5 Shows I’m Excited for in 2025 and Beyond

Some of my (and my family’s) favorite shows are the ones that don’t adhere to a traditional release schedule thanks to the way content for streaming services is created. While the wait is harder on the fans, I can appreciate the flexibility this gives shows with high and complication production demands. Of course it’s extra exciting when these shows do offer us little sneak peeks and photos to let us know that production is underway. Between D23 and the Fall Netflix TUDUM, there’s been a number of tantalizing drops and announcements for fans. Here’s what I (and some of my family) is excited for.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season Two, Disney+

Having Rick Riordan involved with the first season definitely created a show that was a tribute to the source material and the fans who love the adventures of Percy Jackson. It was so good my younger son finally listened to his brother about reading the books as well. Our family even arranged to have a spread of blue based snacks for the premiere episode. The casting announcements for new characters including Tyson and Thalia have been extra exciting for us because there’s been so much great talent recruited for this show already. D23 dropped a small peek at some of what they’ve been working on, and this is probably the show that is most anticipated for our whole family. There’s even an official cookbook releasing that should be great in helping us up our snack game for the premiere.

Avatar the Last Airbender Season Two, Netflix

Like a certain demigod, Ang’s story also suffered a bad movie version that fand wanted to be redeemed. While there were definitely still changes made in the Netflix adaption (my Elder Geek Child can explain in detail), it was a far better adaption that was much more faithful to the source material that the previous attempt. Elder Geek Child and I are both active enough in Taekwon-Do that we really paid attention the the martial arts moves especially the ones where you can see an actor’s face and know it’s not a stunt double. Dallas Liu in particular caused us to look at each other and note that some of those sweeping kicks were far too good to be done by someone who didn’t have solid experience so we weren’t at all surprised to learn he has competed in martial arts at an international level. Season two is going to bring fan favorite Toph to life and I can’t wait for her sass and snark. The released shot of her earthbending to the show’s theme is just so gorgeous. This is another show that’s going to be really fun for our whole family.   

One Piece Season Two, Netflix

I’m going to be honest, there was a time I would not have expected a live action show based off of an anime to hit my must watch list as anime and I have never clicked the way it has for others. I will also admit when I first saw the trailer for One Piece, it looked fun and full of antics and pirates (all in the win column for my family), and I wasn’t aware at first that it was an anime series. We decided to try it out and really loved it. During a high stress time, Luffy’s boundless optimism was really inspiring to be honest and probably exactly what I needed. Eldest Geek Child and I were super impressed with Taz Skylar and his portrayal as Sanji. We’ve done no hand sparring with kicks only and those back kicks he was throwing were clean and solid. Finding out he did every kick without a double and just really put in insane training time learning Taekwon-Do was super impressive.  There’s been casting announcements left and right for the next season including names like Katey Segal, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Charithra Chandran, and Joe Manganiello. This next chapter is going to be a lot of fun.

Stranger Things Season Five, Netflix

Stranger Things is one of my all-time favorite shows (the kids have not jumped on this one quite yet). Filming has definitely been impacted by COVID and the Hollywood strikes, but I’m so very glad we get to return to Hawkins, Indiana for one last adventure. Details and photos have been very carefully controlled although we do know the legendary Linda Hamilton has an undisclosed role this season. Season Four ended in a particularly dramatic way with lots of open ends (especially for poor Max). Is the Steve/Nancy/Jonathan triangle truly solved? Will the Upside Down ever be truly defeated? What is going to be the character cost for this last fight and I suspect it’s likely to be higher than before and probably even more of a gut punch than Eddie Munson (we all saw that death coming, it still hurt so much). It was announced that they crossed the halfway point in production this past summer, but we haven’t seen a proper teaser or trailer yet. There’s still been something for the fans though with a little behind the scenes peek that was dropped at the halfway point announcement.

Bridgerton Season 4, Netflix

My kids don’t watch Bridgerton of course, but it’s one of my favorites and we’ve had some updates drop recently so it’s on my anticipated shows list. One of the biggest questions at the end of the third season was which sibling was next? The fact there had already been order switching and the fact the fourth, fifth, and sixth books take place in an overlapping time span meant that not only were there several possibilities, but that tweaks to the story would need to happen. The first big announcement was that clues about the Masquerade Ball indicating the next season was Benedict’s were correct. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait too much longer for additional news as the casting of Sophie was announced as Yerin Ha with Katie Leung cast as her step-mother. While I know it’s likely to be 2026 before we actually see the next season, that will not stop me from eagerly being on the lookout for more news, pictures, and announcements.