Mando doc, Stargirl, and more: All the genre TV and movies coming to streaming in May 2020

This month brings us the long-awaited return of Steve Carell to TV comedy (with a genre slant to boot!), the full-series run of Alias for bingeing, a fresh Star Wars documentary, and even a brand-new streaming service. Let’s dive in to all the genre stuff streaming in May 2020.

The big story this month is the launch of the latest streaming contender, HBO Max. The service will have all the HBO fare from the vault, plus a whole lot more genre stuff coming down the pike. The OG streamer Netflix has the launch of its new sci-fi comedy Space Force, developed by some of the minds behind The Office and starring Carell as the guy tasked with making this new branch of the armed forces happen.

Amazon also has a buzzy new sci-fi comedy in Upload, about a man living in the digital afterlife. The service also has the full five-season run of Alias. Over on Disney+, Star Wars fans will have plenty to love. The new docuseries Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian makes its premiere, along with the series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. At Hulu, the high-concept animated comedy Solar Opposites makes its debut, along with a new episode of horror anthology Into the Dark.

We also have Stargirl’s first flight on DC Universe, some fresh horror at Shudder, some nuggets at Quibi, and a whole lot more. Check out the full rundown below and let us know what you’ll be bingeing.

HBO MAX

One of the biggest new streaming services officially goes live this month, and it’s going to have a whole lot of genre stuff to binge — we’re just not exactly sure when that’ll happen. HBO Max launches on May 27 and will obviously have the full HBO content locker fans know and love. So you’ll have Game of Thrones, Westworld, and all those goodies.

But looking down the road, the streamer is developing a ton of fresh originals like DMZ, Dune: The Sisterhood, a Green Lantern series, Justice League Dark, Overlook, and a whole lot more. HBO Max will also be home to some of DC Universe’s best shows, like Doom Patrol (with Season 2 streaming simultaneously on both services).

We just don’t actually know when all those buzzy genre shows will actually debut at the moment. But it launches this month! So take note.

NETFLIX

HIGHLIGHTS

Space Force: Netflix is bringing some of the big guns from The Office out of retirement for this government- and space-focused workplace comedy. The show, produced by Greg Daniels, stars Steve Carell as a general tasked with getting the U.S. government’s newest military branch, the “Space Force,” off the ground. Along with Carell, the series also stars John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz, and Tawny Newsome.

Credit: Netflix

The Flash Season 6: The most recent season of The CW’s The Flash has been a good one, and includes the epic Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover to boot. The season saw the Arrowverse itself rewritten, and the surprisingly compelling bad guy Bloodwork.

Underworld (Trilogy): If you’re jonesing for some fantastically schlocky vampire vs. werewolf wars, the Underworld trilogy of films should do the trick. The dark fantasy supernatural thrillers are heavy on blood and action, and develop a surprisingly fascinating mythology along the way.

May 1
Back to the Future
Back to the Future Part II
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Sinister
Underworld
Underworld: Evolution
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

May 8
The Hollow: Season 2
Valeria

May 9
Charmed: Season 2

May 14
Riverdale: Season 4

May 15
District 9
Magic for Humans: Season 3
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: Season 5

May 19
Patton Oswalt: I Love Everything

May 20
The Flash: Season 6

May 25
Norm of the North: Family Vacation

May 29
Space Force

AMAZON PRIME

HIGHLIGHTS

Upload Season 1: Along with Space Force, The Office alum Greg Daniels has another new comedy project hitting streaming this month in Upload. The show is like a high-tech spin on The Good Place, focusing on a man who enters a digital afterlife. Even better, it stars Flash and Code 8 alum Robbie Amell.

Alias: Seasons 1-5: The show that put J.J. Abrams on the map as a genre worldbuilder is back and easier than ever to stream. The action-packed thriller starred Jennifer Garner as a super-spy at the top of her game, and wildly veered into fantastical conspiracies and world-ending stakes during its twisty five-season run. To this day, few hours of television will ever be as good as that Alias pilot episode.

The Vast of Night (Amazon Original Movie): Amazon picked this buzzy, period-set genre flick up on the film festival circuit. It’s set in the 1950s and follows a switchboard operator and radio DJ who stumble upon a mysterious audio frequency that could change their small town and the future forever.

May 1
Best of Shaolin Kung Fu (1977)
Friday The 13th Part III (1982)
Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter (1982)
Shaolin Kung Fu Mystagouge (1977)
Upload: Season 1 (Amazon Original series)

May 11
Alias: Seasons 1-5

May 22
Homecoming: Season 2 (Amazon Original series)

May 29
The Vast Of Night (Amazon Original movie)

DISNEY PLUS

HIGHLIGHTS

Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian: We might have to wait until later in the year to see the second season of The Mandalorian, but Disney+ has the next-best thing — a documentary all about the first season. The doc goes behind the worldbuilding for the series and features plenty of interviews with the big-name directors who helped bring it to life.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 (and series) finale: The long-awaited revival comes to an end. See how the adventures chronicled in The Clone Wars come to an end. The show remains one of the most acclaimed pieces of Star Wars canon. Here’s hoping the big finale will have been worth the wait.

John Carter: It might’ve been a box-office bomb, but Disney’s mismarketed John Carter of Mars adaptation was still one heck of a big, fun sci-fi movie. If you missed it the first go-round, or simply want to revisit that vibrant world during lockdown, now is the perfect time.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Surprise! Disney is bringing the final film in the Skywalker Saga to Disney+ a couple of months early, so fans will now be able to binge the full, nine-film run in its entirety. We can't think of a better way to spend lockdown.

May 1
George of the Jungle
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco
Lost Treasures of Egypt: Season 1
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 7.11 - "Shattered"
Disney Family Sundays Episode 1.26 - "Star Wars: Clock"

May 2

John Carter

May 4
Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian Series Premiere - "Directing"
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 Finale- "Victory and Death"
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

May 8
Disney Family Sundays Episode 1.27 - "Star Wars: Hanging Art"
One Day at Disney Episode 1.23 - "Joe Hernandez: Attractions Host"
Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian Episode 1.02 - "Legacy"
Disney Insider Episode 1.05 - "Running through Disney, Sorcerer's Arena, Opening the Archives"

May 15
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
Disney Family Sundays Episode 128 - "Beauty and the Beast: Stained Glass"
Disney Mech-X4 Seasons 1-2
Disney Vampirina Season 3
Disneyland Goes to the World's Fair
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Marvel's Future Adventures: Season 2
One Day at Disney Episode 1.25 - "Ed Fritz: Imagineering Ride Engineer"

HULU

HIGHLIGHTS

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 Premiere: The long-awaited final season is back on ABC, but if you’ll be watching on Hulu, the season premiere will be heading there just after its linear debut. The final season finds the team thrust back in time to try and save the world one last time. Oh, and Coulson is back as an LMD. Yeah, it’s gonna get weird.

Into the Dark: Delivered: The latest episode of Hulu’s long-running horror anthology arrives, telling a story about a pregnancy gone terribly, frighteningly wrong when someone near the mother has evil plans for the child. The episode is framed around Mother’s Day, just don’t come to this one expecting a happy holiday tale.

Solar Opposites: From the co-creator of Rick and Morty, this new animated series follows a family of aliens who hide out in middle America. So is Earth awesome or awful? That’s what they’re trying to figure out. The show is getting a ton of buzz, and could fit in nicely with Hulu’s adult animated lineup. 

May 1
Aeon Flux (2005)
Batman Begins (2005)
Demolition Man (1993)
Friday the 13th - Part III (1982)
Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter (1984)
Megamind (2010)
Monster House (2006)
Mutant Species (1995)
Pathology (2008)
Planet 51 (2009)
Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)
Tank Girl (1995)
The Conjuring (2013)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Universal Soldier (1992)

May 5
Vikings: Season 6A (History)

May 8
Solar Opposites: Season 1
Into the Dark: Delivered

Spaceship Earth (2020)

May 28
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 7 Premiere (ABC)

SHUDDER

HIGHLIGHTS

Z: A Shudder original. A couple are shaken to the core when their 8-year-old son begins hanging out with a creepy and ominous imaginary friend. Starring Keegan Connor Tracy (Bates Motel), Sean Rogerson (Grave Encounters), Jett Klyne (The Boy), Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries), and Stephen McHattie (Pontypool), written by Brandon Christensen (Still/Born) and Colin Minihan (Urban Legend, Spiral), and directed by Brandon Christensen. The film won “Scariest Film” at Popcorn Frights, and was the Audience Award Winner at the Calgary International Film Festival.

Blood Machines: Two space hunters are tracking down a machine trying to free itself. After taking it down, they witness a mystical phenomenon: The ghost of a young woman pulls itself out of the machine, as if the spaceship had a soul. Trying to understand the nature of this entity, they start chasing the woman through space. Inspired by the spirit of the '80s films and music, Blood Machines is a 50-minute, three-part sci-fi horror mind melter told in three chapters, scored by the synth-wave artist Carpenter Brut. The project won Best Music, Best Sound Design, and Best CG FX at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival.

May 1
The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs: Episode 2.02
Angst
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
Satan’s Slave
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh

May 4
Crave
The Dybbuk
Tenebrae

May 7 
Z

May 8
The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs: Episode 2.03

May 11
Devil’s Mile
Parasomnia
Hellraiser
Hellbound: Hellraiser II

May 14
Monstrum

May 15
The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs: Episode 2.04

May 18
Goodnight Mommy
I Know What You Did Last Summer
The Dirties

May 21
Blood Machines

May 22
The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs: Episode 2.05

May 25
Turbo Kid

May 28
Confessional
 
May 29
The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs: Episode 2.06

DC UNIVERSE

HIGHLIGHTS

Stargirl: Along with jumping over to The CW for a linear run, this teen-friendly superhero series looks to follow a young woman just finding her way in the super-world. Jumping over to The CW makes sense, as this feels like a better fit with Riverdale and Supergirl than something like Doom Patrol or Titans. But regardless, it’s coming to DC Universe, too — and could make for a fresh bit of super-heroics during the downtime.

Harley Quinn: The second season of the fantastic animated Harley Quinn series continues rolling out, and seriously, this show is worth the price of admission all by itself. In case you missed Season 1 and want to get a taste of the series, it’s actually airing on Sunday night blocks at SYFY. So be sure to catch up there.

May 1
Harley Quinn: “Batman's Back Man”
Watchmen (2009)
Watchmen: Under the Hood

May 8
Harley Quinn: “All the Best Inmates Have Daddy Issues”

May 15
Harley Quinn: “There's No Place to Go But Down”

May 18
Stargirl: “Pilot”

May 22
Harley Quinn: “Inner (Para) Demons”

May 25
Stargirl: “S.T.R.I.P.E.”

May 29
Harley Quinn: “Bachelorette”

QUIBI

This one is still a bit hard to track, but the series does have a few sci-fi shows that have either recently finished their runs or are in process. The horror series 50 States of Fright started dropping a couple of weeks ago, along with the horror thriller The Stranger. Genre-adjacent shows like Survive and Most Dangerous Game are also streaming.