2022 has been an epic year for television fiction. Month after month, we have enjoyed ingenious, ruthless, surreal, and unpredictable projects. Titles such as House of the Dragon, The Staircase, Better Call Saul, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Crown, Stranger Things, Ozark, Dahmer, Moon Knight, Obi Wan Kenobi, Andor, and The Boys, were among the great audience favorites.
To be fair, the list is long and devilishly entertaining featuring pure entertainment, but with substance.
Now, as the year draws to a close, it’s time to start looking at future TV viewing.
It’s never too early to know the dates of next year’s television premieres. 2023 is already shaping up to be another emblematic period on the small screen. Everything indicates that we will receive great scripts, formidable characters, and risky ideas.
Here is a guide to the most eagerly awaited premieres and returning series for 2023.
The Last Of Us
HBO | Season 1
The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic television series based on the acclaimed 2013 video game of the same name developed by Naughty Dog. The show will premiere on January 15 on HBO and HBO Max.
The program brings together an impressive creative team led by Chernobyl creator, Craig Mazin, and the game director, Neil Druckmann. Druckmann is co-president of Naughty Dog, the studio responsible for The Last of Us, as well as the game’s screenwriter and creator alongside Bruce Straley.
The story is set in the not-too-distant future where a strange virus has wiped out civilization, transforming most people into strange creatures. The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern society has been dramatically devastated.
Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to rescue Ellie, a 14-year-old teenager, who finds herself in an oppressive quarantine zone. Ellie is the most important piece of the story: she is immune to the virus. What begins as a small job soon turns into an odyssey. Both will have to cross the United States and the dangers will not be long in coming.
The first season is made up of ten episodes and features an excellent cast headed by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. Other actors appearing in the show include Storm Reid, Gabriel Luna, Elaine Miles, Melanie Lynskey, Lamar Johnson.
The Mandalorian
Disney + | Season 3
Mando and Baby Yoda reunite once again…
Producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni confirmed that the third season of The Mandalorian will arrive on March 1, 2023. Pedro Pascal will return as Din Djarin and Grogu is back by his side.
The second installment of the series ended with Luke Skywalker taking Grogu away for his Jedi training. After this closure, fans were left anxious to know more about the future of the show. Evidently, the duo had reached a decisive moment.
The third season is planned to pick up the story after the events set forth in The Book of Boba Fett (2021). The first trailer hints that the bounty hunter and Grogu travel to Mandalore so Din Djarin can redeem himself for his transgressions. The teaser shows a good part of the plot: Mando will try to somehow make up for taking off his helmet.
It’s fair to say that Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau have created one of the best Star Wars TV series to date. The Mandalorian is part of the Star Wars franchise, set after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983); the first big signing for the third season of the series is Christopher Lloyd, the unforgettable Doc Brown from the Back to the Future saga.
This program will be followed by the live-action series premiere of Ahsoka, the spin-off of The Mandalorian starring Rosario Dawson .
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Netflix | Season 1
“Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked…”
The long-awaited franchise returns after years of production. The live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender has finally finished filming and will arrive on Netflix in 2023, although the exact release date has not yet been announced.
Like the original animated series, the show is set in a fantasy world in which the inhabitants of the four nations – the Fire Nation, the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom and the Air Nation – can control the elements of nature at will. As the name of the project suggests, the program will focus on the hero of the animated stories: the Avatar Aang.
It should be noted that the original creators of the Nickelodeon show, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, left the production of this adaptation due to creative differences with the streaming giant. Following this decision, Albert Kim took over the Avatar: The Last Airbender project. Kim is known for having worked on TNT’s Leverage and Nikita. In addition, Ryan Halprin and Lindsey Liberatore are listed as producers.
The central cast features Gordon Cormier as Aang, Kiawentiio as Katara, Ian Ousley as Sokka, Dallas Liu as Zuko, Elizabeth Yu as Azula, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Iroh, and Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai, among others.
This adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of Netflix’s most expensive shows, costing $15 million per episode and a total of $120 million for the first season. The show will consist of eight episodes.
Only Murders in the Building
Hulu | Season 3
Without a doubt, this mystery/comedy series has become one of the most acclaimed shows on television. With countless Emmy nominations, Hulu has renewed Only Murders in the Building for a third season, which means there will be more murders and secrets linked to the residents of the Arconia.
So far, no official synopsis for the new installment has been revealed. However, based on the season two finale, it is quite likely that the plot will revolve around the murder of Ben Glenroy. After the conflict between Ben and Charles in the show’s last episode, it seems that the protagonist trio holds a strange and dangerous connection to him.
John Hoffman, co-creator of the fiction has stated that “If season 1 was a little more focused on the emotional storyline for Mabel and Tim Kono, and season 2 was a little more emotionally connected to Charles and his relationship with his father and himself, I’m very excited to both lean into the theatrical side of New York City and also into Oliver and his world”.
Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez have been confirmed to return to play Charles, Oliver and Mabel. Paul Rudd was officially announced as a new cast member, following his surprise appearance in the Season 2 finale.
Hulu has not yet set a date for the series premiere.
Succession
HBO | Season 4
This hit drama centers on the Roy family, owners of Waystar RoyCo, a powerful media conglomerate. Everything comes to a head when the patriarch of the family, Logan Roy, suffers a sharp decline in health and his descendants begin a vicious struggle for control of the company.
Throughout its first three seasons, Succession has captivated viewers with a mix of parental issues and dangerously sharp writing. The HBO show has been renewed for a fourth season, set to premiere in spring 2023 – the exact date has yet to be announced-.
The official synopsis of the fourth season reads as follows: “The sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson moves ever closer. The prospect of this seismic sale provokes existential angst and familial division among the Roys as they anticipate what their lives will look like once the deal is completed”. In this way, the show promises even more drama and family feuds behind the quest for power.
Most of the cast of Succession is scheduled to return. The regular characters have already been confirmed. Brian Cox returns as head of the house Logan Roy, the sinister and often scheming patriarch. He is joined by his four children Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Connor (Alan Ruck), Siobhan (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin).
Other returning stars include: Matthew Macfadyen, Nicholas Braun, J. Smith-Cameron, Peter Friedman, David Rasche, Fisher Stevens, Hiam Abbass, Justine Lupe, Scott Nicholson, Zoë Winters and Jeannie Berlin.
In June 2021, executive producer Georgia Pritchett commented that the series would not go beyond five seasons, possibly ending after the fourth season.
Secret Invasion
Disney + | Season 1
As part of Phase 5 of the MCU, Disney+ continues the story of Nick Fury and the Skrull Talos, who already appeared together in the Captain Marvel movie. The show will be based on the comic book series of the same name and promises a heavy dose of sci-fi and suspense.
The trailer gives the impression of an espionage thriller, in which Fury must defend the planet from the Skrulls, dangerous aliens with shape-shifting abilities.
Secret Invasion takes place during The Blip, the five-year time span after Thanos’ snap. With this story, the MCU complicates the Talos storyline, introducing the rebel Skrulls who secretly plot against Earth’s heroes.
Samuel L. Jackson reprises his role as Nick Fury. Jackson is joined by actors Ben Mendelsohn, Cobie Smulders, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman, Martin Freeman and Don Cheadle.
Disney has not set an official premiere date for Secret Invasion, but Kevin Feige announced at Comic-Con 2022 that the show would launch sometime in spring 2023. This is the ninth original series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Image: Gage Skidmore
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