It's not hard to be long-running: The most anticipated TV series of 2026
This year will be remembered for ultra—expensive and ambitious TV series - the cost of their production sometimes exceeds even Marvel superhero films by several times. The world of "Game of Thrones" is returning, a new "Lord of the Rings" is coming, "Blade Runner" and "Cape Fear" will get a new breath, "Euphoria" will continue after a long break. Domestic TV series are also not far behind: with bated breath, we are waiting for "It's hard to be a God" and two series on "Major Thunder". In the meantime, the whole country is already watching the second season of "Lilies of the Valley," the most popular show of last year and, apparently, this one too. Izvestia has chosen series that are positioned as the "main" and "best" and worthy of spending several hours of their time on them.
"Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"
Premiere date: January 18, 2026
We return to the world of "A Song of Ice and Fire" based on the work of George R.R. Martin. The third HBO series in this universe takes place 90 years before the events of Game of Thrones, when the Targaryen dynasty still firmly holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragons is still alive. The main character here is the naive but noble knight Ser Duncan the Tall and his tiny squire Egg, who is actually the future King Aegon V. It looks like this series will be more intimate and less multi-figured than "House of the Dragon." They promise a lot of adventures, jousting tournaments and travel. The showrunner is Ira Parker ("House of the Dragon"), and the first season will consist of six episodes. HBO, without waiting for the premiere, officially renewed the series for a second season.
"House of the Dragon", Season 3
Premiere date: Summer 2026
Of course, the "House of the Dragon" has not gone anywhere. The Targaryen Civil War is entering a phase of total annihilation. The third season promises to show key battles, including the Battle of the Gullet and the fall of King's Landing. Showrunner Ryan Kondal stated that the production has become even more difficult due to the abundance of computer graphics for dragons, and several more individuals will be added in the new season. They say the season will be the penultimate one, setting the stage for the grand finale in the fourth installment.
"Euphoria", season 3
Premiere date: April 2026
No one expected this to happen at all. After a four-year hiatus caused by strikes and the busy schedules of the stars, Sam Levinson's project is making a comeback. According to the story, five years have passed. The characters are no longer schoolchildren, they comprehend the delights of adulthood. Roo (Zendaya) finds herself in Mexico, trying to find a way to pay off a dangerous drug trade. Nate and Cassie (Jacob Elordi and Sidney Sweeney) live in the suburbs, and their engagement becomes the center of a new drama. In general, all this is good, but the audience is wondering if the unique atmosphere of the series will disappear along with the youth of the characters.
"Blade Runner 2099"
Premiere date: 2026
A direct sequel to the cinematic universe created by Ridley Scott and Denis Villeneuve. The action takes place 50 years after the events of the last film. Starring Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh (playing replicant Olwen, whose life is coming to an end) and Hunter Schafer. The executive producer was Ridley Scott himself. The problems of the identity crisis, the ecological catastrophe and the boundaries of humanity are stated. It's also one of Amazon's most expensive projects, which means the risks are high.
"Daredevil: Born Again," Season 2
Premiere date: 2026
After the success of the first season, Disney decided to continue developing a dark aesthetic that was uncharacteristic of this streaming service. This is an 18+ TV series, while in general the platform positions itself as a family one. The second season delves into the Gotham crime war. Charlie Cox (Matt Murdoch) and Vincent D'Onofrio (Wilson Fisk) continue their long-term psychological duel. There will be many scenes featuring the Punisher performed by Jon Bernthal. And all because the first season, contrary to pessimistic forecasts, was immediately liked by everyone — critics, fans, and the streaming audience, who were just waiting for something "like on Netflix," but all for the same money, especially since the subscription there is not cheap. The second season will be bigger, more expensive and tougher.
"Spider Noir"
Premiere date: the second half of 2026
The most unusual Marvel comics project created outside the framework of the main cinematic universe. In the role of Spiderman, Nicolas Cage. He embodies the image of Peter Parker from an alternative New York of the 1930s. It should be a quasi-noir in which the hero fights not so much with supervillains as with a corrupt system during the Great Depression. The showrunners promise atmospheric atmosphere and a minimum of fantastic assumptions. But, of course, the main intrigue is how Cage will throw the web and how it will all end.
"Lanterns"
Premiere date: early 2026
The central series of the new DC universe (DCU) under the direction of James Gunn. The main reference is "True Detective". Two intergalactic police officers — experienced Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and young recruit John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) — investigate a gruesome murder somewhere in the American countryside. This investigation leads them to uncover an ancient secret that will become the key to the global plot of the entire franchise. The series is expected to be a radical reinvention of the Green Lantern Corps.: instead of bright space flights, there is psychological stress, work in the field and a noir atmosphere.
"Neuromancer"
Premiere date: 2026
The first large-scale film adaptation of William Gibson's novel, which gave the world the term "cyberspace." Callam Turner plays Henry Dorsett Case— a failed hacker who gets a chance at healing and a new life if he agrees to a dangerous mission to hack a powerful AI. His partner, "street samurai" Molly, was Oscar winner Brie Larson. Apple TV+ is investing huge amounts of money in the project, striving to create a cyberpunk benchmark, where there will be a combination of virtual reality, futuristic Tokyo and the dark alleys of the "Anthill".
"Cape of Fear"
Premiere date: end of 2026
The producers are Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. There's no need to say more, especially since Scorsese's film of the same name became a classic, and in the 1990s it was one of the director's calling cards. However, they promise that this will not just be a retelling of the plot of films from 1962 and 1991, but an in-depth study of revenge, legal ethics and family trauma. Starring Amy Adams and Javier Bardem, who has been reincarnated as Max Cady, a criminal released from prison and begins to terrorize the family of a lawyer whom he blames for his imprisonment. The showrunner is Nick Antoska ("Channel Zero", "Pretense"), and not the masters themselves.
"The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power", Season 3
Release date: second half of 2026
The most expensive TV series in history is getting darker and more hopeless with each episode. The third season should focus on the fall of Numenor and the formation of an alliance of humans and elves. We are waiting for the publication of huge figures from Amazon, while the platform is not confused by the fact that many Tolkien fans still persist and do not even want to start watching the series about the young (by Elven standards) Galadriel. But it's time to admit that this is still the most profound film production that has ever been shot based on the motives of The Lord of the Rings, and besides, no one knows the plot of the third season until the end, because there is no book based on which it would be filmed.
"Vision's Quest"
Release date: 2026
It seems like a million years have passed since the release of the Wanda/Vision series on Disney. But that was only in 2021. With this release, the online cinema established itself as the largest player in the streaming market and after that released dozens of large projects, some of which became cultural phenomena. But "Wanda /Vision" will definitely remain in history as one of the most conceptual and experimental statements of the twenties, and maybe even the century. And here's the sequel. A solo series about a Vision who regained his memory, but remained devoid of human emotions. The android embarks on a journey to understand its nature and place in the world. So far, nothing suggests that anything will surprise us here, but even then, in 2021, we didn't expect this either. And it happened.
"Major Thunder: Playing against the Rules"
Release date: January 19th
An expansion of the Bubble cinematic universe, the action of eight episodes takes place between the events of the films "The Plague Doctor" and "The Game". We will see a lot of Igor Grom's everyday life, for which there was not enough space in full meters, but meanwhile they were invented and have long existed on the pages of comics. Accordingly, there will be more alternative Petersburg, more strange and funny characters, and more action. In addition, soon we will see a spin-off of "Major Thunder", the series "Fury", which is being shot by arthouse director Alexander Hunt, author of "Vitka Garlic" and "Offseason". There will be an opportunity to compare approaches.
"The Monastery", season 2
Release date: 2026
The scandalous series should return to Kinopoisk. However, now we will follow the novice Yura, played by Mark Edelstein. He goes to Moscow, which for any monastic resident is about like going down to hell. The only difference is that in Moscow you can't always tell if there are angels in front of you, demons, or all at once. On the other hand, it can "restart" the series, translating the farcical situations of the first season into a dramatic register. Moscow is changing so fast that it's even interesting to see which time frame Yura will fall into and exactly what temptations he will have to overcome — or succumb to them, which is also possible, and even better for the plot's charm.
"Lilies of the valley. The second Spring"
Release date: January 1, 2026
You've probably already watched this series: the first season suddenly became a super hit, and perhaps there's not much to say that the whole country really watched it during the New Year holidays. And so the story of Katya and Lekha continues. Be sure to read our interview with actress Nika Zdorik, which we recorded before the premiere of the second season of the series. After the release of "Lilies of the Valley," Zdorik instantly became a superstar, and now this status will be consolidated.
"It's hard to be a god"
Release date: 2026
An ambitious project based on the Strugatsky novel almost ended in tragedy: The film crew had to be rescued from Iran, where their work on the series coincided with a special Israeli military operation. Everything went well, but for sure the feelings that the band went through were transferred to the screen, creating that existential suspense, without which the Strugatskys are impossible.
Everything about this project is daring and intriguing. This material was in no way amenable to Alexey German himself, and then they took a swing and did it. The materials that the public has seen promise spectacular and at the same time clever fiction, a kind of Russian "Dune". Andrey Zolotarev, a leading Russian author, worked on the script. This series is really expected — and it will be watched meticulously, biased and aggressively. But for some reason it seems that its creators have nothing to worry about.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
