Half Man, writer and actor Richard Gadd’s eagerly-anticipated follow-up to the hugely successful Baby Reindeer, begins with a joyous scene. A glorious wedding party is in full flow with revellers dancing merrily in the sunlight. In typical Gadd fashion, however, it doesn’t take long for a more brutal reality to kick in. He plays the hench and brooding Ruben, who viewers meet stripped to the waist and looking like he’s about to step into the UFC Octagon. Opposite him is Niall (Jamie Bell), the kilted groom clearly wishing he was anywhere but in a dimly lit barn with a man whose heavily strapped hands suggest he didn’t come to propose a toast to the happy couple. “You don’t have to speak,” Ruben tells him. “You have to listen.”

• READ MORE: ‘Half Man’ review: more dark and addictive drama from ‘Baby Reindeer’ creator Richard Gadd

It’s a scene that makes the dynamic between the pair clear – a direct and physically imposing alpha male whose mere presence suggests danger and, alongside him, the bookish and lower status Niall, forever in his shadow. The series skips back through three decades of history between the two, slowly piecing together a story of obsession, repulsion, loyalty, betrayal and life-altering violence that leads to the wedding showdown. Like Baby Reindeer, Half Man finds Gadd exploring what draws people together and the voids we fill in each other’s lives.

“Both of them need what the other one has,” Gadd says while speaking in a private room at a Soho hotel, the sleeves of his crisp white T-shirt stretching against the muscular frame he trained six days a week to build. “As a result they form a bond at a young age which is kind of unbreakable.” In a nuanced and richly written story, Gadd explores the ways in which that unbreakable bond feels like a suffocating headlock. “It’s about the thin line between love and hate,” he explains. “No matter how fractured things become, their love still outweighs the hatred.”

Half Man is about two men who display harmful traits but Gadd is keen to stress he did not write the show as a means of tackling the hot button issue of toxic masculinity. “I never want my work to have this kind of overarching moral point,” he says, drawing a line between his complicated characters and the manosphere-led characters shown in Adolescence or Louis Theroux’s recent Netflix documentary. “I don’t write to answer issues. If anything, what it offers is a lot of questions and not many solutions. At the heart of Baby Reindeer and Half Man is a confusion about human existence.”

For Ruben and Niall, that existence begins when their mothers start a relationship and bring their respective sons together in a blended family. “My brother from another lover,” Ruben (played as a teenager in a series of flashbacks by Stuart Campbell) calls Niall (Mitchell Robertson). Niall is being bullied at school until Ruben, freshly released from a young offenders institute, scares them away. Niall is also questioning his sexuality, something he is desperate to hide from the imposing figure he now shares a bedroom with. Both young men have absent fathers and harbour deep-seated resentments. Ruben meets his feelings with anger while Niall might appear innocent on first impression but slowly reveals more insidious character traits as the series progresses. Questions are asked of how responsible we are for our actions and, in Ruben’s case, why violence is so often the solution he reaches for.

Music helps set the scene for these 1980s flashbacks, which are soundtracked by era-perfect needle drops from The Boomtown Rats, Echo & The Bunnymen and Yazoo among others.

“I obsess over every little track [in my shows]”

Proof of Gadd’s obsession with music comes before our interview begins. “I need to show you something,” he says. We ask if it’s the NME cover spotted on the bedroom wall Niall and Ruben share as teenagers. In fact, it’s something better. Gadd has been scouring eBay for vintage covers of the magazine released around the time of huge events in musical history; there’s the deaths of John Lennon and Kurt Cobain sat next to the famous Blur vs Oasis cover of August 1995. Each one is framed and lines the wall of his London flat, meaning visitors move through time as they get closer to the door.

“I obsess over every little track,” Gadd says, returning to the show. “The songs offer such interesting timestamps.” That said, picking the tunes for the show wasn’t as simple as finding what was most likely to be played in a student union in 1989. There’s a scene in the second episode that requires a steely disposition to watch. Without spoiling specific details, a friend of Niall’s gets on the wrong side of Ruben’s temper while ‘Only You’, Yazoo’s shimmering and tender ballad, plays as blood spatters the floor of a university halls kitchen. Gadd explains that the song’s lyrics (“All I ever knew… Only you”) capture the poisoned connection between the pair. “Lyrically, ‘Only You’ couldn’t have been more perfect for Ruben and Niall’s relationship. I put a lot of thought and cerebral explanation into the way Half Man sounds.”

Gadd says he was adamant that every stomp, kick, and punch of Ruben’s blind fury felt as real as possible. “A problem I have with violence on TV is how choreographed and fake it can feel,” he says. “Acts of violence are always sort of awkward so I wanted it to be messy. The second it feels choreographed is the second he loses his power.”

“The battle I had with myself during my twenties was intolerable”

Toxic masculinity is something we often see projected outwards by men in the way they treat others. In Half Man, Gadd suggests its roots may actually be more tied up with how men treat themselves. When we ask if he sees a connection between the bookish and sexually confused Niall and Baby Reindeer’s similarly self-loathing Donny Dunn, the writer pinpoints their shared struggle with self-identity: “They are both going through a crisis of self.”

The struggle to truly accept oneself is something Gadd says he will continue to return to in his work. “I’ve gone through a sort of identity battle in a lot of ways in my life and I’m not done exploring that. I look back at my twenties and I’m in a lot better place now, but the battle I had with myself was intolerable at times. It was like being in a prison. I felt so trapped inside of myself, I almost couldn’t have a conversation without real trickle-down intrusive thoughts that were just crushingly negative. I was so damning about everything I did all the time.”

What surprised Gadd the most after Baby Reindeer is how many people would approach him to share that they, too, felt the same “cosmic” struggle. “Self-hate, more than we would care to admit, is something that people struggle with a lot.” Gadd knows first-hand what that feels like and says his work directly addresses people in the same boat. “I feel like it’s something that should be honoured on screen so people can see it reflected back and know that they’re not alone.”

Isolation and loneliness lay at the heart of Baby Reindeer, too. It was the breakout moment for Gadd who, until that point, had been a relatively unknown stand up comedian. He took two stage shows, ‘Monkey See Monkey Do’ and ‘Baby Reindeer’, and transformed his real life story into an excavating work that chronicled his experiences of being stalked by a female fan, Martha, and sexually assaulted by a TV industry figure he met earlier in his career.

It’s hard to state just how big the 2024 Netflix show became upon its release. It made its way onto the streamer’s list of the most-watched English-language TV series of all-time and won six Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for Gadd and Outstanding Supporting Actress for Jessica Gunning, whose masterful turn as Martha was both terrifying and unflinchingly vulnerable.

In addition to awards and eyeballs, Baby Reindeer also caught fire among a group of true crime-trained viewers keen to take a more active role in the TV they consume and begin working things out for themselves. Martha was established by online sleuths as being based on London-based lawyer Fiona Harvey, something she acknowledged while keenly disputing the depiction of the character in relation to real life events. In June 2024 Harvey brought a $170million defamation lawsuit against Netflix. Prior to speaking with Gadd, it was established that he would be unable to comment on the ongoing legal case.

“I haven’t made any new famous friends and I still drive a 2007 Skoda”

Success, in both positive and negative ways, is no longer something Gadd is a stranger to. Baby Reindeer resulted in a lucrative Netflix deal and newfound recognition, taking him from doing stand-up comedy in London pubs to Paris Fashion Week, having been personally invited to Jonathan Anderson’s spring/summer 2025 presentation for Loewe. Gadd says he doesn’t let the newfound fame alter his life too much. “I haven’t made any new famous friends and I still drive a 2007 Skoda Fabia,” he laughs. “Materialism means nothing to me, I’d rather be connected to life. I don’t want to ever feel like I’m above that, because then I won’t be able to write about it.”

Even so, it must have been hard to adjust to the aftermath of Baby Reindeer – a cathartic but exposing story informed by real life trauma that turned into a global phenomenon. At some point, any writer would lose control of the narrative. “Since Baby Reindeer, I feel like I’ve been walking around naked,” Gadd told the New York Times in a recent interview. It begs the question of whether he is still chasing that same high, or whether he is keen to step out of the limelight with Half Man and his future projects?

“My only hope is that Half Man is received well,” Gadd says diplomatically. “Whatever ‘well’ means, I don’t really know.” We put it more bluntly to him. If there was a button that would guarantee the show would play out on the same scale, rave reviews and awards but with the same intense focus on him personally, would he press it? He deflects once again and argues, fairly, that the fallout from Baby Reindeer still has him feeling windswept. “At the end of the day, I just want to make something that gets people talking,” he says. “I almost can’t speak to the success of Baby Reindeer and whether I want to replicate it or not, because I haven’t even processed it yet.”

If he can’t predict the outcome of his new TV show, what about humanity more generally? Does Gadd, whose work often plumbs the depths that people can push each other to, see any hope in our destabilised and dystopian world right now? “Maybe it’s foolish but I do believe in human beings at the end of the day,” he says. “We’re going through such a crisis right now, not just in terms of masculinity, but in society and even the way we’re interacting as countries, but I still believe in kindred spirits and just basic human decency.”

He concedes, though, that this might just be hopeful naivety speaking. “The news cycle is so extreme and there’s so much shouting and debate and discussion. You can sometimes just feel like you’re in the middle of a whirlpool not knowing which direction to turn or what to do. It leads to this mass alienation of people who just don’t know what to do anymore.”

Gadd is the first to admit he doesn’t have the answers people are looking for. But from the middle of the confusion, he offers a much needed dose of compassion and understanding. It feels like a step in the right direction.

‘Half Man’ episode one is out now via BBC iPlayer and new episodes are released every Friday

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Since cat-and-mouse gameshow The Traitors hit our screens back in 2022, it’s become a global phenomenon. Based on the Dutch original De Verraders (and taking heavy inspiration from party games Mafia and Werewolf), The Traitors sees 22 strangers take up residence in a luxury castle and complete gruelling challenges to earn money towards a communal prize pot. To win the cash, the ‘faithful’ contestants must find and banish the ‘traitors’ hiding in their midst while avoiding the nightly ‘murder’. America, New Zealand and Australia have launched their own versions of the hit reality series and earlier this week, The Traitors Ireland finale was broadcast in the UK to millions of viewers, after a successful run on RTÉ late last year.

• READ MORE: The rise, fall and rebirth of 2000s IT room favourite ‘RuneScape’

There are plenty of strategies to win. Betraying a close friend was the name of the game for traitor Harry Clarke in season two, Stephen Libby and Rachel Duffy proved that teamwork makes the dream work in season four while faithful Oyin Adeyemi won The Traitors Ireland by being really great at spotting who was up to no good – and who was playing as part of a team.

Along the way, we’ve seen mediums, murder mystery writers and police detectives talk a big game about their years of experience in seeking out liars – before swiftly being given the boot from the castle. So what’s the secret to Traitors glory? If you ask self-confessed console warriors Adeyemi and season four’s unshakeable faithful Jade Scott, they’ll tell you it’s gaming.

And it makes sense. Video games teach you how to work with others, pick up on clues and sharpen your critical thinking, which are all key to cutting through the deliberately deceptive drama.

The Traitors is one giant social deduction game – so it helps if you’ve played them before

There was plenty of beef on The Traitors Ireland, which featured the most chaotic group of contestants yet. Within the first few days, all the traitors had publicly turned on each other and the faithful managed to banish four in five nights at the roundtable – but that only seemed to cause more confusion.

“We were like uncontrollable school children,” says Adeyemi. Still, while the contestants tied themselves in knots with fake accusations, the eventual winner shared surprisingly accurate assessments of what was really going on with those closest to her – biding her time before dropping destructive truth bombs that cleared the path to victory.

“My plan was to listen a lot more than I spoke because I didn’t trust myself to be constantly yapping while still picking up on things,” she explained. “When I did speak, I wanted it to be something substantial instead of a theory that just caused more confusion.”

“I think a lot of my success was down to being a gamer,” says Adeyemi, who preferred her pink Nintendo DS to a bike as a kid. During lockdown she played a lot of Among Us, the cutesy multiplayer game that replaces faithfuls and traitors with hardworking crew members and murderous imposters. It was the perfect trial run for her appearance on the show. “I love puzzle and rhythm games, so my attention to detail is sharpened. I also like horror games and being in The Traitors felt like a lowkey nightmare at times.”

A co-op mindset is key in the castle

At 23, Adeyemi was one of the youngest contestants on The Traitors Ireland, and with just a few days to prepare after another player dropped out at the last minute, she went into the game feeling very unsure of herself and her social skills. She doesn’t feature much in early episodes because she would take herself off to quiet corners of Slane Castle, struggling to cope with the stress. Adeyemi admits she was physically shaking during the first roundtable. “It all felt a bit much.”

That changed quickly. Adeyemi spent her youth playing Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. with siblings – and quickly found the team-based setting familiar. “A lot of people were playing the game differently, which was frustrating, but I knew we needed to be united. Most of us were working towards the same goal.” After nailing a couple of traitors, she was unstoppable.

“Being a gamer really helped with my deduction skills and being able to join up patterns. I learned long ago that a game developer isn’t going to put anything in their game that didn’t serve a purpose and it was the same with the traitors,” she explained. “I knew everything was happening for a reason – the people that were killed off, the dramas that were going on – so I just needed to figure out the reason behind it.”

It’s important to fine-tune your strategy like a good gamer

Season four fan-favourite Jade Scott is a big button masher and applied to take part in The Traitors because she loves “anything that’s like a real life video game.” She prepared by playing indie multiplayer game Dale & Dawson Stationery Supplies and survival adventure Project Winter. “I was in full social deception mode…  In hindsight, that might not have been the best idea.”

See, her strategy was to act suspiciously enough to draw attention, therefore making it unlikely that the true traitors would murder her. But she overcooked it and became a main suspect throughout her stay in the castle. “I figured I could control when I lost, because I could sit and defend myself at the roundtable whereas if you’re up for murder, you can’t do anything about it.

“I just did well arguing with people,” she says of surviving all the way to the final. “I’m quite a critical thinker, so I could bring up perspectives that the other players hadn’t considered and I just got really good at defending myself.”

She admits the plan did “backfire” though because she exerted so much energy defending herself that she couldn’t focus on working out who the traitors were. “I just spent a lot of my time on the back foot.”

Jade says her success was down to Minecraft and Counter-Strike

Scott got into gaming via sandbox titles Minecraft and Garry’s Mod after a stint noodling about in virtual dollhouse The Sims. She soon moved onto online multiplayer shooter Counter-Strike 2 and strategy battle arena game DOTA, where trolls sometimes take advantage of the chat functions to abuse other players.

“Those experiences definitely helped how I communicated with others in The Traitors,” she says. “But it was mostly people having a go at me because I was a woman – or they weren’t very good and wanted someone to blame. I don’t have the time of day for people like that any more.” She was also wary of telling her fellow contestants about her love of gaming. “I didn’t want to be seen as really clever and super strategic… or as someone who sits alone in their room, not talking to anyone.

Post-Traitors, Jade’s avoided social deception games and has focused on story-driven titles instead – The Outer Worlds, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Blue Prince, Slay The Spire. “It gives me a good escape from daily life,” says Scott, who’s still juggling Traitors fame with working on her PhD at Warwick University after earning a Master’s degree in Biomedical Science. She’s also started backing herself more (“I go into my lab meetings with way more confidence”) and has returned to streaming on Twitch. “I know The Traitors finale was watched by 9.6million people but I was [just as] proud of playing Cult Of The Lamb with 50 viewers last weekend!”

The post Why ‘The Traitors’ is easier if you play video games appeared first on NME.

Game Of Thrones prequel House Of The Dragon returned for a second season in 2024 and the Targaryen war that was promised at the end of the first season has very much engulfed us.

With House Of The Dragon based on George R.R. Martin’s fictional history book Fire & Blood, there’s still a stack of Targaryen history to cover through the Dance Of The Dragons and beyond.

Has House Of The Dragon season three been confirmed?

Good news!

Before the first episode of House Of The Dragon season two even aired, HBO confirmed it would be renewing the fantasy series for a third season. With the massive critical success of the first season, a renewal never exactly seemed unlikely but with HBO announcing it this soon, it looks like the company has a lot of faith in the franchise.

“George [R.R. Martin], [showrunner] Ryan [Condal], and the rest of our incredible executive producers, cast, and crew have reached new heights with the phenomenal second season of House of the Dragon,” said executive vice president of HBO Programming Francesca Orsi in a press release. “We are in awe of the dragon-sized effort the entire team has put into the creation of a spectacular season two, with a scope and scale that is only rivalled by its heart. We could not be more thrilled to continue the story of House Targaryen and watch this team burn bright again for season three.”

Do we know a release date for season three?

It’s going to be a fiery summer

House Of The Dragon season three will premiere at some point in June 2026. The news was confirmed by a fiery trailer that hints at a lot of brutal confrontations as the civil war known as The Dance Of The Dragons finally kicks off. Book readers are already getting excited about seeing naval skirmish The Battle Of The Gullet on the silver screen.

Who is returning for season three?

So far, not a lot of major deaths

The Game Of Thrones universe has never been the safest place for heroes, villains and those just simply trying to get by. With a civil war on the verge of kicking off, season two had a surprisingly low main character casualty rate.

House Of The Dragon stars Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II Targaryen, Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon and Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole should all be making a return (unless they’re killed offscreen, which seems unlikely. Eve Best definitely won’t be back after Rhaenys Targaryen’s fiery demise in episode four.

There’s also a good chance we could see more of Milly Alcock’s Rhaenyra Targaryen and Emily Carey’s Alicent Hightower despite the time jump that took place in the first season. In an interview following the first season, showrunner Ryan Condal said House Of The Dragon could get “a little bit more fancy” with its narrative structure. “There are things that we haven’t fully sorted out. I’m not closing the door on anything,” he added.

What can we expect in House Of The Dragon season three?

War is coming

House Of The Dragon is based on a couple of chapters of George R.R. Martin’s fictional history book Fire & Blood, known as Dance Of The Dragons. The TV series has already veered away and reworked the source material, and Tom Glynn-Carney (who plays King Aegon II in the show) has teased that further deviations from the story might occur. “The books are the foundation of where we’re going narratively, but things are tweaked,” he revealed. “It’s the bible, but it’s also not. The writers of our show are brilliant and should be given credit for their creation. George R. R. Martin should be given credit for his creation. But they’re not the same thing,” he told Esquire recently.

As for what season three will bring? “It’s all up in the air, mate,” Glynn-Carney continued. “I’m speaking from an angle of not knowing anything about the plan, but I highly doubt they’ll do what they did with Game of Thrones and carry on after the book finishes. I think our story will run its course and everyone will move on.”

Condal confirmed writing for season three was well underway before the renewal, in order to maintain their schedule of one new season every other year. “You certainly don’t want to rush to get to an end, but you also don’t want to overstay your welcome,” he said “You want to find this very satisfying place to go out that ties up enough loose ends and leaves others intentionally open because, as we know, this history marches on for another 150 years to Daenerys.”

It comes after Condal previously teased that House Of The Dragon could end up spanning several hundred years. “There’s 170 years of history in front of us, so you have to figure out, at what point do you lower the curtain on this particular story? There is 300 years of Targaryen history to explore, and there are many stories within there that are really fascinating,” he told Collider.

“There’s the story of the conquest, the story before the conquest, the Targaryens leaving Old Valyria. You have a tale like this, where the Targaryens have dragons and are in power. And then, there are also stories where the Targaryens no longer have dragons, but are still in power. What changes there, and how is that different? It’s a very rich tapestry,” he added.

Will House Of The Dragon season three be the last one?

A fourth season has already been confirmed

Earlier this month, it was confirmed a fourth and final season of House Of The Dragon is going ahead and will likely air in 2028.

“The idea has always been to follow the history of the Targaryens. If you know the books, you know how the Targaryens end up. So there is a natural end to this particular history of that House of the Targaryens,” explained HBO CEO Casey Bloys.

Are there any other Game Of Thrones spin-off shows in development?

Prequels for prequels

Since the curtain closed on Game Of Thrones in 2019, the rumour mill has been rife with speculation about spin-offs, sequels and prequels. The planned Jon Snow spin-off has been scrapped alongside Bloodmoon, a series exploring the lead up to the Long Night war with the white walkers.

However A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms (which takes between House Of The Dragon and Game Of Thrones) has just wrapped up its critically acclaimed first season with another planned for next year.

A prequel to House Of The Dragon, following the story of Aegon The Conqueror and his conquest of Westereos, has been in discussion with HBO since 2023 but earlier this year screenwriter Mattson Tomlin was attached to the project. “That one is very early days where I’m currently writing the script, currently doing a lot of great back and forth with George [R.R. Martin],” he confirmed. The latest is that HBO are looking at turned it into a film epic similar to Dune.

There has also been talk of a prequel focused on House Of The Dragon’s Corlys Velaryon. At first the show was set to be live-action, but there have also been whisperings about an animated show detailing the adventures of Steve Toussaint’s Sea Snake. Either way, he’s said he’d love to be involved with Nine Voyages.

Another prequel 10,000 Ships is also in development. The show would be set 1000 years before the events of Game Of Thrones and would follow the events of warrior princess Nymeria. It has been through several different writers, with the most up to date info suggesting that Pulitzer Prize–winner Eboni Booth is writing the pilot.

“She’s an amazingly talented young playwright, and a joy to work with; when not writing and producing her prize-winning plays on and off-Broadway, she has been kept busy by me and HBO, working on a new pilot for Ten Thousand Ships, a Game of Thrones spinoff about Nymeria and the Rhoynar,” Martin wrote on his blog. “We’re all very excited about this one… though we’re still trying to figure out how we’re going to pay for 10,000 ships, 300 dragons, and those giant turtles.”

Later this summer, Game Of Thrones prequel play The Mad King is set to premiere in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

The post Here’s what we know about ‘House Of The Dragon’ season three appeared first on NME.

Since Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader blew the box office away in 1977’s A New Hope, Star Wars has expanded over four decades into a multimedia juggernaut. With three film trilogies, TV spin-offs, novels, theme park attractions and a large roster of video games, the galaxy far, far away sometimes feels like it’s never been closer.

• READ MORE: ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ first-look review: this is the ‘Star Wars’ spin-off you’re looking for

Sure, box office flops like Solo: A Star Wars Story indicate the franchise hasn’t always got things right recently. The perk of a multimedia franchise though? There’s always some part keeping the force alive (see The Mandalorian).

Back in 2024, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed the studio had “lost focus” and would be pulling back on releasing so much Star Wars and Marvel content after a rush to create shows for Disney+.A number of projects were cancelled following the shake-up while others were retooled. Some just disappeared completely. 

More recently, LucasFilms chief Kathleen Kennedy has stepped down from the role, and has been replaced by Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan. Her take on the future of the franchise? “Anything’s a possibility if somebody’s willing to take a risk.”

Here are all the upcoming Star Wars TV and Film projects o the horizon.

What Star Wars TV shows are in development?

Here’s a breakdown

• Maul: Shadow Lord (2026)
• Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi Series (2026)
• Star Wars: Ahsoka season 2 (In Development)
• The Mandalorian season 4 (Unknown)
• The Book Of Boba Fett season 2 (Unknown)

Maul: Shadow Lord takes place after the final series of The Clone Wars and sees the former Sith lord once again up to no good. “After the Clone Wars, Maul plots to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire,” reads a brief synopsis.

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Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi Series is the first of several limited series’ to be released under the Visions Presents banner. The Ninth Jedi is a spinoff from the animated Star Wars: Visions TV show and continues the story of short films The Ninth Jedi and Child Of Hope.

Ahsoka acted as a spin-off from The Mandalorian, but was also a sequel to the celebrated Clone Wars animated series. After catching up with a lot of familiar faces, season one ended with Grand Admiral Thrawn returning from exile to fill the gap left by the destruction of The Empire, so Ahsoka will have a lot to deal with when the show returns. The second season was confirmed at the start of 2024 and filming began April 2025 but a release date is yet to be announced.

A fourth season of The Mandalorian was written while the third was in post-production, but the future of the show is now up in the air following the announcement that Din Djarin and Baby Yoda will first be returning in big screen adventure The Mandalorian And Grogu. The movie is due for release in 2026.

The Book Of Boba Fett was met with mixed reviews, with the show mostly being used to set up the events of The Mandalorian season three. There’s been no official word on a second season, but it seems the characters will at least be involved in the upcoming Mando-verse film.

What Star Wars films are in development?

A trio of films was confirmed in 2024 as well as a new trillgy

• The Mandalorian & Grogu (May 22, 2026)
• Star Wars: Starfighter (May 28, 2027)
• Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s new Jedi order movie (In Development)
• Untitled Mando-Verse movie (In Development)
• James Mangold’s Dawn Of The Jedi movie (On hold)
• Taika Waititi’s Star Wars movie (On hold)
• Simon Kinberg’s new Star Wars trilogy (In Development)
• Lando  (Unknown)
• Star Wars: Rogue Squadron  (Unknown)
• Rian Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy (Unknown)
• The Hunt For Ben Solo (Cancelled)

Following the events of season three of The Mandalorian, it was confirmed at the start of 2024 that Baby Yoda and Din Djarin would be making the jump to cinemas with The Mandalorian & Grogu. Production is due to start in August 2024 ahead of a 2026 release date. “I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created,” said director Jon Favreau. “The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting.”

At 2025’s Star Wars Celebration event, Shawn Levy’s long-rumoured project was finally unveiled. Starfighter will feature Ryan Gosling and is set five years after the events of 2019’s The Rise Of Skywalker. However Levy has described it as a “standalone” film rather than a sequel. “It’s a new adventure. It’s set in a period of time that we haven’t seen explored yet.”

Gosling added: “The reality is that this script is just so good. It has such a great story with great and original characters. It’s filled with so much heart and adventure, and there just really is not a more perfect filmmaker for this particular story than Shawn.” It has also been reported that Anora Oscar-winner Mikey Madison passed on a supporting role in the film.

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During 2023’s Stars Wars Celebration event, Kathleen Kennedy announced a trio of live-action Star Wars films. Indiana Jones & The Dial Of Destiny director James Mangold will create a film that goes back to the dawn of the Jedi, while Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s film will be set after the events of Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, as Daisy Ridley’s Rey sets out to builds a new Jedi Order.

Rounding out this trio of films, Dave Filoni will direct a movie that close out the interconnected stories told in The Mandalorian, The Book Of Boba Fett, Ahsoka and more.

“As you can see by all the television we’ve been doing, we’re exploring a lot of different storylines. This really spawns from what George Lucas said years ago, that he created Star Wars to move forward and backward along a mythological timeline,” Kennedy said at the time. “Now we’re looking to broaden that timeline, building a rich future, expanding upon the present, going deep into the past to tell our stories, and we’re thrilled to be working with some of the best and most passionate filmmakers on projects that will span the past, the present, and the future.”

The Daisy Ridley-starring film was due for release December 2026, with another Star Wars film set to follow in 2027 but that 2026 movie has now been removed from Disney’s upcoming list of releases and been replaced by Ice Age 6. No new release date has been confirmed yet.

During her exit interview as Star Wars boss, Kennedy confirmed that James Mangold wrote “an incredible script” that “breaks the mold” but the project is currently on hold.

Another new trilogy is also reportedly in the works, from X-Men: Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg. Not much is known about the project but according to rumours, it’ll be set after the events of 2019’s The Rise Of Skywalker. Despite Kennedy stepping down, Kinberg’s new triology is still going ahead. 

Taika Waititi has been talking an untitled Star Wars project for a number of years now. Kathleen Kennedy previously stated it would be released in 2023, but obviously that didn’t happen. Speaking to TheWrap in June 2022, Waititi said he’s “still trying to figure out what the story is”.

The following year, he said in an interview with EW that he was still developing the project alongside Lucasfilms. “Like me, they have a lot of projects going on. I think they’re gonna push it until I finish these other projects. I’ve got about four other scripts that I’m trying to finish. My thing is I want to take my time with that and get it right. I don’t want to rush this movie.” Kennedy recently confirmed the project is “somewhat alive” and she’s read a script that’s “hilarious and great”.

A TV series for Lando Calrissian, originally played by Billy Dee Williams and later by Donald Glover in Solo: A Star Wars Story, was also announced back in 2020 from director and writer Justin Simien (Dear White People). Since then, Donald and Stephen Glover have replaced Simien on the project, which is now being developed as a feature film. There hasn’t been much in the way of updates but it’s another project that is “somewhat alive” and Kennedy has seen a finished script.

Rogue Squadron, set to be directed by Patty Jenkins, was originally supposed to be the first Star Wars film following 2019’s Rise Of Skywalker. However, it was taken off Disney’s release schedules in September 2022 after it was put on hold the following year to allow Jenkins time to focus on Wonder Woman 3. After that project was cancelled though, Jenkins returned to Rogue Squadron. Speaking to the Talking Pictures Podcast in 2024, she confirmed she was currently working on a script. “We’ll see what happens,” she added. “We need to get it to where we’re both super happy with it.”

Following the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 2017, Lucasfilm announced director Rian Johnson would lead a new trilogy of films with a “blank canvas”. Seven years later, the films have yet to materialise.

In 2023, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy confirmed she was talking with Johnson “all the time” but they weren’t “actively involved” in anything, due to his busy schedule with Knives Out. “He really wants to step back into the space. It’s a big commitment of time, so that’s really on him.” It echoes what Johnson said in a 2023 interview, adding that he “hopes” we will see the trilogy at some point.

“Once he made the Netflix deal and went off to start doing the Knives Out films, that has occupied a huge amount of his time,” Kennedy said in early 2026. “And then I do believe he got spooked by the online negativity. I think Rian made one of the best Star Wars movies. He’s a brilliant filmmaker and he got spooked.” However Johnson has denied that he got spooked.

In late 2025, Adam Driver made headlines after revealing in an interview that he and director Steven Soderbergh had written and pitched a new film in the Star Wars Universe, titled The Hunt For Ben Solo. The story would have brought his character Ben Solo, aka Kylo Ren, back from the dead.

Driver called it “one of the coolest scripts” he had ever been a part of and while Lucasfilm were excited about the project, executives at parent company Disney turned it down. “They didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive. And that was that” he explained. However fans have demanded those execs change their minds.

What Star Wars projects have been cancelled?

The force wasn’t strong with these

Star Wars: Rangers Of The New Republic, a spin-off from The Mandalorian, has seemingly been cancelled. While there hasn’t been any confirmation, Kennedy told Empire Magazine (via IGN) that ideas from that show were being used in future episodes of The Mandalorian. “We’d never written any scripts or anything on that,” Kennedy said, adding that “some of that will figure into future episodes, I’m sure, of the next iteration of The Mandalorian.”

A key project that has been cancelled is the Star Wars films from Game Of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who walked away from their deal with Lucasfilm back in 2019 to commit to planned Netflix projects.

J.D Dillard and Matt Owens were also working on a Star Wars film, reportedly set on the Sith planet Exegol but after Shawn Levy’s project was confirmed, the pair announced their movie was “unfortunately no longer a thing”. Late in 2023, MCU head Kevin Feige announced his Star Wars film was also no longer going ahead after it was first confirmed in 2019.

The post Here’s every ‘Star Wars’ TV series and film in the works appeared first on NME.

Fans have been waiting so long for the next Game Of Thrones book, many are convinced it’s never actually going to be released. The last instalment in George R.R. Martin‘s A Song Of Ice And Fire series was released in 2011 and since then, seven seasons of the TV adaptation of Game Of Thrones have aired, we’re two seasons into prequel House Of The Dragon with more in the works and the first episode of second spin-off ‘A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms‘ has just aired.

To be fair to Martin, he has been busy. He helped create the lore for the brilliant, expansive Elden Ring game, served as executive producer on AMC’s acclaimed Navajo Tribal Police drama Dark Winds and has been working with HBO on a number of new Game Of Thrones projects. He may have missed every deadline he’s announced, but the author has been keeping fans updated on his progress…sorta.

Below you’ll find everything we know about The Winds of Winter so far.

Will The Winds Of Winter be released in 2026?

Probably not.

The original plan for The Winds Of Winter was for Martin to finish the manuscript by October 2015, in order for the book to be released the following March ahead of Game Of Thrones season six.

However, in January 2016 Martin posted an update on his blog that confirmed the book wasn’t finished. “You can blame my travels, the distraction of other projects or my age but if truth be told, sometimes the writing goes well and sometimes it doesn’t,” he explained.

Since then, deadlines for 2017 and 2021 have also been missed and it seems Martin’s reverting to his old viewpoint of “It will be done when it’s done. And it will be as good as I can possibly make it.”

Is The Winds Of Winter finished?

It’s still a work in progress.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Martin confirmed he had 1,100 pages written for The Winds Of Winter, but he’s had that much done for a while now. “I will open the last chapter I was working on and I’ll say, ‘Oh fuck, this is not very good.’ And I’ll go in and I’ll rewrite it. Or I’ll decide, ‘This Tyrion chapter is not coming along, let me write a Jon Snow chapter.’ If I’m not interrupted though, what happens — at least in the past — is sooner or later, I do get into it,” he said of his distracted approach to the long-awaited book.

A Feast For Crows featured chapters from the point of view of 21 different characters across 784 pages. If it all goes according to plan, The Winds Of Winter will be even longer.

Will Winds Of Winter ever get finished?

Maybe not…

Back in 2024, Martin confirmed he might never finish Winds Of Winter, even though it’s still a priority. “A lot of people are already writing obituaries for me: ‘Oh, he’ll never be finished!’ Maybe they’re right. I don’t know. I’m alive right now!”

More recently, Martin has said he still wants to finish his Game Of Thrones books. “I would hate [giving up on them]. It would feel like a total failure to me. However, he went on to confirm there’s no plan for the books getting finished by another author if he dies before the books are done. “If that happens, my work won’t be finished.”

Why is George R.R. Martin taking so long to finish Winds Of Winter?

The big question.

There was a real urgency for Martin to get Winds Of Winter finished ahead of Game Of Thrones, so the show didn’t spoil things for book viewers. However, not being able to finish the manuscript in time “depressed” him, and since then, firm updates have been few and far between. “I have always had problems with deadlines. For whatever reason, I don’t respond well to them,” he said in the same blog entry.

Some fans think that since Game Of Thrones has now finished, Martin has lost the hunger to finish the books. Others are worried he’s written himself into a corner with the various plot points.

The biggest roadblock seems to be just how busy Martin is with other projects. As well as working on Elden Ring and helping HBO out with both Game Of Thrones and House Of The Dragon, Martin is also working on a Game Of Thrones play. Harrenhal, or The Iron Throne, is a prequel to Game Of Thrones and is set to feature a young Ned Stark during the fateful tournament at Harrenhall. Martin met the team in July 2024. “The dream is to open somewhere on London’s West End in 2025 but there’s still a lot of work to do.” That deadline has passed but the project is still alive.

There’s also a number of spin-offs. House Of The Dragon season three is out later this year and there are plans for multiple seasons of A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms, with Martin sharing notes on planned Dunk & Egg stories with showrunners. Then there’s the live-action 100,000 Ships show that is currently being developed by Martin and HBO, with a script written by Eboni Booth. “We’re all very excited about this one… though we’re still trying to figure out how we’re going to pay for  ten thousand ships, three hundred dragons, and those giant turtles,” Martin wrote in 2024. However, it’s not all plain sailing.

In September, he confirmed: “My various television projects ate up most of those months. Some of that was pleasant (Dark Winds, and The Hedge Knight), most of it was not. The stress kept mounting, the news went from bad to worse to worst, my mood seemed to swing between fury and despair.”

If that wasn’t enough, Martin has confirmed two more projects that aren’t anything to do with Game Of Thrones. He’s set to produce A Dozen Tough Jobs, an adaptation of his late friend Howard Waldrop’s book, and the big screen adaptation of Elden Ring. Fans weren’t happy when the projects were announced, but Martin has clapped back via his blog. There are also the long posts about dragon lore…

How many more books are left in A Song of Ice and Fire?

As far as we know, there are two remaining: book six (The Winds of Winter) and book seven (A Dream of Spring). Some fans have optimistically speculated that the reason The Winds of Winter is taking so long is that George R.R. Martin is planning to release both it and its follow-up, A Dream of Spring, at the same time. This is probably wishful thinking.

In February 2018 Martin sparked speculation that the series may in fact run into eight books in a blog post in which he reflected on how series in general function. In it, he said A Song of Ice and Fire was not a series but “one single story, being published in (we hope) seven volumes”.  The “we hope” of this line suggested Martin could even have too much material to fit into just two books. However, Martin appeared to deny this when answering a fan question about a secret eighth book on his blog: “If so, that’s news to me,” he wrote.

Where did we leave the main characters previously in the ASOIAF series?

Here’s where everyone important was at the end of book five, A Dance with Dragons.

• Jon Snow: stabbed loads of times by his own men at the Black Keep, left for dead.
• Sansa Stark: in the Vale, undercover as Alayne Stone with her sort-of ally, Littlefinger, who’s posing as her father.
• Arya Stark: still training with the Faceless Men in Braavos.
• Bran Stark: north of the Wall. He’s just learned ‘greenseeing’ with his teacher, Bloodraven.
• Rickon Stark: said to be in hiding on the island of Skagos, whose inhabitants are rumoured cannibals.
• Daenerys Targaryen: stuck in the Dothraki Sea, surrounded by Dothraki warriors.
• The Hound: left for dead by Arya.
• The Mountain: remains something of a mystery. His skull was supposedly delivered to Doran Martell in Dorne as recompense for the death of Oberyn Martell. But a new knight on the Kingsguard, presumed a product of Maester Qyburn’s experiments, is eerily similar to The Mountain. Ser Robert Strong never takes off his helmet, never eats, never uses the ‘privy’ and has supposedly taken a holy vow of silence until Cersei’s innocence is proven.
• Cersei Lannister: has just completed the walk of shame.

• Tyrion Lannister: now a member of the Second Sons, waiting outside Meereen for everything to kick off.
• Lady Stoneheart: in the Riverlands. She’s just tasked Brienne of Tarth with bringing Jaime to her.
• Jaime Lannister: being led to find ‘Sansa’ by Brienne of Tarth; possibly heading to his death at the hands of Lady Stoneheart.
• Stannis Baratheon: in an encampment near Winterfell, planning the battle with the Boltons. The Freys and the Manderlys, under the command of Roose Bolton, are marching on his position.
• Theon Greyjoy: Stannis’ prisoner, awaiting execution. He has just helped Mance Rayder and his spearwives rescue Jeyne Poole (posing as Arya Stark) from Winterfell.
• Roose Bolton: at Winterfell.
• Ramsay Snow: also at Winterfell. Has just sent Jon Snow a letter claiming to have defeated Stannis and Mance Rayder, and asking for him to turn over Jeyne Poole, Selyse, Shireen, Melisandre, Val, Gilly’s son and Reek. He claims he will attack Jon at the Wall if he does not get what he wants.
• Victarion Greyjoy: entering Slaver’s Bay to help Daenerys fight Yunkai.
• Samwell Tarly: has arrived in Oldtown to train as a Maester.
• Jon Connington: is moving to capture Storm’s End with his ward, purported to be Daenerys’ nephew Aegon Targaryen.
• Davos Seaworth: has been told to retrieve Rickon Stark from Skagos by the Manderlys.
• Varys: in King’s Landing, having just shot Kevan Lannister because he was doing too good a job of undoing Cersei’s failures.
• Margaery Tyrell: in King’s Landing. She’s just been released into her father’s custody and awaits trial by judges for the accusations made by Cersei.
• Loras Tyrell: dying of wounds sustained while trying to retake Dragonstone at Cersei’s command.

Who else might return?

The Dothraki: Martin has teased that the horse-riders will return to the books “in a big way”, and one of the characters he’s teasing in particular is Mago. Khal Drogo’s former bloodrider (Mago deserted Dany after Drogo’s death) is dead in the series, but Martin has said he’s not in the books. “He’s going to be a recurring character in The Winds of Winter,” he said in 2011.

Marillion: In previous books the glib bard was blinded and had some of his fingers removed as he was tortured into (falsely) confessing to Lysa Arryn’s murder. Martin has since said “Marillion has more to do”. Cryptic…

Osha: Rickon’s guardian was last seen getting offed by Ramsay Bolton in the show. That’s a shame, because in the books, she’s still alive and well, and Martin has said that when he brings back Osha in the new book, “I’ll have Natalia [Tena, who played Osha] in mind and perhaps give the character more interesting things to do.”

The Sand Snakes: Ahead of their introduction in season five of the show in 2014, Martin expressed his hope that fans liked them at San Diego Comic Con. “You’re also going to be seeing a lot of them in The Winds of Winter,” he said.

Jeyne Westerling: Robb Stark’s widow will definitely make an appearance in the prologue of The Winds of Winter. The POV character in these prologue chapters always dies, but Martin has explained that Jeyne will not be the POV character – so we can presume she’s safe. Ish.

Edric Storm/Gendry: With sightings of Gendry actor Joe Dempsie on the set of Game of Thrones season 7, it’s all but officially confirmed that Gendry (another of Robert Baratheon’s bastards, who in the series absorbed Edric Storm’s storyline) will be returning for the new series. That may mean we can assume Gendry and/or Edric Storm will be making a comeback for The Winds of Winter.

How will The Winds of Winter begin?

George R.R. Martin has said the new book will begin with “a big smash with the two enormous battles”. The battles he’s referring to? Yunkai’s siege of Meereen, and Stannis’ siege of Winterfell. He’s also promised “more deaths… more betrayals… more marriages. A lot of stuff is happening at The Wall.”

Will The Winds of Winter be split into two volumes?

Quite possibly. The author split both book three (A Storm of Swords) and book five (A Dance with Dragons) into two volumes because they were so bloody long. Talking about the forthcoming final two books in the series, he’s said they’re “enormous” and has called book seven, A Dream of Spring, “another 1500 page monster where I try to wrap things up.” That’s right, “another”. This means we can presume Winds may well get the two-volume treatment.

**WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW FOR THE OPENING CHAPTERS OF THE WINDS OF WINTER**

What happens in the 11 chapters so far released from The Winds of Winter?

Plenty of stuff. Allow us to explain.

Since 2011, Martin has been releasing chapters of The Winds of Winter on his website and reading them aloud at conventions to keep fans satisfied while they wait for the whole thing. Some of these chapters are on the internet for you to read, others are on YouTube, and more still are on the World of Ice and Fire app. Links are below to the ones you can read/watch online, but we’ve summarised each chapter so far too.

Theon 1

The one-time Reek – now at Stannis’ beleaguered camp near Winterfell – has just helped Mance Rayder rescue Sansa’s old friend Jeyne Poole (who had been disguised as Arya Stark at Winterfell and married against her will to Ramsay Bolton). Stannis decides to send her to the wall to her ‘brother’ Jon Snow, while Theon becomes Stannis’ prisoner, and is condemned to death for ‘murdering’ Bran and Rickon Stark (who are, of course, still alive). While in captivity, Theon hears that Stannis is planning to use the Iron Bank’s money to hire mercenaries to help with the forthcoming battle with the Boltons.

Theon’s sister, Asha, convinces Stannis to kill Theon himself in the Godswood, because Ned Stark would have done the same. (“Give him to the tree,” she says.) As she says this, the maester’s ravens appear to say Theon’s name – some fans speculate Bran or his teacher Bloodraven have something to do with this, and that it might mean Theon will survive somehow.

Arianne 1 & 2

Arianne journeys to meet Jon Connington and his ward, Young Griff (supposedly the long-disguised Aegon Targaryen, son of Arianne’s aunt Elia Martell and nephew of Daenerys). Arianne thinks about where her brother Quentyn has ended up – the reader is aware, though, that Quentyn went to propose to Daenerys in Meereen and ended up getting toasted by one of her dragons when he tried to steal it.

In the second Arianne chapter she discovers that the mercenary group The Golden Company have taken Mistfall of House Martyn, noting that the Company have never been successful in their invasions of Westeros. The chapter also reveals that Nymeria and Tyene have accompanied Myrcella to King’s Landing, with no suggestion that they plan to kill her as in the show – and there’s also news that Aegon Targaryen has taken the Baratheon stronghold of Storm’s End, with an army from King’s Landing coming to get him.

Victarion 1 [read aloud at a convention]

Perhaps the most interesting chapter yet: Victarion is in Slaver’s Bay preparing to join the fight outside Meereen, and planning to use the six-foot Dragonbinder horn given to him by his brother Euron to bind one of Dany’s dragons to his will (the side-effect being that whoever blows the horn dies of internal burning).

Ser Barristan 1 [available in the US paperback of A Dance With Dragons] & 2

Barristan gets on Dany’s silver mare and rallies his troops for battle: they’re planning to charge out of Meereen and confront the enemy at the gates. In chapter two, there’s plenty of battle description, and it’s noticed that the Ironborn Fleet is on Dany’s side, fighting against the Yunkai.

Tyrion 1 [read aloud at a convention] & 2 [in the World of Ice & Fire app]

Tyrion tries to convince Brown Ben, commander of the Second Sons, to switch sides and fight for Daenerys. In the second chapter, Brown Ben does this.

Mercy 1 (Arya)

Arya is working in a mummer’s troupe in Braavos and acting as her sister Sansa, in a version of the play we saw on screen in Game of Thrones season 6. She sees Raff the Sweetling in the audience – he’s on her list for killing her friend Lommy – so she leads him away from the theatre, kills him and puts his body in a canal.

Alayne 1 (Sansa)

Sansa, undercover as Alayne and pretending to be Littlefinger’s daughter, meets Harry, the heir to the Eyrie, who Baelish is planning to marry her to. Sansa reveals she knows he’s got two illegitimate children by two different mothers and teases him.

Aeron 1 [read aloud at a convention]

Aeron moves about several dungeons and encounters the victims of his powerful brother Euron. Euron is clad in a set of Valyrian steel armour, and because of this Aeron believes his claim that he has visited the legendary region of Valyria. Euron binds a load of priests to the front of his ships, with Aeron at the front of his own, the Silence.

Will Martin release any more chapters from The Winds of Winter?

No.

On February 2, 2017, he wrote on his own website, “I may give readings at upcoming cons, but they will probably be of chapters I’ve read before at other cons. There comes a point when you are simply putting too much of the book out there. It was not such a problem before the internet, but now everything I read gets transcribed and posted and leaked all over the world, so…”

What questions does The Winds of Winter need to answer?

1. Is Quentyn Martell still alive?

Unless Quentyn Martell shows up suddenly in Game of Thrones season 7 (unlikely, given that all his family is dead) TV viewers might be a bit stumped by this name. There are a few crazy theories about Quentyn Martell, the son of Doran Martell who was sent to Meereen to offer Daenerys his hand in marriage and ended up trying to steal one of her dragons after she left the city on Drogon. The reason that makes this theory really interesting is that the person we see as the dying (and finally dead) Quentyn has been burnt into an almost unrecognisable state by Dany’s dragon Rhaegal – meaning it could conceivably be an imposter. Another reason is that alongside Prince Quentyn in the plan was a man known as the Tattered Prince – both of them were both wearing masks when they entered the dragons’ lair. Many people believe that Quentyn, who has Targaryen blood, managed to tame Dany’s other dragon, Viserion, and rode off on his back, while the dying Tattered Prince was mistaken for him. But it is a pretty convoluted theory.

2. Will Stannis survive the siege of Winterfell?

In the series, Stannis was killed off in Season 5 by Brienne after losing most of his men to Ramsay Bolton’s forces outside Winterfell. Brienne and Stannis have not met for a long time in the books, and although Brienne is still furious with Stannis at this point for killing her beloved Lord Renly, she is currently with Jaime Lannister in the Riverlands – not anywhere near Winterfell.

#GotFactCheck
King Stannis is alive and marching on Winterfell with his army of northmen. pic.twitter.com/slyVPfOBGf

— The North Remembers (@beyond_wall) April 21, 2016

Still, he could still be doomed. Stannis is in a perilous state, running low on supplies, sitting out in the cold and he has no tactical advantage should Ramsay Bolton exit Winterfell and come for him. Or has he? When Theon questions his poor defences in a Winds of Winter preview chapter released by GRRM, Stannis indicates that he’s got something up his sleeve: possibly a large nearby lake that his men have been overfishing, making the ice dangerously thin. If Stannis actually prevails in the battle for Winterfell, it would be a hugely different outcome to what happens in the show, but it’d make the rest of the book more interesting.

3. Where is Brienne taking Jaime?

When we left Brienne, she said she was taking her old pal Jaime to save Sansa from the Hound somewhere in the Riverlands – but we know Sansa is in the Vale at the moment, so it’s generally believed that Brienne is lying. Prior to this point, Brienne was tasked by Lady Stoneheart (the resurrected, vengeful Catelyn Stark) with killing Jaime Lannister. Either she’s taking him somewhere secluded to off him, or she’s taking him to Stoneheart for a trial. Or she’s got another plan up her sleeve – but what could it be?

Game of Thrones 3.02 Jaime Lannister & Brienne of Tarth. pic.twitter.com/BLKlxhjyco

— Game of Thrones Caps (@caps_thrones) August 24, 2016

4. Will Davos find Rickon?

In the last book, Davos Seaworth the ‘Onion Knight’ went to see Wyman Manderly at White Harbour, in the north east of Westeros, to try and get his allegiance to Stannis. But the Freys were there, so he got arrested and was sent for execution. Then Manderly organised a lookalike criminal to be executed in his place. Then, he said he would give Stannis his support if Davos went to fetch Rickon Stark from the isle of Skagos, which is full of cannibals. We don’t know why Manderly wants Rickon, but given his fate in the show we can only guess it’s not for good reasons – perhaps the execution schtick was simply a feint to gain Davos’ trust. Either way, Davos will be exploring the mysterious island of Skagos soon. Until then, people will keep making concept art like te one below, which suggests Rickon is now a wild Lord of Skagos, who rips Davos in two on his arrival…

5. Will Victarion capture a dragon?

In the books, Euron’s brother Victarion – who doesn’t exist in the show – has been sent to Meereen with a horn called Dragonbinder that supposedly has the power to control dragons – but it kills whoever blows it. As the Greyjoy fleet arrives in Meereen in the midst of a massive siege, will he be able to use it to command Rhaegal or Viserion?

6. Will Jon Snow survive his betrayal?

This one’s pretty obvious, really. Resurrecting Jon isn’t the kind of thing the show could do without George R.R. Martin’s permission. But there is the question of how Snow survives. Will Melisandre bring him back to life, or will he rise, Daenerys-style, from a funeral pyre, as many show-watchers were expecting? After all, we now know from the show that he’s almost definitely part-Targaryen.

7. Will Arya return to Westeros?

In a preview chapter of TWOW released by George R.R. Martin, Arya is in an actors’ troupe like the one we see in the show. She’s meant to be following the orders of her new mentor Izembaro, but instead she recognises someone she has an old vendetta against – Raff the Sweetling – and kills him, going against her status as ‘a girl’ or ‘no one’. Does this mean she’ll be leaving the Faceless Men as she did in the show, embracing her old Arya Stark self, and returning to Westeros?

8. Will Aegon take Storm’s End?

Aegon, aka Young Griff, is supposedly the nephew of Daenerys Targaryen, saved from slaughter at the hands of the Mountain when Varys switched the baby him with a random baby and shipped him over to Essos. He’s recently landed back in Westeros with an army of mercenaries, and in a preview chapter from book six, his Dornish cousin Arianne Martell is on the way to meet him – but what will his next move be? Will he take Storm’s End? And, if Daenerys eventually makes it over the Narrow Sea and back to Westeros, will he give his growing support to her, or will he become her competition for the Iron Throne? And is he even a true Targaryen? Some fans think not…

aegon targaryen (or blackfyre?) – young griff pic.twitter.com/ieHJpS0Hni

— em (@otabekatIin) June 22, 2016

9. Will Sansa marry Harry the Heir?

Don’t forget Sansa. In the show she had to marry Ramsay, escaped and joined her brother Jon in the north, before making a pact with the slimy Littlefinger and saving the day in the Battle of the Bastards. In the books, she’s still in the Vale with her cousin Robin Arryn, and she’s being set up by Littlefinger not with Ramsay but with Harrold Hardyng, aka Harry The Heir – the man who would succeed to Lord of the Vale should any harm come to young Robyn. Harry is very promiscuous, but Littlefinger has nevertheless arranged for him and Sansa – posing as his daughter Alayne Stone – to be betrothed, with the idea that he’ll reveal her identity and use the Vale’s forces to retake Winterfell for her. But in, yes, another preview chapter from GRRM, Sansa seems to have other plans when she rejects his request for her favour at a tourney. How very Game of Thrones.

10. Will Barristan survive the siege of Meereen?

Alongside Stannis’ siege of Winterfell, the siege of Meereen this is the big opening battle that we’re waiting for. Bit of context: at the moment, Tyrion has just escaped from slavery – it’s the slavers who are besieging the city – and has joined the Second Sons in the midst of a horrible plague of the camps surrounding Meereen. Now the Second Sons say they will join Daenerys (who is absent from the city, having flown off on Drogon) and Barristan is in charge of the city’s defences in her place. In the show, Barristan Selmy doesn’t survive even up until this point, so will he make it any further, or will this battle be his last?

The post The Winds Of Winter: release date, pre-release chapters, returning characters and everything we know appeared first on NME.

With more content than ever to sift through in the streaming era, no one wants to feel like a slave to the algorithm. Here are the best new and returning shows to bookmark in 2026 so you don’t end up wasting your time on shoddy box sets.

New TV shows in 2026

‘A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms’

Release date: January 19
Where to watch: Sky Atlantic and NOW
Starring: Peter Claffey, Dexter Sol Ansell, Bertie Carvel

Fancy another Game Of Thrones spin-off? Set a century before events in the main series, this one centres on the Westeros adventures of wandering knight Dunk (Claffey) and his child squire Egg (Ansell). It’s already been renewed for a second season, so you can afford to get fully invested.

‘Steal’

Release date: January 21
Where to watch: Prime Video
Starring: Sophie Turner, Archie Madekwe, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd

There’s nothing small fry about this six-part heist thriller. Turner and Madekwe play a couple of finance execs who are forced to transfer a billion-pound pension fund to a violent gang who invade their office. Getting to the bottom of this morally bankrupt crime should be a lot of fun.

‘The Beauty’

Release date: January 22
Where to watch: Disney+
Starring: Evan Peters, Ashton Kutcher, Rebecca Hall

Co-created by TV impresario Ryan Murphy, this body-horror series set in the fashion world centres on a miracle drug that claims to produce physical perfection. Murphy’s output can be hit and miss – hello, All’s Fair! – but his dark and campy style is a good fit for a timely Ozempic satire.

‘How To Get To Heaven From Belfast’

Release date: February TBC
Where to watch: Netflix
Starring: Roísín Gallagher, Sinéad Keenan, Caoilfhionn Dunne

Lisa McGee’s follow-up to Derry Girls is a comedy-thriller about three lifelong friends who team up to find out who – or what – killed the fourth member of their childhood gang. According to McGee, it’s “an Irish odyssey full of twists, turns and arguments about eyelash extensions”. Let’s hope a “wee English fella” isn’t to blame.

‘Rooster’

Release date: March TBC
Where to watch: Sky Atlantic and NOW
Starring: Steve Carell, Charly Clive, Danielle Deadwyler

Co-created by Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Ted Lasso), this 10-episode comedy centres on an author who has a complex relationship with his college student daughter. If anyone can conjure up laughs from the ever-cringe generation gap, it’s surely Steve Carell, who also serves as an executive producer.

‘Half Man’

Release date: March TBC
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Starring: Richard Gadd, Jamie Bell, Bilal Hasna

Richard Gadd’s follow-up to his landmark stalking drama Baby Reindeer is a more expansive story set in Glasgow. He and Jamie Bell star as estranged brothers whose violent reunion sparks memories of a tempestuous relationship that spans from their teenage years to the present day. With Gadd writing every episode, it won’t pull any punches.

‘Blade Runner 2099’

Release date: 2026 TBC
Where to watch: Prime Video
Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Hunter Schafer, Tom Burke

Conceived as a sequel to 1982’s Blade Runner and 2017’s Blade Runner 2049, this live-action series has been in the pipeline for over five years. Michelle Yeoh stars as a replicant nearing the end of her life: a promising premise for a sci-fi franchise that has always been rooted in pathos.

‘Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen’

Release date: 2026 TBC
Where to watch: Netflix
Starring: Camila Morrone, Adam DiMarco, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Exec-produced by Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers, this horror series from Haley Z. Boston (Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet Of Curiosities) is being billed as “twisted” and “terrifying”. It follows a bride and groom whose lives go seriously awry in the week before their wedding. Don’t expect anyone to catch the bouquet.

‘Hamburg Days’

Release date: TBC
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Starring: TBC

Based on the memoir of German artist Klaus Voormann, this biographical drama tells the story of The Beatles’ formative trips to Hamburg in the early ’60s. Succession alum Jamie Carragher (no, not that one) serves as head writer, while the BBC has issued an open casting call for actors to play the Fab Four. If done well, this could be the archetypal rock ‘n’ roll origin story.

‘First Day On Earth’

Release date: TBC
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Starring: Michaela Coel

In the first TV series she has written and created since 2020’s multi-Emmy-winning I May Destroy You, Michaela Coel stars as a flailing novelist who heads to Ghana, the country of her heritage, to reconnect with her father. According to Coel, what follows is a “wild odyssey”, so consider us seated.

Returning TV shows in 2026

‘Industry’

Season: four
Release date: January 12
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Starring: Marisa Abela, Kit Harington, Myha’la

Like the super-slippery finance world it drills into, Industry never stands still. This fourth season is being billed as a “high-stakes, globetrotting cat-and-mouse game” involving a “new fintech darling” who disrupts London’s investment scene. The eight new episodes are being rolled out weekly: a sure sign that Industry’s stock is still rising.

‘Paradise’

Season: two
Release date: February 23
Where to watch: Disney+
Starring: Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Shahi

Set three years after a global catastrophe sent the human race into underground bunkers, this post-apocalyptic thriller was one of 2025’s best new shows. Season two follows Sterling K. Brown’s stoic secret agent Xavier as he searches for his missing wife in the outside world. Set the dial to treacherous – very treacherous.

‘Scrubs’

Release date: February 25 (US air date, UK still TBC)
Where to watch: ABC (US, UK still TBC)
Starring: Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke

After a 17-year hiatus, the brilliantly surreal medical sitcom returns with most of its key cast members and OG showrunner Bill Lawrence at the helm. The revival series will comprise nine episodes: a sensible way to bring back an old-school network comedy in the highly competitive streaming era.

‘The Boys’

Season: five
Release date: April 8
Where to watch: Prime Video
Starring: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Chace Crawford

According to creator Eric Kripke, The Boys‘ fifth and final season is rooted in “a true underground resistance against a fascist government, which definitely has no comparison or parallel to anything going on anywhere in the world.” Ahem. Expect TV’s smartest and sweariest superhero series to land plenty of timely jabs as it bids a frenetic farewell.

‘Euphoria’

Season: three
Release date: April TBC
Where to watch: Sky Atlantic and NOW
Starring: Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney

Season three of Gen Z’s defining teen drama begins with a five-year time jump. Creator Sam Levinson has revealed that Rue (Zendaya) is now living in Mexico, while Cassie (Sweeney) and Nate (Elordi) are shacked up in the suburbs. This being Euphoria, though, no one will stay settled for long.

‘Malcolm In The Middle: Life’s Still Unfair’

Release date: April 10
Where to watch: Disney+
Starring: Frankie Muniz, Bryan Cranston, Jane Kaczmarek

Another revival series, but a laser-focused one. The four 30-minute episodes take place 20 years after the original sitcom and follow Frankie Muniz’s Malcolm, who now has a daughter of his own, as he attends his parents’ 40th wedding anniversary party. Let the oddly heartwarming chaos commence.

‘Mobland’

Season: two
Release date: TBC
Where to watch: Paramount+
Starring: Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren

Creator Ronan Bennett and exec producer Guy Ritchie won’t be short of ideas for season two of their gritty gangster thriller. After all, the great thing about feuding crime families is that they never stop feuding. All the key players are back, joined by new cast members Johnny Flynn (Stardust) and Ophelia Lovibond (Trying).

‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale’

Release date: TBC
Where to watch: Disney+
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Jack Cutmore-Scott

Bringing back a TV show as beloved as Buffy is a risk, but the early signs are encouraging. Oscar winner Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, Hamnet) is directing the pilot and Sarah Michelle Gellar has emphasised that it’s not a reboot but a “continuation”. Is it too soon to ask for another musical episode?

‘House Of The Dragon’

Season: three
Release date: 2026 TBC
Where to watch: Sky Atlantic and NOW
Starring: Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke

According to Matt Smith, the gripping Game Of Thrones spin-off will return in August, a full two years since its second season concluded. That’s quite a hiatus, but don’t be surprised if the intricate mix of scheming, shifting loyalties and subterfuge reels you in again pretty quickly. What’s more, a fourth season is already in the works.

‘The Bear’

Season: five
Release date: 2026 TBC
Where to watch: Sky Atlantic and NOW
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri

Season four of the culinary dramedy ended with Jeremy Allen White’s Carmy stepping away from the kitchen so he could work on himself. Could personal growth keep him from cooking for the entirety of season five? Expect plenty of the show’s usual spicy beef either way.

*All release dates UK unless stated otherwise

The post 20 massive TV shows to look forward to in 2026 appeared first on NME.

It looked like Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight was getting ready to wave goodbye to the beloved series with a full-length movie – but he’s now announced at least two more seasons will follow The Immortal Man.

• READ MORE: Steven Knight on ‘This Town’ and his big-budget ‘Peaky Blinders’ movie

Premiering back in 2013, Peaky Blinders introduced viewers to Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby and his badass Brummie gang. Over six seasons, he and the Peaky Blinders expanded their criminal empire, dealt with plenty of betrayal and somehow stayed out of the clutches of the law in the aftermath of World War One.

An “explosive” movie The Immortal Man will pick things up shortly after the emotionally-charged season six finale, which saw Tommy ride off into the sunset after finding out he wasn’t dying from a brain tumour. A release date for the movie has yet to be revealed but after plenty of teasing, Knight has now confirmed that two more seasons are in the works. Here’s everything we know about the “new era” of Peaky Blinders.

What will Peaky Blinders season seven be about?

Rather than continue the story of Tommy Shelby, the next season of Peaky Blinders will explore the “next generation” of the Shelbys, post-World War Two.

“Britain, 1953. After being heavily bombed in WWII, Birmingham is building a better future out of concrete and steel,” reads the official description. “In a new era of Steven Knight’s Peaky Blinders, the race to own Birmingham’s massive reconstruction project becomes a brutal contest of mythical dimensions. This is a city of unprecedented opportunity and danger: with the Shelby family right at its blood-soaked heart.”

Will Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby be returning?

Cillian Murphy will definitely be involved in the new season of Peaky Blinders in some capacity, as he’s been revealed as one of the show’s executive producers. It’s not been announced if he’ll step out in front of the camera though and The Immortal Man has been described as a “fitting conclusion” to the story so far.

But since the new seasons are only set twenty years after the initial run, there’s every chance he could still be involved… as long as he doesn’t get killed off in the Peaky Blinders movie that is. Speaking to Esquire in 2020, Murphy said: “Tommy will never be satisfied. I don’t know what’s in store for him. But I think he will never rest.”

However a recent interview with Empire saw Knight describe The Immortal Man as “the last few chapters of a long novel,” while Murphy spoke about filming his final ever scene. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to process it or think about it until the film comes out, because I believe that a film isn’t finished until people look at it,” he explained.

Who else will be in the cast?

So far, no names have been announced for the next chapter of Peaky Blinders but The Immortal Man is set to add a lot of new faces to Tommy Shelby’s world, including characters played by Tim Roth, Rebecca Ferguson, Jay Lycurgo and Barry Keoghan, so there’s every chance they could also play an important part of the new era.

In December, a new image was shared via Empire that saw Keoghan’s unknown character leading a “new generation of Peaky Blinders” so it seems likely he’ll be involved in some way. “I’d always wanted to be part of it. But the schedules never worked, or I didn’t fit the description of what they were looking for,” he explained.

Knight has also teased the “new generation” of characters introduced in season six will play an important part in The Immortal Man, so Duke Shelby (Conrad Khan) Lady Diana Mitford (Amber Anderson) and Jack Nelson (James Frecheville) could well shape what comes next.

What has Steven Knight said about the new episodes?

“I’m thrilled to be announcing this new chapter,” Knight said, confirming the new seasons of Peaky Blinders. “Once again, it will be rooted in Birmingham and will tell the story of a city rising from the ashes of the Birmingham blitz. The new generation of Shelbys have taken the wheel and it will be a hell of a ride.”

“This game-changing show made a huge impact when it first came to our screens 12 years ago and it is one of the BBC’s most-loved dramas. Steven has worked his magic once again and I can’t wait for his scripts to be brought to life when filming begins in Birmingham,” added Lindsay Salt, director of BBC drama. “There’s plenty of drama for Peaky fans to look forward to!”

When will Peaky Blinders season seven be released?

The new episodes of Peaky Blinders will be filmed at Knight’s own Digbeth Loc. Studios in Birmingham. However production hasn’t started yet, so a release date is still to be firmed up. It’s safe to assume the show won’t be released until after The Immortal Man, which will be released in select cinemas on March 6 2026 before it hits Netflix on March 20.

Will season seven be the end of Peaky Blinders?

Season eight of Peaky Blinders was confirmed at the same time as seven, with each season made up of six episodes. Beyond that, who knows. It is still immensely popular though and with a whole new generation of colourful characters to play with (alongside the possibility of some old favourites), there’s plenty of space for Knight to explore. In an interview with Broadcast, he said the reason for the new episodes was because “we felt there was an appetite for more,” which leaves the door wide open for a lot more Peaky Blinders.

The post Everything we know about ‘Peaky Blinders’ season seven appeared first on NME.

A great TV soundtrack is the glue that holds narrative threads together and a subtle(ish) insight into characters’ shifting priorities. It’s also an opportunity to pimp your own playlists with unsung gems from the past and box-fresh bangers you haven’t discovered yet. With this in mind, here are 10 soundtracks that really leapt off the small screen this year.

Words: Nick Levine

‘Black Rabbit’

Centred around a trendy Manhattan restaurant, this gritty thriller features two original songs written by The Strokes‘ Albert Hammond Jr. and sung by lead actor Jude Law. They’re actually pretty decent, but the real meat is riff-driven morsels from Pixies (‘Marigold’), Beastie Boys (‘Just A Test’) and Amyl And The Sniffers (‘U Should Not Be Doing That’). It’s big, bold soundtrack that really captures the intense and frenetic New York state of mind.

Best needle-drop: RAYE‘s cover of Dinah Washington’s ‘What A Difference A Day Makes’, which she sings during her cameo in a nightclub scene. Pure class.

‘Boots’

Set in 1990, this punchy dramedy follows closeted teenager Cameron (Miles Heizer) as he navigates the physical rigours and barely veiled homophobia of US Marines boot camp. Punky cuts from the Ramones (‘Little Bit O’ Soul’) and Iggy Pop (‘The Passenger’) add grit, while camp classics by Bananarama (‘Venus’) and Queen (‘I Want To Break Free’) feel like a knowing wink. And Sade‘s ‘The Sweetest Taboo’ is used very movingly indeed.

Best needle-drop: Cameron is a big Wilson Phillips fan, so naturally ‘Hold On’ gets a couple of prominent syncs.

‘House Of Guinness’

Masterminded by Peaky Blinders‘ Steven Knight, this Irish brewing drama was always going to have a killer soundtrack. There’s lovely trad folk from The Chieftains and Lisa O’Neill, but the focus is on box-fresh bangers from the booming Irish music scene: Dublin punks Fontaines D.C. and Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap get several syncs apiece. And don’t worry, you can binge the entire series without hearing ‘Galway Girl’.

Best needle drop: Fontaines D.C.’s ‘Death Kink’ soundtracks an especially intense scene in episode six.

‘Overcompensating’

As well as guest-starring in Benito Skinner’s college comedy, Charli XCX serves as its music producer, so every song slaps. It’s set in the early 2010s, which means a liberal sprinkling of vintage Charli (‘Nuclear Seasons’, ‘Girls Night Out’) alongside cool alt-pop from Sky Ferreira, Uffie and Lorde. And when Skinner’s wannabe jock needs to prove his rap credentials, he reels off a few bars of Nicki Minaj‘s ‘Super Bass’.

Best needle-drop: Britney Spears‘ wistful banger ‘Lucky’ soundtracks a pivotal moment of personal growth for Skinner’s conflicted character Benny.

‘Stranger Things’

Season: five

In its epic final season, the mindbending sci-fi series continues to use ’80s pop classics sparingly but cleverly. Tiffany’s bubblegum banger ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’, which is sweetly referenced in episode three, has never sounded quite so poignant. And who can blame the Duffer Brothers for syncing Kate Bush‘s ‘Running Up That Hill’ again after season four sent it to Number One? In fact, it features in nearly every episode.

Best needle-drop: When Diana Ross’ ‘Upside Down’ plays over the end credits of episode one. Frankly, it’s about time!

‘The Bear’

Season: four

In its enthralling fourth season, The Bear continues to serve up its emotional and culinary maelstrom with generous helpings of classic rock. Led Zeppelin, The Who, Tom Petty? All cranked up to 11. But at the same time, the show’s music producers are always testing new flavours. Episode seven features no fewer than 13 different needle drops from artists as varied as Weezer and Everything But The Girl. On this sizzling soundtrack, not one song is a chop.

Best needle drop: Episode one’s closing montage and end credits are soundtracked by seven full minutes of Tangerine Dream’s ‘Diamond Diary’. A big swing, executed to perfection.

‘The Girlfriend’

Everything about this twisty thriller is intense and arresting, especially its soundtrack. There’s a tremendous sense of fun in the way it uses pummelling anthems by PJ Harvey (‘Rid Of Me’), Blondie (‘One Way Or Another’) and BLACKPINK (‘Pretty Savage’) to signpost that neither Laura (Robin Wright) nor her prospective daughter-in-law Cherry (Olivia Cooke) is a pushover. When the final episode drops Ava Max’s ‘Sweet But Psycho’, it’s almost too on-the-nose. Almost.

Best needle-drop: A frantic sex scene set to Wet Leg’s ‘Chaise Longue’ is low-key genius.

‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’

Season: three

Few shows use music to highlight a character’s mindset quite as deftly as Jenny Han’s love triangle drama. This final season offers another high-quality mix of emotive retro gems (Radiohead‘s ‘No Surprises’, Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Landslide’) and evocative modern bops (Chappell Roan‘s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’, Billie Eilish‘s ‘Birds Of A Feather’. And thanks to a handwritten note sent by Han to the world’s biggest popstar, it features nearly as many Taylor Swift hits as ‘The Eras Tour’.

Best needle-drop: Swift’s ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart’ is deployed poignantly in the final episode.

‘Wednesday’

Season: two

Wednesday‘s season two soundtrack is so bloody good that it coaxed Billie Piper out of musical retirement. The Y2K pop queen-turned serious actress duets with Catherine Zeta-Jones on a suitably dramatic cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s ‘Bad Moon Rising’. Elsewhere, Tim Burton’s Addams Family reboot accentuates its kooky and spooky goings on with everything from Wagner (‘Ride Of The Valkyries’) to BLACKPINK (‘Boombayah’) and Bruce Springsteen (‘Dancing In The Dark’).

Best needle-drop: ‘The Dead Dance’, a brand new Lady Gaga banger recorded especially for the show. Well, she does guest star in episode six.

‘What It Feels Like For A Girl’

Adapted by Paris Lees from her own memoir, this chaotic coming-of-age series is set amid Nottingham’s ket-laced Y2K club scene. Segueing from techno (Zombie Nation’s ‘Kernkraft 400’) to big beat (The Chemical Brothers’ ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’) and UK garage (DJ Luck & MC Neat’s ‘A Little Bit Of Luck’), the soundtrack is so impeccably nostalgic you’ll get high on the memories. And for the comedown? A soothing blast of All Saints’ ‘Never Ever’.

Best needle-drop: A satisfied strut from main character Byron (Ellis James Howard) to Fatboy Slim‘s ‘Praise You’.

The post The best TV soundtracks of 2025 appeared first on NME.

Between the price hikes, password-sharing crackdowns and general reduction in output, you’d have been forgiven for thinking Netflix and co. didn’t want you to watch TV this year. Yes, the streaming bubble has finally burst – and after more than a decade of gratuitous spending, Ted Sarandos and other astoundingly rich men in suits have had to face up to the dim, blue light of morning telly: it’s time to make the numbers add up.

This meant more zeroes on your subscription fee and fewer big-money productions – but not necessarily a decline in quality. From gripping sci-fi thrillers to Trump-baiting political satires and heartbreaking queer comedies to brutal schoolyard dramas, there’s been plenty of good stuff on the box in 2025. Here are our absolute favourites…

Alex Flood, Managing Editor (Entertainment + Partnerships)

Words by: Jordan Bassett, Paul Bradshaw, Rhian Daly, Alex Flood, Nick Levine, James Mottram, Gary Ryan, Ali Shutler, Surej Singh, Andrew Trendell, Sam Warner and Kyann-Sian Williams

20. ‘Such Brave Girls’

Season: two

In 2023, Such Brave Girls’ first season introduced the series as British TV’s next unhinged and unfiltered comedy, no trauma seemingly off limits, no joke too dark to make. Following sisters Josie (writer and creator Kat Sadler) and Billie Johnson (Lizzie Davidson), and their mum Deb (Louise Brealey), it navigated mental health, toxic relationships and the struggle to survive with arch humour.

Season two didn’t make things easier for the Johnsons, ramping up their personal tensions and raising the stakes on the family’s future, the wicked touch that made the first episodes so funny intact. Whether it was Billie deluding herself into thinking she was in a sugar baby arrangement with a married man or Deb’s constant desperation to lock down boyfriend Dev (Paul Bazely), there was a continued level of patheticness to the characters that made you root for them, even when their moral bar was in hell.

Best episode: ‘Such Mummy’s Girls’

Watercooler moment: Josie’s various schemes to spend as little time as possible with her cloying boyfriend Seb, including when she tries to get sectioned by claiming to have overdosed. RD

19. ‘Overcompensating’

TikTok comedian Benito Skinner transports his own coming-out story into this ribald and unexpectedly tender six-part twist on American Pie college raunch comedies. Executive-produced by his mate Charli XCX, Overcompensating sees him star as Benny Scanlon, a golden-boy jock who tries to convince the world (and himself) that he’s straight. Every unconvincing frat-bro utterance of “I love pussy” feels like a distress flare he’s sending into the world. The masc-mask starts to chip when he tries to sleep with fellow freshman Carmen Neil (Wally Baram), and the pair strike up an us-against-the-world friendship, as he falls for film student Miles Hari (Rish Shah). Peppered with likeable characters, Overcompensating is astute on the queer coming-of-age experience – including the end-of-the-world fear people can see you’re gay before you’ve fully accepted it yourself – and is further bolstered by an array of scene-stealing guest stars including Megan Fox voicing a pep-talk-dispensing poster of herself, and Bowen Yang as one half of a couple the desperate Benny meets on Grindr, hornily hoping someone will toss him a bone(r).

Best episode: ‘Welcome To The Black Parade’

Watercooler moment: Episode four, ‘Boom Clap’, features a cameo from Charli XCX throwing a monstrous diva strop and the line: “Look, I don’t do college coke!” GR

18. ‘Pluribus’

Across five seasons of Breaking Bad and the six seasons of its prequel Better Call Saul, creator Vince Gilligan weaved a larger-than-life tale of criminal empires, drug kingpins and slick lawyers that never strayed too far into the realms of impossibility. His gritty, tense shows are among some of the best of modern times – so there were plenty of expectations about whatever Gilligan did next.

Rather than expand the Breaking Bad universe, Gilligan returned to his sci-fi roots for Pluribus, a bizarre, mind-boggling mash-up of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, The Truman Show and Black Mirror. The horrifying drama sees miserable, famous author Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) as one of the few people not caught up in an alien hivemind whose invasion killed millions – including Sturka’s optimistic partner Helen (Miriam Shor). Each day comes with a terrifying revelation about Carol’s new reality and with at least one more season on the way, this spooky dystopia is only just getting started. Like Severance, it’s one of those shows that you need to watch to fully comprehend.

Best episode: ‘We Is Us’

Watercooler moment: The slow-burn premiere of Pluribus, which gradually ramps up the creeping tension until Helen finds herself addressing an alien hivemind through her TV set. AS

17. ‘Task’

Following up Mare Of Easttown was never going to be an easy task (pun intended), but somehow, writer Brad Inglesby has crafted yet another must-watch miniseries. Bleak and bracing, crime drama Task follows FBI agent Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) as he returns to field duty (following a devastating family tragedy) to lead a task force investigating a string of violent robberies orchestrated by a motorcycle gang. What follows is a slow-building, riveting and downright tragic game of cat-and-mouse as we see the story unfold from the perspectives of both our protagonist and antagonist.

Task expertly blurs the line between good and evil, right and wrong to create an experience that will leave viewers questioning everything they think they know about morality and redemption. Couple that with some Emmy-worthy performances and top-notch writing, and you’ve got a winner on your hands.

Best episode: ‘Vagrants’

Watercooler moment: Lizzie Stover’s death (no more need be said). SS

16. ‘Hacks’

Season: four

Season four of this awards-gobbling sitcom picks up directly after three’s finale where old-school comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) was blackmailed by her Gen Z foil Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) into being appointed head writer on her new late night talk show – and promptly declared war on her “ginger Judas” former friend, creating the most toxic work environment this side of The Ellen DeGeneres Show (allegedly). “Don’t cut your nose off to spite your face,” warns Ava in the new episodes. “I’ve cut my nose plenty of times. It always works out well for my face,” responds the Joan Rivers-esque Deborah. Still the most scalpel-sharp comedy around with an undertow of pathos, highlights included Deborah running afoul of HR when offering her writers’ room drugs on a Las Vegas work retreat, the introduction of Julianne Nicolson’s cocaine-boofing TikTok star ‘Dance Mom’, and a sensational denouement that acts as a clever series redux.

Best episode: ‘Miss Table’

Watercooler moment: Deborah dances in a gay club’s go-go cage and does a bosh of strong poppers – promptly finding herself in A&E – in a moment of televisual (Liquid) gold. GR

15. ‘Slow Horses’

Season: five

Just as Danny DeVito didn’t have to spend his autumn years playing despicable creep Frank Reynolds in It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, we should feel blessed that one of the most celebrated and talented actors of all time has gifted us with Slow Horses’ hilarious, farting old coot Jackson Lamb. Oscar-winning Gary Oldman plays the seasoned and jaded but secretly dedicated MI5 spy, leading his band of fellow outcast agents from the no-mans-land of Slough House.

This season, the gang’s challenges speak to our times: racial tension, corrupt politicians and establishment leaders, hysteria and paranoia. It’s another slick and unmissable batch of episodes, yet also human, humble and very British. This is certainly the most relatable the show has been, without losing that knife-edge tension. Slow Horses remains an antidote to James Bond in just how real it is – and it’s comforting to know that the fuck-ups could still save the world.

Best episode: ‘Missiles’

Watercooler moment: When nasty racist Gimball meets his sticky end – what a delicious twist. AT

14. ‘South Park’

Season: 28

In an unpredictable world, it’s reassuring to know that The Simpsons is still around, but no-one’s claiming the show is at the height of its powers. South Park, on the other hand, has been firing on all cylinders this year. When you elicit a damning response from the actual White House, whose spokesperson slammed Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s animation as “uninspired” after they depicted a micro penis-possessing Trump in bed with Satan, you know you’ve done your job as satirists. With American talk shows being hobbled after criticising the President, this sort of silliness is more important than ever. Is it big? Like Trump’s knob in the show (and allegedly in real life), it is not. Is it clever? Like anyone moaning about South Park being politicised (another idea sent up this series): no. But it is extremely funny – not bad for a show that premiered almost three decades ago.

Best episode: ‘Sora Not Sorry’ (episode 336!)

Watercooler moment: When J.D. Vance and Trump shag to Foreigner’s ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’. An image to make you hate your own eyes. JB

13. ‘The Last of Us’

Season: two

If season one of the post-apocalyptic drama raised the bar for video game adaptations, season two maintains its nuance and emotional intensity. That’s quite an achievement, because this run of episodes is based on much trickier source material. Kaitlyn Dever makes a devastating first impression as vengeful survivor Abby, but the show’s beating heart remains the fraught relationship between stoic smuggler Joel (Pedro Pascal) and his teenage ward Ellie (Bella Ramsey). Now more than ever, she has a target on her back because of her immunity to the mass fungal infection that has felled humanity. As the season progresses, some of its non-linear storytelling can feel fiddly, but The Last Of Us still offers a chillingly prescient vision of a dystopian America. By the end, you’ll question how your own moral code might hold up under such monumental pressure.

Best episode: ‘Through the Valley’

Watercooler moment: Episode two’s audacious plot twist is gobsmacking even if you remember it from the game. NL

12. ‘The White Lotus’

Season: three

It’s an ingenious idea, isn’t it? With its emphasis on the titular, lavish hotel chain, Mike White’s deliciously twisted drama can introduce a new location and a fresh cast of spoiled, narcissistic wretches with each series. This time we’re in Thailand, with a violent cold open before the action spins back to reveal how we got there. Cue the arrival of holidaymakers including a trio of gal pals (Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb and Michelle Monaghan) whose friendship creaks under the strain of 24/7 companionship; an age-gap couple (Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins) whose relationship is the definition of push-pull; and the Ratliffs, a wealthy Southern family whose patriarch (Jason Isaacs) has some serious professional problems back home. Detractors might have moaned that the series was slower than its predecessors, but that languid pace just ratcheted up the tension as we crawled – like a doomed superyacht – towards the bloody denouement.

Best episode: ‘Full Moon Party’

Watercooler moment: The wince-inducing scene in which Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan Ratliff (Sam Nivola) take ‘brotherly love’ a tad too far. JB

11. ‘The Bear’

Season: four

After a few abstract detours in season three, The Bear found its way home this year – settling into a new groove that feels slightly less chaotic (thank god). Not that there isn’t literally a ticking clock running throughout all 10 episodes… This still definitely isn’t an easy show to watch – the restaurant given weeks/days/hours to dodge bankruptcy, Carmy barely clinging on to hope, Sydney with one foot out the door, the rest of the family on fire in the background – but it’s at least feeling more comfortable now as it deepens its characters and gives them a bit of quiet around all the chaos. Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri are still giving the best performances on TV (with an underserved Ebon Moss-Bachrach running a close third), but their broader arcs of grief, self-destruction and lost purpose are finally given sharper definition as the show looks to be heading towards some kind of conclusion.

Best episode: ‘Worms’

Watercooler moment: The ending, obviously. But since we can’t spoil it we’ll just remember how many people could fit under that wedding table… PB

10. ‘What It Feels Like for a Girl’

Paris Lees’ captivating adaptation of her memoir is a coming-of-age story like no other. Set in Y2K Nottingham and soundtracked by Fatboy Slim, Moby and All Saints, it’s a tonal rollercoaster that really captures the tumult of teen life. The eight episodes explore gender dysphoria, generational trauma, sexual abuse, working-class deprivation and ket comedowns, but it’s all anchored by Ellis Howard’s breakout performance as Byron, a whip-smart 15-year-old wrestling with their identity. As the UK’s first major TV drama created by a trans woman, What It Feels Like For A Girl was always going to be groundbreaking. And yet, because it aired in a year when the UK’s trans community was callously used as a political football, it also felt timely and incredibly vital. But above all, it’s a transcendent testament to the power of human resilience.

Best episode: ‘Episode 5’

Watercooler moment: When Byron’s queer clique go wig shopping, they tell the sales clerks they’re in an S Club tribute act – iconic. NL

9. ‘Black Mirror’

Season: seven

After 13 years, Charlie Brooker’s anthology series has proved so prescient that “it’s like Black Mirror” has become ubiquitous shorthand for anything dystopian. Despite culminating with the show’s first sequel – a feature-length continuation of the 2017 Emmy-winning episode ‘USS Callister’ – it wasn’t indicative of a veteran show running out of ideas. Indeed, season seven proved Black Mirror has lost none of its zeitgeisty edge, wild inventiveness and ability to shock. Its most memorable instalments used plausible technological ‘what ifs?’ to lean into humanity, including the sumptuous romance of ‘Hotel Reverie’ where a modern-day Hollywood star is digitally inserted into a black-and-white Golden Age movie. Best of all was instant classic ‘Eulogy’, featuring a knockout performance from Paul Giamatti as a man plagued by a lost love, who’s given the opportunity to step inside old photographs – which showed Brooker is still adept at throwing your heart into a NutriBullet and pulverising it.

Best episode: ‘Eulogy’

Watercooler moment: The relentlessly bleak opening episode ‘Common People’ was a trenchant criticism of private healthcare and the concept of “enshittification”, where spiralling subscription costs of life-saving treatment force a woman to become a ghoulish walking pop-up advert. GR

8. ‘The Celebrity Traitors’

The Celebrity Traitors is reality TV at its most gleefully devious – and easily became the nation’s guilty pleasure this autumn. A star-studded cast featuring national sweethearts Paloma Faith and Stephen Fry alongside younger, more online celebs such as Niko Omilana all arrived convinced they were masters of manipulation, deception and sleuthing – but the Faithfuls proved they were anything but. Tasked with rooting out three Traitors (who, if they win, steal the entire cash pot for charity), the Faithfuls instead bumbled through the game: overthinking, ignoring the obvious and missing every cue to leave Traitors Alan Carr, Jonathan Ross and musician Cat Burns free to cause havoc. Carr obviously became a public favourite despite spending most of the time as a sweaty, rosé-guzzling mess. The tension, absurdity and sheer hilarity pulsed through every whispered strategy, backstabbed vote and desperate bluff. We couldn’t look away.

Best episode: ‘Finale’

Watercooler moment: Comedian Nick Mohammed’s last-minute switch-up during the final banishment was the nail-in-the-coffin no one saw coming. KSW

7. ‘The Pitt’

You may scoff at the idea of a medical drama making numerous best-of lists in 2025, given the draggy nature of never-ending genre staples such as Grey’s Anatomy (and 15 seasons of ER before that). But that’s exactly what’s happened.

Instead of long, dull storylines that never pay off, The Pitt treated us to a mad rush of action. The entire season takes place within the span of a single 15-hour shift, each episode covering one hour of that time frame in chronological order. And while the personal lives of the medical teams still play a role in the series, they take a backseat to the chaos of the emergency room.

Grisly emergencies, unruly patients, fresh interns, grief, PTSD and an uncomfortably realistic portrayal of all-too-familiar tragedies all came together to form one of the most intense and bingeable series in recent memory.

Best episode: ‘6:00pm’

Watercooler moment: Robby’s raw and emotional breakdown in episode one. SS

6. ‘Severance’

Season: two

Some shows are worth the agonising wait. Three years on from the first season of Severance, Apple TV’s wild Emmy-winning workplace satire, the doors of Lumon Industries finally re-opened this year, returning us to this very unique biotech company where employees commit to their consciousness being snapped in two. Season one left us on a cliffhanger, as team leader Mark Scout (Adam Scott) and other ‘innies’ made it to the outside world, where their ‘outie’ selves exist, blissfully unaware of everything going at Lumon. Season two did exactly what a good follow-up series should do, with creator Dan Erickson deepening the mysteries and raising the stakes of this surreal love story. New characters added to the weird vibes, from the child-like Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) to Gwendoline Christie’s goat-tending Lumon employee Lorne – spawning more theories than a Lost fan convention. With another edge-of-your-seat season finale leaving us dangling, this oddball gem played a blinder.

Best episode: ‘Cold Harbour’

Watercooler moment: Irving, on the snowy outdoor retreat, tries to drown Holly. JM

5. ‘Andor’

Season: two

Focusing on the Rebellion in the years leading up to the events of Rogue One, this brilliant Star Wars spin-off wrapped up its two-season run this year. Structured in four blocks, the final season continues the stories of rebel Cassian Andor and Senator Mon Mothma as they grapple with ever-higher stakes in fighting the Empire – all culminating in some spectacular and horrifying scenes.

Andor’s strength lies in its taut storytelling within the Star Wars universe, with creator Tony Gilroy creating a sharp thriller about authoritarianism and the insidious and banal ways that it snakes its ways through a population’s lives, rather than another project from a galaxy far, far away drawing upon empty fan service. From the writing, to the acting, score and more, Andor hit every mark with a blaster – and will stand the test of time in a way that leaves other recent Star Wars projects in the dust.

Best episode: ‘Who Are You?’

Watercooler moment: Mon Mothma’s powerful Senate speech calling out Emperor Palpatine by name in ‘Welcome To The Rebellion’. SW

4. ‘Alien: Earth’

Alien fans have had a lot to contend with since Ridley Scott ruined the prospect of space travel for everyone in 1979. At one point, it looked like 2024’s Alien: Romulus – an enjoyable, reverential retread – would be the best we could hope for. Praise be, then, for Noah Hawley, the Fargo TV showrunner who’s proven his uncanny ability for reinventing cinematic opuses for the small screen. Where the franchise once traded on claustrophobia, his vision is decidedly wide in scope. In 2120, two years before the events of Alien, a dastardly tech autocrat (the fabulously named Boy Kavalier, played with slippery glee by Samuel Blenkin) intercepts a Xenomorph-occupied space shuttle that’s crash-landed on our unfortunate planet. Things certainly don’t look good for human-android hybrid Wendy (Sydney Chandler) and her medic brother Hermit (Alex Lawther), though fans of gnarly sci-fi and classic rock (Alien: Earth has a killer soundtrack) screamed for joy.

Best episode: ‘In Space, No One…’

Watercooler moment: The critters unleashed in that aforementioned fifth episode. You’ll never look at your water bottle in the same way again. JB

3. ‘Big Boys’

Season: three

Throughout its first two seasons, Big Boys deftly toed the line between emotional devastation and heartwarming humour. Rooted in creator Jack Rooke’s time at university during the 2010s, it told a coming-of-age story impacted by grief, but was also a beautiful celebration of identity, love and youthful stumbles.

As the seasons progressed, so too did Jack (played by Derry Girls’ Dylan Llewellyn) – growing in confidence as he gained more experience in the world and began to unlock new sides of his personality. By season three, that meant a cringe-inducing step into the world of performance poetry – but with a tight-knit gang of friends, including best pal Danny (Jon Pointing), to support him along the way. Jack and Danny’s unlikely friendship was always at the core of Big Boys, but in season three, gave the show its highest highs and lowest lows in a poignant portrait of connection, depression and grief.

Best episode: ‘The Sea’

Watercooler moment: The devastating final scene, Jack and Danny’s last conversation – guaranteed to leave you a sobbing mess. RD

2. ‘The Studio’

Well of course The Studio set a record for the most-nominated comedy debut in Emmy history. There’s nothing the film industry likes more than an in-joke, and there are few funnier, slicker punchlines around than those crammed into the first season of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s backlot cringe comedy. Old-fashioned enough to not seem nostalgic about a film studio being run by a human being instead of a streaming conglomerate, the series cast Rogen as Matt Remick – a man flailing his way through one blockbuster car crash after another. One episode was a Chinatown pastiche. Another was about a sharting-zombie movie. The last one was just an excuse to see Bryan Cranston on shrooms. The list of a-listers cameoing as themselves was part of the draw (Martin Scorsese, Charlize Theron, Zac Efron, Ice Cube…) but the real star was the script: a warm-hearted, lovingly made, deeply funny knife to the guts of Hollywood.

Best episode: ‘The Oner’

Watercooler moment: The chaos of filming a “one-shot movie”: like Seth Rogen’s 1917 with all the stress of Uncut Gems. PB

1. ‘Adolescence’

Every year there’s a show that enflames the collective consciousness so aggressively it seems almost divinely ordained. As if the big telly god in the sky has analysed all of our brains and crafted the perfect story to match. In 2025, Adolescence was that show.

Tapping into public panic about the impact of misogynist ‘manosphere’ influencers on young boys, Adolescence told the shocking story of 13-year-old murderer Jamie in just four taut, gripping episodes. Bullied at school and radicalised by the likes of Andrew Tate on TikTok, Jamie (newcomer Owen Cooper) is arrested for killing classmate Katie in the miniseries’ opening scenes. Why seemingly sweet young lad Jamie might want to kill anyone is slowly made terrifyingly clear, as clueless police officers and his oblivious parents draw the horrible truth out of him. Technical wizardry and some stunning performances elevate the action on-screen, but it’s the anxious response from viewers that has turned Adolescence into a true telly phenomenon.

Best episode: ‘Episode 3’

Watercooler moment: After a gruelling one-on-one evaluation of Jamie, child psychologist Briony (Erin Doherty) breaks down in the face of such unfiltered anger. AF

The post The 20 best TV shows of 2025 appeared first on NME.

Wednesday became Netflix’s surprise hit of 2022. After some middling animated films in recent years, this sharp, modern and slick reboot catapulted The Addams Family back onto screens for the first time since the 1990s.

• READ MORE: ‘Wednesday’ review: Netflix Addams Family spinoff is creepy, kooky and very spooky

The smartest decision was to pivot focus to Wednesday Addams and, more specifically, Jenna Ortega. Between her cutting stare, deadpan delivery and twitchy dance moves, her take on the death-obsessed outcast is a prickly thorn rooted in modern sensibilities. But will there be another adventure for everyone’s favourite gothic teen?

Has a second season of Wednesday been confirmed?

You betcha

Netflix announced at the start of 2023 that their second most-streamed English language series ever would return for more episodes.

In an exclusive interview with Netflix’s in-house publication Tudum creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar said: “It’s been incredible to create a show that has connected with people across the world. Thrilled to continue Wednesday’s tortuous journey into season two. We can’t wait to dive head first into another season and explore the kooky spooky world of Nevermore. Just need to make sure Wednesday hasn’t emptied the pool first.”

When will Wednesday season two be released?

Production has broken records

Part One of the hit Netflix show will drop on August 6, before Part Two follows on September 3. The first episode is called ‘Here We Woe Again’ and has been directed by Tim Burton.

For Wednesday season two, production moved from Romanian to Ireland and become the “largest production to ever film in Ireland” when considering spend [via The Independent]. Filming began in July 2024 and wrapped at the start of December.

Taking a break from filming, Ortega was spotted hanging out with some sheepdogs at a local farm in October while both her and Emma Myers were seen at Chappell Roan’s Dublin gig in September.

If you can’t wait that long, the first six minutes of season 2 are available to watch online now.

Where could Wednesday’s journey go in season two?

A stalker is at play

At the end of season one, Wednesday receives threatening messages sent from an unknown number on her newly-gifted smartphone. As she looks over the messages, including pictures of her having coffee and a text that says “I’m watching you”, Wednesday pleasingly announces she has her “very first stalker”.

The identity of this stalker will likely be the main mystery for season two, but there’s other unresolved plot threads. Did Tyler (Hunter Doohan) escape from police custody after being outed as the monster Hyde? Similarly, what is the fate of Laurel Gates after being covered in bees and arrested?

There might be room for a bigger spotlight on The Addams Family at large too. Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez Addams (Luis Guzmán), along with younger brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez), were largely sidelined in the first season but Netflix has confirmed all three have been promoted to series regulars for the second season, as has Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo’s Deputy Ritchie Santiago. A second outing could also mark the arrival of Cousin Itt, who is referred to briefly in the show’s seventh episode.

According to an official synposis, “Wednesday returns to prowl the Gothic halls of Nevermore Academy, where fresh foes and woes await. This season, Wednesday must navigate family, friends and old adversaries, propelling her into another year of delightfully dark and kooky mayhem. Armed with her signature razor-sharp wit and deadpan charm, Wednesday is also plunged into a new bone-chilling supernatural mystery.”

Who is returning for Wednesday season two?

One huge player has been cut but some big names have been added

Pretty much the entire cast is returning for Wednesday season two including Emma Meyers, Joy Sunday and Moosa Mostafa but Percy Hynes White (Xavier Thorpe) has been written out following misconduct allegations.

A host of new faces will be joining the cast though. Steve Buscemi, Billie Piper, Evie Templeton, Owen Painter and Noah Taylor are all new series regulars, while Joanna Lumley, Thandiwe Newton, Frances O’Connor, Haley Joel Osment, Heather Matarazzo and Joonas Suotamo will all guest over the course of Wednesday season two. Following Christina Ricci’s involvement in season one, fellow Addams Family star Christoper Lloyd is set to appear in season two.

Lady Gaga is also set to star in the second half of Wednesday season two as Nevermore teacher Rosaline Rotwood. Ortega has teased that Gaga’s role won’t be what you expect it to be. “I love that you never know what to expect from her, but you can always expect kindness and generosity.”

What have the cast and creators said about season two?

It could get darker

Ortega has expressed her hopes for a darker second outing for Wednesday.

“I kind of want her to be darker,” the actor told Entertainment Tonight. “I want her to get more in the nitty-gritty of things and not play things so safe, because there are a lot of lines about her saving the school and doing whatever, but for me, her main drive with the monster is of competitiveness. Kind of, ‘man, how’s this guy doing this?’ I think I want it to continue down an antihero stream rather than a typical hero.”

More recently, Ortega revealed that one episode has been inspired by slasher flicks. “We make a lot of horror references. So, everything about it, I feel like we kind of had a little bit more trust, and therefore, we felt like we could do bigger, more elaborate sequences, which is nice.”

“This season, Wednesday’s journey is darker and more complex as she navigates family, friends, new mysteries, and old adversaries, propelling her headlong into another year at Nevermore,” showrunners and executive producers Al Gough and Miles Millar said in a statement to Netflix shortly after season two wrapped.

Like death, the end is only the beginning. https://t.co/kPhGf1bd27

— Wednesday Addams (@wednesdayaddams) December 4, 2024

Co-showrunner Millar has also said a second season would put more of the family in the spotlight, while keeping the show’s focus on Wednesday. “We felt like we just touched the surface with those characters and the actors are so amazing in those roles,” Miller told TVLine. “Catherine is, I think, an iconic Morticia.

“The relationship between Wednesday and Morticia is also essential to the show, and the idea that Wednesday is trying to forge her own path outside the family is important.”

Miller added that they “definitely want to feature the family as we did this season in a couple of episodes if we were to get a second season”.

In regards to Wednesday, co-showrunner Al Gough has said the focus will remain on her growth moving forward. “The series is really about a girl who sees the world in black and white, and learning there are shades of grey. I think like any relationship or any friendship, it can get complicated by other factors. It’s never going to be smooth sailing. And it’s really her learning to navigate the ups and downs of friendship.”

Is season two the end of Wednesday?

Absolutely not

The cast and crew of Wednesday were still adding the finishing touches to season two ahead of a 2025 release when Ortega confirmed season three is already in the works.  “We haven’t gotten an official thumbs up or anything like that, but I know that the writers are… With a show like that, you kind of want to get ahead of the game,” she explained. “So, I think that they’re kind of messing around and throwing out ideas.”

Shortly before season two aired, Netflix confirmed that Wednesday would be returning for a third season. “She would never leave you hanging,” explains the post on X while a poster warns that “bad things come in threes”.

Showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are also exploring a “top secret” spinoff. “It’s something we’re definitely noodling; there are other characters we can look at,” Gough told The Hollywood Reporter. “There’s a lot to explore in the Addams Family,” added Millar. Gough.

The post Here’s what we know about ‘Wednesday’ season two appeared first on NME.