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Mark your calendar: 15 sci-fi, horror and fantasy TV shows we can't wait to see in 2022
It's a brand new year. You know what that means? A whole lot of new TV shows.
It's a new year, so we're already penciling in our calendar for all the new fantasy, sci-fi, animation, horror, and superhero series coming our way in 2022. Some are returning shows taking their final bows, and some are back just doing what they do best for another season. Excitingly, there's also a ton of highly anticipated series debuting that will continue the stories of some beloved movie characters. And there are even some original stories that will be vying for your attention too.
SYFY WIRE has compiled a list of the genre shows we're most excited about that have been scheduled with solid premiere dates by their networks or streamers in 2022.
Editor's Note: We're also beyond excited about even more shows penciled in for this year, like Netflix's The Sandman, HBO's The Last of Us adaptation, and the Game of Thrones prequel The House of the Dragon. And there's also a slew of Disney+ series coming like Marvel Studio's She-Hulk, Moon Knight, and Star Wars series for Obi-Wan and Andor. But for now, we don't actually know when those will premiere.
In the meantime, check out our list, and maybe set some reminders in your phone for these premieres.
Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (Jan. 1 - HBO Max)
OK, it's not a series, but this reunion special celebrates a series of films and collects the core actors and supporting cast from the Harry Potter films for a walk down memory lane all captured on camera. If you're a fan, we think it's a pretty great way to kick off the new year. Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts features Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Emma Watson (Hermione), and Rupert Grint (Ron) back together to reminisce with fellow cast and creatives two decades after the release of the first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). Even better? It's already out! - Tara Bennett
A Discovery of Witches Final Season (Jan. 8 - AMC)
The hit international series based on the A Discovery of Witches book series by Deborah Harkness comes to an epic close with the third and final season. The fate of Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer), a powerful witch, and her vampire husband, Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode), finally heads to a climax as the pair return to their time to confront some adversaries and their own destinies. Part romance and part mystery, the series has also been a mythology lover's dream. - TB
Naomi (Jan. 11 - The CW)
Naomi, the latest CW superhero series, is based on the comic book about a teen superhero co-written by Brian Michael Bendis and David F. Walker and illustrated by Jamal Campbell. It was developed by Ava DuVernay and is showrun by Jill Blankenship, so this is a female forward narrative focusing on Naomi (Kaci Walfall), a popular high school Superman blogger that ends up discovering her own hidden powers. - TB
Peacemaker (Jan. 13 - HBO Max)
Writer-director James Gunn has built a whole series around John Cena's Peacemaker character who first strutted his problematic stuff in Gunn's 2021 theatrical take on The Suicide Squad. Picking up right where the movie leaves off, the series reveals how Christopher Smith, aka Peacemaker, walked away from the events of the movie and what's on his docket of destruction going forward. If you're looking for a hard-R rated take on the superhero genre, Peacemaker will tick all your boxes. - TB
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock (Jan. 21 - AppleTV+)
"Chase your cares away..." because we can all go down to Fraggle Rock again with a brand-new AppleTV+ series produced by The Jim Henson Company. In the 13-episode series, Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, Gobo, Red, Wembley, Mokey, and Boober are back for new songs and adventures, and so are the classic performers, Dave Goelz and Karen Prell. The world can always use more of the Muppet spirit and opportunities for new generations to experience Jim Henson's message of curiosity, fun, and empathy. - TB
Servant Season 3 (Jan. 21 - AppleTV+)
This crazy haunted house series from executive producers Tony Basgallop and M. Night Shyamalan is back for its third season as the mystery of baby Jericho, his parents, and their strange nanny, Leanne (Nell Tiger Free), is back to chill you to the core. The season promises to reveal more about the cult, the Church of the Lesser Saints, who want Leanne back in their fold. There's a lot to love about this creepy horror tale, including Rupert Grint's comedic turn that often steals the show. - TB
Snowpiercer Season 3 (Jan. 24 - TNT)
The future-set, post-apocalyptic thriller is back for a third season of dueling trains and (literal) class warfare on TNT. The show has wrapped an ambitious saga about class and social hierarchy into a thriller that’s equal parts big ideas and big action. The show’s world-building has expanded quite a lot over two seasons, and looks to move the story further in Season 3 by doubling down on the ideas and concepts that make it so compelling in the first place. Mr. Wilford will be pleased. - Trent Moore
Astrid & Lilly Save the World (Jan. 26 - SYFY)
Looking for something with that Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibe but with a modern-day twist? Astrid and Lilly have you covered. The new SYFY original focuses on outcast BFFs Astrid (Jana Morrison) and Lilly (Samantha Aucoin) who accidentally bust open a portal to a terrifyingly quirky monster dimension. So it's up to them to vanquish the creepy creatures and save the world — all while balancing their high school lives, of course. The creative team promises some ambitious monsters and designs unlike anything we’ve ever seen. So obviously, we can’t wait to see ‘em. - TM
Resident Alien (Jan. 26 - SYFY)
The sleeper hit of 2020, Resident Alien stars Alan Tudyk giving it his all as an alien who crash lands on Earth, kills and takes over the body of the small town doctor, Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle, and tries to "blend" amongst the quirky residents of Patience, Colorado. Hilarious and heartfelt, Tudyk made us love his confused alien who in turn found himself caring about the humans he's meant to wipe out. Season 2 will have more episodes, more mysteries, a new love interest for Harry (guest star Alex Borstein), and maybe even his alien pals coming to Earth to finally complete the original mission. - TB
Picard Season 2 (Feb. 2021 - Paramount+)
Paramount Plus has been building a modern-day Star Trek universe for a while now, and it melded seamlessly with the old school in the first season of Star Trek: Picard. The series brought Patrick Stewart’s Star Trek: The Next Generation captain Jean-Luc Picard back for one final adventure. It was a clever blend of new characters and old favorites, revisiting concepts and storylines from the Next Generation era through a more modern lens and style. But more than anything, it was one more adventure with Picard — and there are plenty of Trek fans who will show up for that, no matter where it goes. - TM
The Walking Dead's Final Season (Feb. 20 - AMC)
It’s been a long, winding, walker-filled road. The hit zombie series’ super-sized 11th and final season debuted in 2021, but will formally come to an end with a final run of episodes in 2022. The long-running series has reinvented itself time and time again, with the most recent twist being a time-jump into the future to a world after Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) has been long-missing and the returning survivors (and several new ones) continue to try and build a new world. The final batch of episodes will have a lot of pressure to not only wrap up the hit series, but also seed a handful of spinoff shows primed to keep the franchise shambling on for years to come. - TM
Outlander Season 6 (March 6 - Starz)
Droughtlander is finally over for the hardcore lovers of the time travel series Outlander! Based on the beloved book series by Diana Gabaldon, Season 6 of the popular series about time-crossed lovers, Claire (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), picks up in the past in the wake of Claire's attack and the encroaching threat of the Revolutionary War. With only eight episodes due to an amended production schedule, there's a lot of action that's going to happen based on some of the events in the sixth book, A Breath of Snow and Ashes. - TB
Shining Vale (March 6 - Starz)
Scream's Courtney Cox returns to the horror genre in this new series that has her playing Patricia "Pat" Phelps, a one-hit wonder author with a massive case of writer's block. An emotional mess, she's cheated on her husband (Greg Kinnear) and uprooted her family for a fresh start in a frankly terrifying house that seems to be speaking to her directly. Funny and chilling, Shining Vale has all the ingredients for an unexpected twist on the genre. - TB
The Orville: New Horizons (March 10 - Hulu)
Remember this one? It’s been more than two years since we’ve had a new episode of Seth MacFarlane’s sci-fi series that’s equal parts old-school Star Trek and equal parts Family Guy-style humor. The series stars MacFarlane as Capt. Ed Mercer and Adrianne Palicki as his first officer Kelly Grayson, as they lead a starship through a Trek-esque future of space exploration. It took about half the first season to find its footing, but by the end of Season 2 The Orville had become a heartfelt, smart, funny, and sharp sci-fi adventure — and we can’t wait to see where it flies next. - TM
Untitled The Lord of the Rings (Sept. 2 - Amazon Prime Video)
Amazon is looking to bring one of the most successful fantasy film franchises ever to the small screen with The Lord of the Rings, and even though the project has been in development and production for years already — we still haven’t seen a single frame of it yet. But with the project closer than ever, we expect that to change soon. The mysterious series will be set in the Second Age of Middle-earth's history, thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. If anything can challenge Game of Thrones for Biggest Fantasy Thing On TV, this is it. - TM
