Every month, each of the major streamers bombards us with an impossibly long list of TV series to navigate. From Netflix to Prime Video, Apple TV+ and more, the new series available to stream range from the forgettable to buzzy prestige dramas, and this month is no exception.
I’ve been especially into Apple TV+’s Sugar and Max’s Hacks at the moment, and among this month’s other new arrivals that I’m most looking forward to is an all-new Apple drama, Dark Matter. A new Rotten Tomatoes poll likewise identified the latter as one of the most anticipated TV series coming this month, along with four other eclectic titles which you’ll find below.
Tales of the Empire (Now streaming, Disney+)
Dave Filoni’s Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is another animated excursion into the galaxy far, far way — this time, offering a six-episode story about two warriors on divergent paths in different eras.
Young Morgan Elsbeth, for example, is navigating the expanding world of the Imperials on her road to vengeance, while former Jedi Barriss Offee is doing whatever she can to survive in a rapidly changing galaxy. Filoni created this series and is the supervising director, and not only does the animation look pretty stellar, but I’ve got to confess something that jumped out at me from the trailer.
It’s amazing how, something like 40 years later, the effect of Darth Vader menacingly striding into a room still hasn’t lost its ability to send a chill down your spine. It doesn’t surprise me at all the new Rotten Tomatoes poll included this new series on its list for the most-anticipated shows in May.
Dark Matter (May 8, Apple TV+)
This next TV series, meanwhile, is the second Apple TV+ drama this year to offer a mind-bending sci-fi narrative that plays around with quantum psychics — as well as throwing its main character into a head-spinning multiverse.
Adapted from Blake Crouch’s novel of the same, the protagonist of this story is a physicist and professor played by Joel Edgerton. One night, while walking home in Chicago, he’s abducted into an alternate timeline. In order to get back to his life, his home, and his true family, he has to defeat a brilliant enemy that knows all the moves he’ll make before he actually makes them: Himself.
Blood of Zeus Season 2 (May 10, Netflix)
The new season of this next Netflix series follows the demise of Zeus and the opening up of a power vacuum among the gods.
Heron, the demigod son of Zeus, is racked by loss, struggling to find his place, and hearing a strange refrain in his dreams. It leads him to want to save his brother Seraphim from the terror of the underworld — while, unbeknownst to Heron, Hades is trying to convince Seraphim to help him secure the throne vacated by Zeus in order to save his family from their longstanding suffering.
Interview with the Vampire Season 2 (May 12, AMC)
AMC’s adaptation of the Anne Rice novel Interview with the Vampire has become something of a cult hit, so I’m certainly not surprised to see it listed here as among the most anticipated TV series coming (back) this month.
Season 2 will continue the narrative built around a vampire who’s telling his life story to a journalist. The vampire was an affluent black man in New Orleans in the early 1900s, and he was turned into a vampire by Lestat de Lioncourt. This show, by the way, is actually the #1 most anticipated series this month, based on responses to the Rotten Tomatoes poll.
Bridgerton Season 3 (May 16, Netflix)
Last but not least, the TV series that’s arguably Netflix’s biggest release of the month is the new season of Bridgerton, which is getting the streaming giant’s split-into-halfsies treatment that’s now standard for the biggest shows.
In the new season, Penelope Featherington has finally given up on her crush on Colin Bridgerton after hearing him badmouth her last season. Colin is also back from his summer travels and eager to re-establish a friendship with Penelope, who’s now giving him the cold shoulder. Complicating the feelings between them even more is Penelope’s growing presence in the “ton,” which makes it increasingly difficult to keep a lid on her alter ego, Lady Whistledown.
The final four episodes of the new season will drop on June 13.
