2025 TV preview: A hotel stay in Thailand, along with the requisite monsters and aliens
By Dan Heching, CNN
(CNN) — The new year is almost upon us, and – regardless of the endless watchlists of content we all have yet to tackle – with it comes a glut of showy new titles destined for our at-home screens of varying sizes.
While many of the selections below are not new shows, the desire to revisit familiar and beloved characters and storylines to see where things go next is evidence of the great work accomplished by those who made these returning series.
Below is a selection of just some of the most-anticipated entertainment set for the new calendar year on TV and streaming:
‘Stranger Things’
After a fiendishly scary, engrossing and musical Season 4 way back in 2022, it’s time to return to Hawkins to revisit whatever’s lurking Upside Down – namely one Vecna. Like with “Euphoria” (which won’t be back until 2026), between the pandemic, Hollywood strikes, other cast commitments and more, a lot of time has passed since we last saw Eleven and her friends. Netflix has not yet specified a date for “Stranger Things” Season 5 – its final – to debut.
‘White Lotus’
Another highly anticipated returning show is “White Lotus,” from the mind of “Enlightened” craftsman Mike White. The first Hawaii-set season was a master class in how to portray strained, awkward racial tension and class relations, while 2022’s second season, set in Italy, was a bedroom farce that built to a viral crescendo, thanks to Emmy-winner Jennifer Coolidge’s gleefully clueless Tanya. The third go-round, taking place in Thailand, will welcome back Belinda (the excellent Natasha Rothwell) from Season 1. “White Lotus” Season 3 premieres on Max on February 16. (Max, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.)
‘Alien: Earth’
This show is new, at least in the television format. One of cinema’s ultimate extraterrestrial baddies, the Xenomorph first introduced in Ridley Scott’s iconic 1979 sci-fi/horror “Alien,” will be back to terrorize audiences in this FX/Hulu series. The subtitle hints at another truly novel angle in this concept; perhaps on Earth, no one will be able to hear you scream either. It remains to be seen how much of the original universe’s story DNA will be findable here. “Alien: Earth” is coming sometime over summer 2025.
‘The Last of Us’
The first season of this arresting post-apocalyptic series turned zombie stories – and video game adaptations – completely on their head, showcasing the talents of brooding leading man Pedro Pascal and a star-making turn from Bella Ramsey. Things don’t look to be getting much better for the pair in this second go-round, which will feature new cast members Catherine O’Hara and Kaitlyn Dever. “The Last of Us” Season 2 will premiere on Max in the spring.
‘Zero Day’
Playing on some of society’s deepest-seated fears, “Zero Day” imagines a world hobbled by a heinous global terrorist attack and the people who struggle to get ahead of it. The Netflix limited series features Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Lizzy Kaplan and Angela Bassett in the role of the US president. “Zero Day” premieres on February 20.
‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’
The sprawling world of “Game of Thrones” continues to unfurl with this prequel series, taking place in Westeros a century before the events depicted in “Thrones.” Based on author George R.R. Martin’s “Tales of Dunk and Egg” novellas, the show will center on the wanderings of “two unlikely heroes,” Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire Egg, according to a news release. The show will come to Max in late 2025.
‘IT: Welcome to Derry’
Just when you thought it was safe to enjoy clowns again… Pennywise is back, this time in an HBO/Max prequel series set in the 1960s, leading up to the events depicted in 2017’s first big-screen installment. Bill Skarsgard, fresh from Nosferatu’s sarcophagus, is back as the horrifying demon-clown. A release for “Welcome to Derry” has not yet been specified, outside of 2025.
‘Severance’
The mind-bending world of “Severance” returns in January with a second season, sure to stupefy and shock with the help of Patricia Arquette’s villainous boss. As noted in our review of Season 1 in 2022, the best kind of science fiction sometimes feels set about 10 minutes in the future, and so it is with this extremely creepy, slow-moving but instantly engrossing show. “Severance” Season 2 premieres January 17 on Apple TV+.
‘Andor’
Season 1 of this “Star Wars” series features excellent casting and a grounded sense of reality embedded into the galaxy far, far away. The second season will further tie the action to 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” which itself serves as a precursor to “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” from 1977. “Andor” Season 2 comes to Disney+ on April 22.
‘Wednesday’
The macabre mayhem continues with Jenna Ortega in the delicious title role of this Addams Family offshoot, which scored big with audiences and critics alike – and even created a viral dance moment – in its first season. Look for a bunch of starry new cast additions this time around, including Steve Buscemi, Joanna Lumley and Thandiwe Newton. So far Netflix has revealed that “Wednesday” Season 2 “premieres in 2025.”
The-CNN-Wire
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