Web/TV Series Expected to Be Released in 2020 That You Should Be Excited About

The next year will be a year filled with surprises, exhilarating visuals, and stories set in fantastical worlds. Here’s why you should be excited about web/TV series 2020.

Top Web/TV Series to Be Excited About in 2020

Game of Thrones prequel

A prequel after season 8? Now those are huge shoes to fill. Variety reported that HBO had placed a pilot order for a Game of Thrones prequel created by George R. R. Martin and screenwriter Jane Goldman. Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the prequel chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. HBO president of programming Casey Bloys said that “it would be at least a year” after Game of Thrones ends. That means the prequel would premiere in April 2020 at the very earliest.

The Lord of the Rings 

Retail giant Amazon has reportedly spent a whopping $250 million in November 2017 to secure the rights to the TV adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, committing to multiple seasons and a spin-off. The Hollywood Reporter says Amazon’s contract requires the project to enter production within two years, which means the production phase shall begin in November 2019. That makes 2020 the earliest it will hit the screens. The series is planned to air exclusively on the Amazon Prime Video streaming platform.

Star Wars

Star Wars has boasted quite a number of animated series, but this time, beginning November 2019, Star Wars will have released its first-ever live-action series to the Disney+ streaming service. Jon Favreau, director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2, is the executive producer and writer of the show. He announced on Instagram that The Mandalorian would be about a new warrior, inspired by the stories of Boba and Jango Fett and is set “after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order.” The next nine episodes will air weekly after the premiere, rather than all arriving at once, so we’ll be getting new Star Wars throughout the winter. Disney is also working on a Rogue One spin-off series, set to be released in 2020, with Ewan McGregor reprising his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

One of the most anticipated titles coming on Netflix is the live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. We may now have trust issues because of the 2010 flop and a few live-action failures on the streaming platform, but the animated series’ original creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino are fortunately directly involved in the remake, and they’re determined to avoid the pitfalls of the infamous movie adaptation. However, the cartoon’s head writer Aaron Ehasz isn’t on board as he’s busy with his own Netflix animated series, The Dragon Prince, but he does have high hopes about the upcoming live-action series.

“The executive who is championing it at Netflix is Jenna Boyd, who was our executive on Avatar at Nickelodeon,” Ehasz says. “So it has a lot going for it. . . . One of the things that was always hard about Avatar that I don’t think translated well to the movie was that it does have this balance in tone that it’s dramatic and epic and emotional, but it’s also funny and quirky and delightful. I think they’ll find that. I know, they have a big challenge ahead, but they definitely have more creative freedom, more support, and a better chance to tell the authentic story in a way that I think the fans of Avatar will enjoy.”

Depending on how long production takes, we likely won’t be seeing the show until mid-2020.

Star Trek: Picard

After several series, dozens of seasons, and thousands of characters, Star Trek is back on TV after the much-maligned film Star Trek: Nemesis seventeen years ago. After the announcement from CBS last year, excitement for the upcoming series has been at a fever pitch, especially because of the return of the Patrick Stewart‘s beloved character. The 2020 series is indeed Picard’s story and not a reboot of The Next Generation. CBS also confirmed the show will take place 20 years after Nemesis, making this the farthest into the future any Star Trek show has had its primary setting. Set to premiere in early 2020, Star Trek: Picard will stream exclusively on CBS in the US and on Amazon Prime Video in 200 other countries.

web/TV series: Witcher

This fantasy drama series, which gained worldwide popularity as a well-acclaimed video game, was first announced in 2017 and is currently being produced by Netflix. Consisting of eight episodes, the series will bring Geralt of Rivia to life—a mutated, supernaturally gifted monster hunter who becomes embroiled in the conflict between two powerful human nations: the Nilfgaardian Empire and Northern Kingdoms. In September, Superman actor Henry Cavill accepted the lead role in the series. Directors for the series include Game of Thrones veteran Alik Sakharov, Luke Cage’s Alex Garcia Lopez, and Outlander’s Charlotte Brändström.  Before its popularity as a video game, The Witcher began as a fantasy series of novels and short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The pilot will air late this year.

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous

As part of its ongoing five-year agreement with Netflix to produce original animated kids and family programs, Dreamworks announced just this June that Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, the newest animated addition to the Jurassic Park franchise, is set to debut internationally on Netflix next year. The series is executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, and Colin Trevorrow and follows the story of a group of six teenagers chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime experience at a new adventure camp on the opposite side of Isla Nublar. When dinosaurs wreak havoc across the island, the campers are stranded. 

web/TV series: Sandman

Goths are overjoyed over the news that Sandman is coming to Netflix as a series. Novelist legend Neil Gaiman is getting another adaptation from his amazingly dark stories for children. More than three years after the failed attempt to turn the graphic novel into a feature film, Netflix signed a massive deal with Warner Bros. Television to adapt the best seller into a live-action TV series. Yes, live action. Sources familiar with the pact note it is the most expensive TV series that DC Entertainment has ever done. A release date will be announced by the end of 2019.