanny comes into their lives. Servant is smart, chilling, and completely unpredictable, and the third season is one of the most exciting upcoming shows of 2022.

Below is a list of some of the upcoming shows and movies we’re most excited to see in 2022. These are organized by streaming service rather than by date, as many do not have definite premiere dates in 2022 yet. We’ve supplied premiere dates wherever possible.

Amazon Prime Video

• Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4 (February 18)
• Reacher (February 4)

Apple TV Plus

• The Afterparty (January 28)
• Killers of the Flower Moon
• The Tragedy of Macbeth (January 14)

Disney Plus

• Andor
• Hocus Pocus 2
• The Mandalorian season 3
• Moon Knight
• She-Hulk
• Willow