Matt is joined by Brooks Barnes from The New York Times to discuss the long and messy path of the Golden Globes as we gear up for the 81st Golden Globe Awards on Sunday. Matt and Brooks discuss why this show can’t seem to die even though it’s been mired in controversy, how it has been reformed under new ownership, whether people even want to celebrate Hollywood anymore, and why the Globes will probably still exist 30 years from now. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the ratings for the Golden Globes.
For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, What I’m Hearing …, click here.
The Midnight Boys are here to ring in the new year and give you their full-on impressions of Marvel’s What If…? Season 2 (08:04). Then, they give out their superlative awards for the best that season had to offer, including Best Episode (39:18). Later, they offer up their big predictions in fandom for 2024 and see who will be right in the new year (73:49).
Hosts: Charles Holmes, Van Lathan, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve Ahlman Senior Producer: Steve Ahlman Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal Social: Jomi Adeniran
Matt is joined by Deadline senior reporter Justin Kroll to discuss the young movie stars on the rise and fall after a chaotic movie year in Hollywood. They highlight the movies that catapulted young actors into stardom, as well as some of the more puzzling casting decisions that potentially hurt someone’s career. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the 2024 box office in January and February.
For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, What I’m Hearing …, click here.
Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag invite Amanda Hirsch of the Not Skinny but Not Fat podcast to discuss her beginnings (09:07) and why she loves the Kardashians (13:58). Then, the trio discuss all things pop culture, including whether Ryan Reynolds follows Spencer or not (21:00), who will be the biggest star of 2024 (31:55), their dating predictions for the year (34:23), and their one wild celebrity prediction (44:13).
Hosts: Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag Guest: Amanda Hirsch Producers: Chelsea Stark-Jones, Amelia Wedemeyer, Aleya Zenieris, and Devon Renaldo Theme Song: Heidi Montag
Chelsea and Zack return from the holiday break with lots to discuss on Southern Charm and Real Housewives of Miami. Starting with Southern Charm, the two discuss Season 9, Episode 14 and recap all the continued drama between Olivia and Taylor, Taylor’s dinner table speech that ends not so in her favor, and, of course, Olivia’s hotel room confrontation after overhearing Taylor (2:58). Then the two recap Season 6, Episode 9 of RHOM and discuss Lisa’s Palm Beach trip with the girls, her nonstop Lenny talk, and, of course, the Mother’s Day brunch!
Host: Chelsea Stark-Jones Guest: Zack Peter Producer: Jade Whaley Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
Jo and Rob are back to break down the eighth episode of Fargo Season 5. They open by reading through a handful of listener emails on how this season is depicting the Midwest and its culture. Next, they discuss the rise and fall of Danish Graves, the likelihood of an effective Gator redemption arc, and Roy Tillman’s viciousness. Along the way, they revisit this season’s themes of debt and the characters’ constructed realities.
Hosts: Joanna Robinson and Rob Mahoney Producer: Kai Grady
A 13-year-old streamer, Blue Scuti, became the first ever human to beat the classic game of Tetris on NES. Blue Scuti broke 3 world records in total — including that monumental accomplishment — during a semifinal match for the 2023 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC). On Tuesday, he posted the full video onto his YouTube channel.
It might be funny to think that a 34-year-old game had never been beat before — but that’s precisely the case. Since Tetris (or Classic Tetris) was released on the NES it was genuinely considered unbeatable. Players would play for as long as they could, until reaching the 29th level, at which point pieces would fall so fast it seemed impossible to keep up. Only an AI had ever beat it — until Blue Scuti came on the scene.
Blue Scuti’s winning strategy was a culmination of the technique that younger players have been developing in recent years. These newer strategies, like “hypertapping” and later “rolling,” emerged in 2016 and 2020 respectively, allowing players to operate the NES controller even faster than the buttons by tapping the underside of the controller. By 2022, most players that placed in in CTWC used some version of these strategies.
In the 38-minute video, you can see Scuti grow more tense as he approaches ever greater levels. Right after making a great save, he gets to the game’s frozen screen — signaling victory — and ecstatically says “oh my god” while yanking off his gloves. “My hands feel tingly, I can’t feel my hands,” he says, with his face in his hands.
In a post game interview with streamer ITZsharky, Blue Scuti describes the nerves after playing for 30 minutes, but that he was “still managing to hit the 5 taps.” He added, “You miss one 5 tap and the run can end.”
Sean and Amanda give some box office thoughts from the last couple weeks, before honing in on two films in theaters right now: Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell’s sex comedy Anyone but You (15:00) and the musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple (49:00). They close by each sharing three New Year’s movie resolutions that relate to the show (1:04:00).
Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay are joined by filmmaker Jason Hehir to discuss the new docuseries Murder in Boston (1:25), explain Boston’s history of racial strife (13:24), and the city’s reckoning with its past (24:18).
Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Guest: Jason Hehir Producers: Donnie Beacham Jr. and Ashleigh Smith
There was a change in the air. It was Mardi Gras in New Orleans, after all.”
— -Penelope Douglas
NEW ORLEANS, LA, UNITED STATES, December 31, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — As the Marketing Director of the Historic Mardi Gras Inn, located in the heart of New Orleans’ famous French Quarter, Karen Brem invites guests to immerse themselves in the city’s most iconic celebration, Mardi Gras. The 2024 season, spanning from January 6, 2024 to February 13, 2024, promises an unforgettable experience filled with music, parades, and culinary delights.
Mardi Gras, a historic tradition in New Orleans, is a season of joy, marked by vibrant parades, exquisite King Cakes, and a plethora of culinary delicacies unique to the region. This year, the festivities will include multiple parades, each with its own theme and character, please check online for parade schedules and routes.
“Mardi Gras in New Orleans is not just a day; it’s a season,” says Karen Brem. “It’s a time when the city’s rich cultural heritage comes alive through music, food, and community spirit. Our inn, steeped in history, provides a cozy, convenient base for guests to explore and participate in the myriad of activities that make Mardi Gras an unforgettable experience.”
Throughout 2023, in honor of the magnificent Tears of the Kingdom, Polygon has been celebrating Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda series. It’s been fascinating. Perhaps no other video game series is so rewarding to revisit, or presents such wildly different, refracted visions of its core idea — which nevertheless remains consistent throughout.
Created by the great Shigeru Miyamoto in the 1980s as an expression of his childhood love of exploring without a map, Zelda has always held a revered position in gaming culture, although it never quite enjoyed popular success to match — not, that is, until its unlikely rebirth in 2017, thanks to the runaway success of the Nintendo Switch and the revolutionary design of Breath of the Wild.
The series’ strong traditions are balanced by an ingrained habit of hitting the reset button. Across 16 mainline entries, only a small handful (Majora’s Mask, Phantom Hourglass, Tears of the Kingdom) are true sequels, and even these delight in reinvention. The Zelda timeline is more a tangle of rumor and myth than an established canon, and its lore is constantly rewritten.
Ranking these brilliant, shapeshifting games is, in some ways, an absurd task. They’re all great (well, perhaps all but one); the top seven or so are masterpieces that could be arranged in just about any order. But it’s an interesting exercise in exploring a series of games that exist in a unique, echoing conversation with each other. In putting this ranking together, we paid at least as much attention to how fun the games are to play now as to their historical import.
A few points of order: Though they’re technically part of the main Zelda canon, we have excluded the multiplayer games Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, and Tri Force Heroes. They’re difficult to play as their makers intended now, and honestly feel more like spinoffs (though Four Swords Adventures, in particular, absolutely rules). Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, which were released as a pair, Pokémon-style, are counted as a single entry. And actual spinoffs like Link’s Crossbow Training or Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland are also excluded. The Zelda series is gloriously weird — but maybe not that weird.
16. Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link
Image: Nintendo
Original release: 1987, on NES Where to play now: Nintendo Switch Online
If the original The Legend of Zelda is the series at its most youthful, exuberant, and promising, Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link represents the games’ awkward teen years. Fittingly, the Link we play in Zelda 2 is 16 years old, fumbling his way through new gameplay territory, as Nintendo explores the lite role-playing mechanics from a side-scrolling perspective. Spread across overworld segments of dangerous exploration and equally harrowing side-scrolling dungeon crawling, Zelda 2 is a more challenging, more obtuse style of adventure.
Long considered the black sheep of the Legend of Zelda games, The Adventure of Link was a harder, clumsier experiment for Nintendo. It was envisioned as an action game infused with role-playing game stats, and the end result feels like Nintendo’s designers copying others’ work (e.g., Dragon Quest, Kung-Fu Master) instead of flexing the company’s trademark originality. Zelda 2 is not a failed experiment, however. Nintendo clearly learned the right lessons from it, as well as influencing other games, including Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest, Faxanadu, and Shovel Knight. Even the worst Zelda games have their importance. —Michael McWhertor
15. Phantom Hourglass
Image: Nintendo
Original release: 2007, on Nintendo DS Where to play now: Unavailable — track down a used copy
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass represents a somewhat awkward era of Zelda. As a direct sequel to The Wind Waker, it had big shoes to fill, and wore them a little clumsily. Phantom Hourglass was the first mainline Zelda game to be released on the Nintendo DS family of handhelds and the first Zelda game to take advantage of the console’s touch controls. Overall, the controls fit in nicely with the Zelda formula and allow players to scribble on dungeon maps and tap to fight. However, the game suffers from uneven pacing while traveling on your customizable steamboat ship, or revisiting the Temple of the Ocean King, a dungeon that requires you to come back to it multiple times. Still, I’ll remember it for its willingness to try new gameplay and test the Zelda waters. —Ana Diaz
14. Twilight Princess
Image: Nintendo
Original release: 2006, on GameCube and Wii Where to play now: Unavailable — track down a used copy of Twilight Princess HD for Wii U
Link spends a pretty big chunk of time in wolf form in Twilight Princess, which you’d think would be a selling point (because he looks so darn cute), but it’s actually pretty weird. After all, Link can’t do all of the best parts of being Link when he’s a wolf: throwing a boomerang, say, or twirling his sword around in a circle while shouting “Hiyah!” Twilight Princess also introduces Midna, a helper character in the vein of Navi, but a lot more condescending. I find Midna’s snarky comments to be deeply satisfying, and the conclusion of her arc at the game’s end feels more fulfilling than most of Princess Zelda’s arcs. The Legend of Zelda series does not always allow its female side characters to have much to do, but by the end of Twilight Princess, it’s actually more Midna’s story than anyone else’s. —Maddy Myers
13. Oracle of Ages / Oracle of Seasons
Image: Nintendo
Original release: 2001, on Game Boy Color Where to play now: Nintendo Switch Online
In 2001, Nintendo lent the proverbial Zelda keys to Capcom. As it turns out, Capcom didn’t need them: It kicked down the door to one of gaming’s most hallowed series and made itself right at home. Billed as a double feature focused on time- and season-based puzzles, respectively, Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons are tight and sophisticated enough to have emerged from the offices of Nintendo itself. (Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto had big-picture production input, to be fair.)
Ages’ time-traveling puzzles are among the finest in the 2D Zelda pantheon, and Seasons’ more action-oriented approach makes it a fresh entry in the otherwise “left-brained” franchise. Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi would go on to direct a handful of later Zelda games (The Minish Cap, Skyward Sword, and — checks notes — Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom among them), but as far as “classic” Zelda goes, few entries capture the series on a grand scale like Capcom’s dark horse two-parter. —Mike Mahardy
12. Spirit Tracks
Image: Nintendo
Original release: 2009, on Nintendo DS Where to play now: Unavailable — track down a used copy
As follow-ups in this endlessly changeable series go, Spirit Tracks has one of the most straightforward, cut-and-paste premises: it’s Phantom Hourglass but with a train instead of a boat. Like its immediate predecessor, it leans hard on stylus control, course-plotting map traversal, and a style of adventure that’s breezily approachable until it suddenly isn’t, in the grim, stealthy, piecemeal ascent of its central tower dungeon.
If Spirit Tracks ultimately surpasses Phantom Hourglass, it’s because of its sheer, ebullient charm. The appeal of its steam-train playset is irresistable, and this is also the only game in the series in which Link and Zelda — the latter admittedly in ghost form — get to hang out for the whole thing. Zelda even gets to be semi-playable, by possessing clanking suits of armor, while the pair have an adorable, innocent chemistry. Choo choo! —Oli Welsh
11. The Legend of Zelda
Image: Nintendo
Original release: 1986, on NES Where to play now: Nintendo Switch Online
It’s the rare game that impresses me more with each passing year. But as trends come and go, genres flourish and stagnate, and open worlds continue to distance themselves from their late-2010s growing pains, The Legend of Zelda continually grows in my estimation. It’s opaque by today’s standards, replete as it is with hidden doorways and labyrinthine shifts from one screen to another. And given the choice, it’s fairly far down the list of “fun” Zelda games. But it stands as a progenitor of most of today’s best games, open-world or otherwise, and it took Nintendo 31 years to circle back to its elegant conceit of a sprawling, mysterious world worth exploring in Breath of the Wild. —M. Mahardy
10. Skyward Sword
Image: Nintendo
Original release: 2011, on Nintendo Wii Where to play now: Skyward Sword HD on Nintendo Switch
It’s time to reclaim perhaps the most consistently underrated game in the Legend of Zelda series. There are reasons Skyward Sword’s reputation has suffered. First, its original motion controls, while well implemented, are just not how anyone wants to play an epic adventure like this. Second, it has a ridiculously overwrought climax worthy of a Hideo Kojima game. Third, it arrived at just the point when the Zelda games’ Ocarina of Time-inspired design was starting to show its age.
Skyward Sword ended up being a swan song for that era of Zelda — but what a swan song. It’s a dense and satisfying game, expertly designed, with intricate, cleverly conceived dungeons that rank alongside the very best in the series’ history. And it also has a soaring, romantic spirit. Skyward Sword is perhaps the purest expression of Zelda’s high-fantasy aesthetic — and the only time the series fully owned up to being a love story. —OW
9. A Link Between Worlds
Image: Nintendo
Original release: 2013, on Nintendo 3DS Where to play now: Boxed 3DS edition is still in print
I always found A Link Between Worlds to be a special game because of the way it iterates on the classic Zelda theme of traversing parallel worlds. Instead of using a mirror to flip between worlds, this game allows Link to transform into a 2D painting, in which form he can walk along walls and into the glittering crevices of Hyrule and its counterpart, Lorule.
For me, Lorule is one of the more interesting versions of Zelda’s classic Dark World. It isn’t just a barren wasteland filled with monsters; it’s also the home of kind and heroic people who want a better way of life. The game plays well, with perhaps the best-integrated touch controls in a Zelda game. On top of all that, it features an unconventional weapon rental system that allows you to explore wherever you want early on. The game’s title nods to the revered A Link to the Past,and it certainly doesn’t fail to live up to its namesake. —AD
8. The Minish Cap
Image: Nintendo
Original release: 2004, on Game Boy Advance Where to play now: Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack
The Minish Cap is a hidden gem of the Zelda series. Developed by Capcom, this Zelda game follows Link after he meets a talking hat named Ezlo that grants him the power to shrink to the size of a pea. Exploring as a tiny hero literally changes our perspective on Hyrule and allows the developers to conjure up a sensorial and vivid world where you’ll fight Vaati and dodge the deathly plop of raindrops.
Similarly to The Wind Waker, The Minish Cap leans into a cartoony charm; you’ll meet zany sword instructors and talk to cows chewing cud. This game also contains one of the Legend of Zelda’s goofiest items, a magical cane that turns objects upside down. Combine these charms with some great dungeon design, and you have the makings of a fantastic Zelda game. It might not usually be counted among the Zelda greats, but The Minish Cap finds its brilliance in the tiny details. —AD
7. Link’s Awakening
Image: Grezzo/Nintendo
Original release: 1993, on Game Boy Where to play now: Choose between its 1998 DX form for Game Boy Color on Nintendo Switch Online or the modernized 2019 Nintendo Switch remake
This was the first-ever Zelda game I played, so all of the references to other games flew over my head, as well as the very obvious signposting about how the story would end. I felt confused, as so many players do, about why the name “Zelda” was in the title (I did think maybe the owl was named Zelda). And yet — although I experienced the classic Zelda tropes and mechanics in the dreamlike setting of Koholint Island, rather than in the larger and more defined kingdom of Hyrule — their magic captivated me completely. Like many others on this list, Link’s Awakening is a weird Zelda game, and it’s proof that being weird and silly is just as much a part of the patchwork of “being a Zelda game” as environmental puzzles or a magic sword wielded by an eternally reincarnating hero. —M. Myers
6. The Wind Waker
Image: Nintendo
Original release: 2002, on GameCube Where to play now: Unavailable — track down a used copy of The Wind Waker HD for Wii U
The Wind Waker oozes a charm and sense of character that distinguishes it from other Zelda games and makes it a series great. It dared to take the Legend of Zelda in a bold new visual direction with its wonderfully expressive, cartoony graphics, and introduced one of my favorite Zelda casts. Tetra is an inspired take on the role of Zelda: an adventurous and capable pirate captain who helps Link along his journey. This Link, too, is one of my favorite Links, with his comic book expressions and bumbling antics.
The game moved me emotionally in ways that no other Zelda game has, and I still think about Link’s big send-off, as he waves his tiny arms goodbye to his granny. All this, and it’s thoroughly enjoyable to play. Flourishes like the adaptive soundtrack that plays stringed instruments as Link hits his enemies only add to its zippy combat. This game — from its snot-nosed kids to its timeless art style — is endlessly endearing. To me, its ingredients make for the perfect elixir of a Zelda game. —AD
5. Ocarina of Time
Image: Nintendo
Original release: 1998, on Nintendo 64 Where to play now: Choose between the original version on Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, or the Ocarina of Time 3D remaster on 3DS (boxed edition still in print)
Just as Twilight Princess is secretly Midna’s game, Ocarina of Time is secretly Zelda’s game — or perhaps it belongs to Sheik. It may not be the best Zelda game by modern standards, but Ocarina of Time set a benchmark by which all subsequent entries have been measured, particularly when it comes to storytelling and world-building. It offers up the illusion of an open-world Hyrule, planting the seeds for a garden that would bloom in Breath of the Wild. And it’s the game with a time-travel story that splintered the entire series into disparate arcs — perhaps the most important linchpin in the greater Ganondorf saga. And it still holds up after all these years. Too bad its best version is relegated to the Nintendo 3DS — at least, for now. —M. Myers
4. Breath of the Wild
Image: Nintendo
Original release: 2017, on Nintendo Switch and Wii U Where to play now: Nintendo Switch
Breath of the Wildrepresents the most consequential overhaul the Zelda series has had since it moved into 3D with Ocarina of Time; in fact, it might be the most consequential ever, bravely scrapping most of the design hallmarks of a revered game series. Nintendo was seeking to modernize Zelda, but also to cut through 30 years of accumulated tradition, all the way back to the untamed adventure of the very first game.
It hardly needs to be said what a success it was: Breath of the Wild catapulted the Zelda series to a new level of popularity and challenged the assumptions of a lot of open-world and role-playing game design in a way that the rest of the industry is still digesting. It’s a dynamic, organic, thrillingly pure adventure, and the only reason it doesn’t top this list is because of what followed. —OW
3. A Link to the Past
Image: Nintendo
Original release: 1991, on SNES Where to play now: Nintendo Switch Online
Writing entries for this ranked list has me thinking about just what it is that makes a Zelda game great, and I think it’s the moment of realization. A Link to the Past serves up delicious moments of realization over and over and over again. You figure out that a cracked wall can be blown open to reveal a hidden passageway — oooh! You get a brand-new tool and you realize exactly how you need to use it — aha! You suddenly figure out the trick to a boss fight — take that! And then you realize that you have not even come close — not even close — to seeing all of the discoveries on offer here. A Link to the Past delivers on the pure dopamine rush of discovery, forcing a grin onto your face at every new revelation. It just feels good. —M. Myers
2. Majora’s Mask
Image: Nintendo via Polygon
Original release: 2000, on Nintendo 64 Where to play now: Choose between the original version on Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, or the Majora’s Mask 3D remaster on 3DS (boxed edition still in print)
As we’re talking about a series so centered on music, allow me a metaphor: Whereas Ocarina of Time’s time travel was classical in its approach (elegant, balletic, and nimble), Majora’s Mask’s time loop was more reminiscent of jazz: fractured, messy, and challenging, but revelatory all the same. Arriving two decades before the time-loop craze comprising Outer Wilds, Deathloop, and 12 Minutes, Majora’s Mask puts Link in a three-day cycle that unwinds and respools in a strange dream world replete with characters contemplating the impending apocalypse. Compared to most games in the series, Majora largely revolves around side quests, which are largely predicated on the collection of masks. Said quests reset themselves every time Link travels back to the dawn of the first day, (hopefully) armed with the necessary knowledge to bolster his collection and save a life or two in the process.
Majora was the feverish answer to a confounding question: “How do we follow the resounding success of Ocarina of Time and also bridge the gap between the Nintendo 64 and the GameCube?” No one could have predicted the answer: a melancholy, tick-tock ballet of thwarted dreams and desperate lives in the face of the apocalypse, the most intimate and personal Zelda has ever been. It remains the strangest and darkest entry in the series, and I doubt we’ll ever see anything like it again. —M. Mahardy
1. Tears of the Kingdom
Image: Nintendo
Original release: 2023, on Nintendo Switch Where to play now: Nintendo Switch
Every Zelda game has built upon the foundations of the games before it, with even the characters in its world acknowledging the myths of yore. No one believes more in the concept of predicting the future based on the past than the developers of Zelda — as well as Princess Zelda herself, who opens Tears of the Kingdom by guiding Link through a series of historical underground murals.
And yet even Princess Zelda in her wisdom couldn’t possibly have predicted how incredible and miraculous her story would become. Tears of the Kingdom is a reflection of this continued promise: You may imagine you understand — based on the history of Zelda games — how ambitious and creative and world-warping a Zelda game could be. And yet that very world will still surprise you. Tears of the Kingdom still surprises me. It’s a gift that I can’t believe we all got.—M. Myers
2023 was a banner year for anime. From beloved continuing series like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and Jujutsu Kaisen to long-awaited passion projects like Pluto and Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, there was pretty much something for every type of anime fan. While we’ve already published our picks for the best anime of the year and where to watch them, we also wanted to highlight one of the important yet overlooked elements of any great anime: the opening title sequence.
Opening title sequences in anime have a lot of purposes, from crediting the staff of animators who pour their hearts and craft into creating an excellent production to foreshadowing significant moments in the series itself. Combined with a particularly memorable theme song, a well-done title sequence has the potential to create a lasting impression on audiences and fans, if not even possibly eclipsing the quality of the show itself.
With that in mind, we’ve pulled together a list of some of our favorite anime openings of the year to highlight the work of the animators who created them while sharing our favorite anime theme bops.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off — “Bloom”
Director: Masamichi Ishiyama Music by: Necry Talkie
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off was one of the year’s big surprises, despite being highly anticipated. The anime adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s action rom-com comic series turned the story of Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers’ whirlwind romance on its head, reinventing its world as a way of reintroducing characters that fans knew and loved.
Chief animation director and character designer Masamichi Ishiyama’s opening sequence was the perfect reintroduction of Scott to new and old fans of the series, taking the video game-inspired visuals of the comic and injecting them with vibrant anime flair. Aside from a very clever blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nod to the opening sequence of the 2004 anime Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad, what makes the opening sequence for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is for how much it doesn’t tease the big twist of the series. It’s just a brilliant distillation of what made Scott Pilgrim such a beloved hang-out in the first place, and that’s all that it really needs to be. Combine that with an awesome track “Bloom” courtesy of the Japanese pop rock band Necry Talkie, and you’ve got a certified banger.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 — “SPECIALZ”
Director: Yuki Kamiya Music by: King Gnu
This season of Jujutsu Kaisen took a significantly darker turn, and the series’ second opening title sequence encapsulates that. Just as Shōta Goshozono took on the role of directing the show’s second season from previous director Sung Hoo Park, so too did Yuki Kamiya inherit the role of crafting this season’s opening title sequences from Jujutsu Kaisen’s former animation director Shingo Yamashita.
Of the two sequences Kamiya directed for this season, it’s the second one, created for the “Shibuya Incident Arc,” that stands out as one of the year’s best. It’s dark, ominous, and foreboding; foreshadowing not only Yuji Itadori’s fraught battle against the cursed spirit Mahito and the increased prominence of the malicious jujutsu sorcerer Sukuna, but also the tragic passing of one of the series’ most beloved characters. It’s an apt opening for a bracing, violent, and heartbreaking season.
Heavenly Delusion — “Innocent Arrogance”
Director: Weilin Zhang Music by: BiSH
Heavenly Delusion was one of my favorite anime premieres of the year, so it’s little wonder the series’ opening title sequence would also win a place in my heart. Weilin Zhang absolutely nails it with this opening, translating the already excellent character designs by the artist known as Utsushita into scenes that feel as unruly and adventurous as the series’ protagonist.
One particular moment in the sequence that stands out to me is at the one-minute mark, when Kiruko is running against a pink and purple sunset sky, the outline of their body racing out of sync alongside them before eventually merging. It’s a memorable and impressive artistic decision that feels, in hindsight, like a symbolic metaphor for Kiruko’s struggles with body dysmorphia throughout the season. The gorgeous sequence is made even more impactful for how perfectly BiSH’s original theme song “Innocent Arrogance” complements it.
Spy x Family season 2 — “Ado Kura Kura”
Director: Masaaki Yuasa Music by: Ado
Who do you choose to direct the opening title sequence for the second season of Spy x Family, one of the best animated action comedies in recent memory, if you want it to be an absolute legendary effort? Why Masaaki Yuasa, former president of Science Saru, of course!
The opening sequence for Spy x Family feels like the anime equivalent of an Avengers-style team up, with Yuasa’s whimsical polka-dotted animation backed by a theme song performed by Ado (of One Piece Film: Red-fame) and composed by none other than Cowboy Bebop’s Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts. The result is a sequence that feels every bit as auspicious as the creative team behind it, a wild and rollicking adventure that finds everyone’s favorite family of undercover spy-assassins-psychics enjoying a good cup of tea in-between performing donuts in their car.
Trigun Stampede — “TOMBI”
Director: None listed Music by: Kvi Baba
Much has been said about Trigun Stampede, the latest 3D CG anime adaptation of Yasuhiro Nightow’s space western manga, and the differences between it and the beloved 1998 anime produced by Madhouse. One of the key points of contention that fans of the original anime have is the absence of any equivalent to the 1998 Trigun’s rock-’n’-roll-inspired score by Tsuneo Imahori, with Trigun Stampede composer Tatsuya Kato taking on a more electronic and orchestrally inspired approach for the new series.
As a fan of the 1998 anime, I totally get it. But I will happily go to bat for it, and I absolutely loved the western-inspired title theme song by Kvi Baba and its accompanying sequence. Without fail, every time I watched this sequence before a new episode of the series, I was locked in and ready to take in the latest chapter in Vash the Stampede’s mission to protect the people of the planet Gunsmoke from his murderous brother Knives. It sets the tone for the series perfectly, striking a balance between mournful, adventurous, and appropriately epic.
The Fire Hunter — “Usotsuki”
Director: Kenichi Kutsuna Music by: Leo Ieiri
The Fire Hunter flew under the radar of many anime viewers this year, despite the pedigree of talent attached to its production. Make time to watch it — Ranma 1⁄2 director Junji Nishimura reunites with Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell) on an epic apocalyptic fantasy story and the opening title sequence for the series absolutely rocks.
Directed by Kenichi Kutsuna, who previously worked as a key animator on Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Dororo, the opening for The Fire Hunter is a beautiful and memorable sequence that expounds on Takuya Saitō’s delicately rendered character designs and pairs them with elegantly pictorial backgrounds. I mean, look at that shot at the 23-second mark with the shafts of light piercing through the thinly outlined mass of clouds! Art!
Vinland Saga season 2 — “River”
Director: Yūsuke Sunouchi Music by: Anonymouz
Like Jujutsu Kaisen season 2, the second season of the historical adventure epic Vinland Saga took a sharp tonal shift from the vibe of its first season. Far from a revenge story, this season’s focus was on Thorfinn’s search for a sense of meaning and a life separate from the vengeance that previously drove him.
Directed by Yūsuke Sunouchi, who previously worked as an episode director on the first season of Vinland Saga, the opening title sequence for Vinland Saga season 2 perfectly captures the feeling of someone emerging out of the darkness and grasping after a sense of renewed clarity and direction. It’s a sequence that drops you directly into Thorfinn’s mindset at the outset of the season and primes the audience for the next chapter of his story.
Season’s greetings, Polygon readers. We’re smack-dab in the sleepy, liminal interzone between the Christmas holiday and New Year’s Eve. Be that as it may, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a couple new movies on streaming to watch this weekend as we barrell into 2024.
This week, The Holdovers, the new Christmas comedy-drama starring Paul Giamatti, is finally available to stream on Peacock. That’s not all: The supernatural horror-thriller It Lives Inside arrives on Hulu this week alongside the new Ray Romano-directed comedy Somewhere in Queens. Finally, a controversial crime thriller starring Jim Caviezel is now streaming on Prime Video. And… that’s it for this week!
Genre: Supernatural horror Run time: 1h 39m Director: Bishal Dutta Cast: Megan Suri, Neeru Bajwa, Mohana Krishnan
This horror movie follows two young girls at an American high school who each relate to their Indian heritage in a different way: One embraces it, and one rejects it. When a Pishach, a vengeful spirit imprisoned in a strange glass jar, latches onto one of them, the other must reconnect with her past in order to stop it. It Lives Inside is the feature debut from Bishal Dutta, known previously for his work as a writer on the 2017 drama series Triads.
Genre: Comedy Run time: 1h 46m Director: Ray Romano Cast: Ray Romano, Laurie Metcalf, Jacob Ward
Ray Romano directs and stars in this new coming-of-age comedy about Leo, a father trying desperately to help his son apply for college and win a basketball scholarship. After going to extreme lengths, from alienating the rest of his family to cajoling his son’s ex (Sadie Stanley) to get back together with him, Leo must learn to allow his son to make his own decisions. From the trailer, it comes across as an earnest comedy about learning to embrace the peculiarities of one’s own family and accepting the uncertainty of what life has to offer.
New on Prime Video
Sound of Freedom
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Image: Angel Studios/VidAngel Studios
Genre: Crime thriller Run time: 2h 11m Director: Alejandro Gómez Monteverde Cast: Jim Caviezel, Mira Sorvino, Bill Camp
One of the most surprising box-office hits of the year, Sound of Freedom purports to be a true story about a mission to stopping child trafficking. The truth is much more complicated than that.
Genre: Comedy drama Run time: 2h 13m Director: Alexander Payne Cast: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa
A strong late awards-season contender, The Holdovers is a holiday-themed comedy about three people left at a New England boarding school for Christmas in 1970, all pushing through their own personal drama to survive the holiday. It’s also one half of this season’s best double feature.
The Holdovers is full of sudden twists, mostly backstory reveals suitable for a particularly startling stage play. But the real surprise is how personal and specific it becomes, and excellent writing and acting help it dodge the expected parameters for this kind of story. Eventually, it settles into a three-hander between Professor Hunham (Giamatti), his troubled adolescent student Angus (Dominic Sessa, in an intense star-making performance), and Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), the school’s head cook, an older Black woman mourning her son’s recent death in the military.
Juliet and Amanda return for their ACTUAL last episode of 2023! The two discuss their favorite things and moments from 2023, including the Beckham docuseries and WAG culture (1:55); “the summer of women,” giving shout-outs to Greta Gerwig, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and more women later on (4:45); Lauren Sánchez’s Vogue profile; and Jeff Bezos’s future clock (8:37). Plus, a GILDED AGE SPOILER at 9:34! Then, the women discuss what they are looking forward to in 2024, including a plethora of books (14:57); a few movies, including Challengers and Civil War (21:46); the 2024 Summer Olympics and, more importantly, the celebrities that will be there (23:33); and more!
Hosts: Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins Producer: Jade Whaley
One of the year’s biggest talking points in pop culture has been the possible (hopeful?) twilight of comic book movies as the dominant form of entertainment in Hollywood, but far less attention has been devoted to what might take its place. If the superhero genre really is beginning to fade, then a lot of theatrical real estate is about to open up. But open up for what, exactly? Well, 2023 might have already given us an answer.
Though Barbie emerged from the great Barbenheimer throwdown as the top domestic and international grosser of 2023, Oppenheimer’s success was almost certainly the bigger surprise. Oppenheimer currently sits at fifth in domestic box office totals and third in international earnings, and its $952 million worldwide gross is the same as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($476 million), The Flash ($271 million), and The Marvels ($206 million) managed to rake in combined.
To say the industry didn’t see this coming is an understatement. Earlier this year on the Ringer podcast The Town, host Matthew Belloni and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw held a box office draft in which each speaker was allowed to saddle their opponent with one movie they thought would be a bomb, and Shaw picked Oppenheimer to “curse” Belloni with. I don’t bring this up to mock Shaw’s pick, but rather to point out how common and widespread the opinion was that Oppenheimer would be a huge money loser. On paper, that viewpoint made perfect sense: It’s a three-hour, partially black-and-white period piece mostly consisting of long-dead scientists debating theories and ethics with each other in dull rooms, and it stars a guy whose most prominent movie role was playing the third villain in a Batman movie nearly 15 years earlier. It didn’t really scream “billion-dollar grosser” to the industry. But as the great screenwriter William Goldman loved to say of show business: “Nobody knows anything.”
If you ask 10 people why Oppenheimer became such a sensation, you’ll probably get 10 different answers. Some people think the film had brilliant marketing, while others think its success mostly boils down to the Barbenheimer social media phenomenon, and the fun of participating in meme culture. Some think Christopher Nolan’s name just has that much sway over the box office, while others think audiences were really into the idea of watching a nuclear bomb go off in IMAX. But another possibility that has to be seriously considered is that the film scratched an itch among audiences for an underserved kind of moviegoing experience: the grand historical epic.
While Oppenheimer is certainly in a box office category of its own, it’s not the only indication of historical epics breaking back into the zeitgeist. Ridley Scott’s Napoleon and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon both made over $150 million at the global box office, which is a lot of money for two lengthy dramas expected to be available on a streaming service (Apple TV+) just a couple of months after release. 2022’s The Woman King similarly exceeded box office expectations and generated discussion of the movie potentially reviving the historical action genre, while Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won four. And, next Thanksgiving, the genre will make a big splash again with the release of Gladiator 2, Ridley Scott’s long-awaited sequel starring Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, and Pedro Pascal.
If we’re looking for what could replace the box office cachet of comic book movies, historical epics make a lot of sense as a possible answer. Since movie theaters first opened, audiences have shown they’ll pay for a reliable experience. That’s why stars used to be so important, because each star used to make only one kind of movie and play only one kind of role, essentially acting as their own franchise. From Charlie Chaplin to Shirley Temple, John Wayne to Doris Day, Clint Eastwood to Harrison Ford, and Arnold Schwarzenegger to Jim Carrey, these stars became box office phenomenons because audiences could depend on them to deliver certain kinds of experiences, again and again. When franchises took over the cinematic marketplace a few decades ago, it wasn’t a shift in what audiences wanted, it was a shift in the dependability of movie stars. Actors began challenging themselves more and more, like Tom Cruise suddenly making three-hour art films with Stanley Kubrick and Paul Thomas Anderson, or Jim Carrey, the most emotive comedian of his generation, playing Andy Kaufman, who famously refused to emote. Moves like this fundamentally breached the reliability audiences sought from stars, so audiences found that reliability somewhere else.
Something Oppenheimer, Napoleon, and Killers of the Flower Moon all have in common is that they’re easy to describe and quick to pique interest. When you tell prospective audiences things like, “a Christopher Nolan movie about inventing the atomic bomb,” or “Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon, by the Gladiator guy,” or “DiCaprio and De Niro in a 1920s crime epic by Martin Scorsese,” audiences know exactly what you’re selling. Those are highly marketable, highly intriguing concepts. Or, to put a finer point on it, they convey reliability to the people you’re asking to pay you a not-insignificant amount of money.
When it comes to superhero movies and other IP-driven projects, people want that reliability, but they don’t want to overtly feel like sheep. John Wayne may have basically played the same character 75 times, but he didn’t do that literally, and when every franchise movie feels like it’s some version of “Volume 7, Part 3,” it becomes too much. Audiences don’t want to do all the homework to keep up with that. The promise of a Schwarzenegger or Eastwood movie was that you (generally) didn’t have to see any other films to make sense of them, which allowed each generation of moviegoers to enter the theater with a fresh slate.
But with few exceptions, studios aren’t creating new franchises anymore—because the existing ones have been on an unprecedented run of profitability—and that’s led to a status quo in which the sequel numbers (or reboot, or remake, or spinoff, or prequel) just keep going higher and higher. At some point it’s all too much, and maybe we’re at that point. You used to be able to watch a James Bond movie without ever having seen one before, but even that’s not true anymore. When everything becomes about building an elaborate mythology, the simple entertainment value is gone. If you have to remember what happened in the post-credits scene of Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift to understand what’s happening in F9, then we’re no longer talking about reliable mass entertainment.
While historical epics may provoke a Wikipedia deep dive after the credits roll, it’s unlikely they’ll require any homework before entering the theater. They’re typically self-contained, and they usually revolve around larger stories that audiences already have some awareness of. While The Marvels had to constantly re-explain the Kree-Skrull War, Oppenheimer didn’t have to explain World War II. In other words, the narrative world-building is already halfway done. And many historical epics operate at a perfect middle ground between populism and prestige; these movies often have rousing action set pieces and huge special effects budgets, while they also have big, prestigious casts and frequently end up competing for Oscars (as Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon surely will be in a few months). And their creation typically involves just enough hubris that the world’s greatest filmmakers find them irresistible.
Historical epics might have some momentum going, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to be produced on the scale of Marvel movies anytime soon. Beyond Gladiator 2, there’s only a handful of notable titles in development: a Hannibal movie in the works at Netflix, starring Denzel Washington and directed by his Training Day and Equalizer collaborator, Antoine Fuqua; a Cleopatra movie starring Gal Gadot, which has already switched directors once and still has no production date; and another Master and Commander movie being planned at 20th Century Studios, which was first reported two and a half years ago and has seen few updates since. None of those three movies will come out in 2024, and it’s highly unlikely any of them come out in 2025, either.
The other questions around movies like this are logistical: How many directors can reliably deliver films at this scale? Which actors, with the ongoing extinction of the bona fide movie star, can not only play these roles, but also successfully sell them to the masses? Will studios continue to shell out hundreds of millions of dollars to make three-hour blockbusters about centuries-old historical figures, some of whom are more forgotten than others? The biggest reason the industry was so worried about Oppenheimer’s box office performance isn’t because it didn’t trust Nolan, it’s because the movie cost $100 million and was directed in a way that downplayed the more high-concept parts of the story. And then there are Napoleon and Killers of the Flower Moon, which both reportedly cost $200 million. It’s complicated to talk about budgets with those two, because they were made by Apple, which cares a lot more about winning Oscars and increasing streaming subscriptions than it does about box office performance. But the risk is still there, and those price tags loom large. With few test cases for the genre on the horizon, one massive dud could be all it takes to stop this historical epic renaissance dead in its tracks. Or will studio execs’ fears be allayed once viewers see a rousing trailer with Denzel as a Carthaginian warlord, looking like a total badass while riding a giant elephant into battle?
One thing is clear: Oppenheimer, Napoleon, and Killers of the Flower Moon seemed to tap into a significantly underserved taste demographic among audiences. There’s an opportunity to exploit that, but it’ll take time and a whole lot of money. Will audiences be patient enough, and will studios be willing to spend enough? We may get answers to some of these questions next November, when a Gladiator movie once again asks us if we’re not entertained. A lot could be riding on our collective response.
Daniel Joyaux is a writer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Roger Ebert, Rotten Tomatoes, The Verge, and Cosmopolitan, among others. You can follow him on Twitter @Thirdmanmovies and on Letterboxd at Djoyaux.
Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay check back in to discuss Simon Biles’s recent interview with husband Jonathan Owens (18:28), and Kevin Hart’s lawsuit against Tasha K (36:49). Plus, Nikki Haley struggles to say “slavery” (51:59), and a barber gets petty (1:16:22).
Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Producers: Donnie Beacham Jr. and Ashleigh Smith
Sean and Amanda each share five movies from the year that they feel were either under-discussed or underrated (1:00), before inviting The Ringer’s David Shoemaker on to dive deep on pro wrestling, the Von Erich family, and the way they’re represented in Sean Durkin’s new film, The Iron Claw (28:00). Then, Durkin joins to talk about the unique challenges of recreating pro wrestling’s pseudo-reality in cinema, casting stars such as Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, and Harris Dickinson, what movies he took inspiration from, and more (1:12:00).
Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Guests: Sean Durkin and David Shoemaker Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner
Chris and Andy talk about the finale of Slow Horses Season 3, and how the show is set up to be able to try different types of storytelling with each season (1:00). Then, they are joined by show creator Will Smith to talk about how they have been able to put out a new season every six months (17:28), and working with Gary Oldman to bring the character of Jackson Lamb to life (35:30).
Hosts: Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald Guest: Will Smith Producer: Kaya McMullen
From the early days of The Twilight Zone and Star Trek to contemporary hits like The X-Files, Battlestar Galactica, and Lost, television has long been home to compelling science fiction. But the quality of the genre’s offerings hasn’t always been matched with an uptick in quantity. It wasn’t until 1992 that the Sci-Fi Channel (since rebranded as Syfy) debuted, and its programming tends to skew more Sharknado than The Expanse. In fact, The Expanse was shaping up to be one of Syfy’s greatest original series before it was canceled after three seasons: a microcosm of how traditional cable rarely lends itself to big-budget space operas and other sci-fi projects of that scale.
Of course, Amazon’s Prime Video swooped in and revived The Expanse, allowing the show to end on its own terms after six seasons. (If you’re a sci-fi fanatic and still haven’t watched The Expanse, what are you waiting for?) In hindsight, Prime Video was the perfect home for a series like The Expanse: a streamer that has heavily invested in small-screen adaptations of The Wheel of Time, The Lord of the Rings, and The Peripheral. But Prime Video is hardly an outlier in the streaming landscape. As consumers continue to bypass cable, streamers aren’t just responsible for producing more scripted television than ever before: they’ve helped kick-start a science-fiction boom.
In the era of Peak TV, audiences have been treated to several sci-fi shows that managed to penetrate the zeitgeist. Westworld might’ve fallen on hard times, but it once had the most-watched first season of any HBO series; heading into its fifth and final season, Stranger Things remains the crown jewel of Netflix’s original programming. But for every hit like Stranger Things, there’s also been high-profile failures in the genre: Altered Carbon, which was once rumored to be Netflix’s most expensive series, was canceled after two seasons; Brave New World was one of the flagship shows of Peacock’s launch, and it lasted only one season. That sentiment extends to a galaxy far, far away: with the notable exception of Andor and the early seasons of The Mandalorian, Star Wars has delivered diminishing returns on the small screen. (The less said about The Book of Boba Fett, the better.)
All told, science fiction had yet to find the Goldilocks zone on television, striking the right balance between quality and quantity. But if 2023 marked the moment when Peak TV finally plateaued, it has also ushered in a new golden age of sci-fi. It’s not just that there’s more worthwhile sci-fi on television than ever before: the shows that have cut through the noise are doing it in different ways. The best sci-fi series this year covered all the bases: alt-history dramas, dystopian thrillers, AI-infused dramedies, galaxy-spanning space operas, time-traveling character studies. The wider world of television may be in a state of disarray since the streaming bubble burst, but sci-fi fans can keep riding the wave of the genre’s recent successes.
Leading the charge is Apple TV+, the streaming arm of the world’s first trillion-dollar company. Like Amazon, Apple has the resources to funnel considerable money into streaming without a pressing need for profitability because it doesn’t make up the bulk of its business. But where these companies differ is how their streaming ambitions have been embraced by audiences. By and large, Prime Video’s big swings have failed to match their hefty price tags; conversely, Apple TV+ has stealthily emerged as one of the most reliable destinations for prestige television outside of HBO. More importantly, Apple TV+ has firmly established itself as the go-to streamer for big-budget sci-fi.
In 2023, Apple TV+ released new seasons of For All Mankind, an alt-history drama in which the Soviet Union landed the first man on the moon, and Foundation, an ambitious adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s seminal book series. What unites these shows is how they’re driven by big-picture ideas: each season of For All Mankind jumps ahead a decade to show humanity’s progress in the Space Race; Foundation is intended to span a millennium. At the same time, For All Mankind and Foundation wouldn’t be nearly as gripping without individuals making profound personal sacrifices for the greater good, be it jumping forward centuries in a hibernation pod or leaving Earth behind to colonize Mars. That For All Mankind and Foundation manage to excel as feats of immersive world-building without coming at the expense of the interiority of its characters’ lives has become something of a calling card for Apple’s sci-fi projects.
Elsewhere, this year saw Apple TV+ debut Silo, a mystery-box thriller set in a dystopian future in which mankind lives underground, and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, a small-screen extension of the Godzilla-led MonsterVerse. Once again, the blockbuster scale of these shows is what draws you in, but it’s the emotional investment in the fates of the characters—something that’s been a persistent issue for the MonsterVerse on the big screen—that keeps viewers around for the long haul. If Syfy is a haven for sci-fi fans on basic cable, Apple TV+ has become more than a viable streaming alternative: the platform is buoyed by diverse projects within the genre that all share impressive production values. As a result, Apple hasn’t just found a niche in the Streaming Wars: the company has emphatically cornered the market on imaginative, thought-provoking sci-fi. (Look out for Constellation, a psychological thriller led by Noomi Rapace and Jonathan Banks, in February 2024.)
The current sci-fi boom might be most pronounced on Apple, but other streamers got in on the act this year. Among the best of the rest was the Max animated series Scavengers Reign, which followed the scattered survivors of a cargo ship marooned on the planet Vesta Minor. With an animation style best described as “Studio Ghibli by way of body horror,” Scavengers Reign was a refreshingly unique addition to the genre, which puts the series in stark contrast with the broader direction of Warner Bros. Discovery: a company so anti-art under CEO David Zaslav that it’s tried killing off well-received projects for a tax write-off. (When even Batman titles are being shipped offto competitors, you know things are dire.) It’s little wonder that Scavengers Reign may hold the title for the most underrated show of 2023: Max barely bothered to promote it, leaving its future in jeopardy. Hopefully, more Max users discover the transportive wonders of Scavengers Reign before, god forbid, the series goes the way of Westworld.
Other shows tapped into modern anxieties around the emergence of artificial intelligence with a touch of levity: Peacock’s wonderfully wacky limited series Mrs. Davis pitted an advanced algorithm with a profound influence on the world against a literal nun; the funniest episode of Black Mirror’s sixth season imagined a future in which Netflix turned our lives into content. (Mrs. Davis cocreator Damon Lindelof and Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker also tinkered with real AI in relation to their shows; both were leftunimpressed.) Meanwhile, Disney continued rolling out new entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars, which remained a mixed bag. Loki’s second season wasn’t as sharp as its debut, but it’s still one of the rare success stories of the MCU post-Endgame; Ahsoka wasn’t the strongest endorsement for Dave Filoni’s new role as Lucasfilm’s chief creative officer. (At least we have another season of Andor on the way—at this rate, Tony Gilroy is the franchise’s only hope.)
I don’t mean to pile on Disney for delivering a comparatively underwhelming slate of sci-fi this year. For all its triumphs in the genre, Apple TV+ isn’t immune to duds like Hello Tomorrow! and Invasion. But on the whole, science fiction continues to head in a promising direction. The very best of these shows don’t just have the look and feel of a tentpole, but the level of emotional depth that only a serialized project can offer. When it comes to the sheer output of quality series, it feels like there’s never been a better time to be a sci-fi fan—and the best may be yet to come. In March 2024, Netflix is set to release 3 Body Problem, the highly anticipated adaptation of Liu Cixin’s acclaimed Three-Body trilogy, led by Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
As the first series from Benioff and Weiss since Thrones, 3 Body Problem comes with plenty of fanfare—and, for anyone still reeling from Thrones’ lackluster ending, perhaps a bit of trepidation. In an earlier era of television, sci-fi obsessives would’ve had to pin all their hopes on a big swing like 3 Body Problem living up to the hype. But that’s what makes the current state of science fiction on television so thrilling: There are so many rich, immersive universes worth exploring.
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