It’s a new month, and that means a new wave of intriguing sci-fi and fantasy TV shows to watch. You don’t really realize just how much new TV is coming your way until you sit down and list it out. You may not be interested in all of these shows, but odds are that a few will appeal to you.
Here’s what to look out for in May.
10 modern TV shows you can watch in any order you want without getting lost
Whether you want to laugh, cry, or get scared out of your mind, these shows will get it done, and it doesn’t matter if you start from the beginning.
The Terror: Devil in Silver
Premieres on AMC+ and Shudder on May 7
The Terror is a horror anthology series with a literary bent. The first season adapted Dan Simmons’ book The Terror, which reimagines the real-life 1845 Franklin Expedition into the arctic as a horror story. It was very well-received. The second season came out a year later, in 2019, and was set in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. After the high-quality first season, it was a let-down.
Now, after a long break, the show is returning with a new season that adapts Victor LaValle’s 2012 novel about a working man (Dan Stevens) who is unjustly committed to a psychiatric hospital where he and the other patients are terrorized by a dark presence. Or maybe they’re just going crazy.
The first season of The Terror was genuinely great, so maybe this time away has given the producers a chance to figure out what made the series work and get back to it. This new season will run for six episodes. released weekly. After premiering on AMC+ and Sudder, it will eventually air linearly on AMC.
- Release Date
-
2018 – 2025-00-00
- Network
-
AMC, Shudder, AMC+
- Showrunner
-
David Kajganich, Soo Hugh, Christopher Cantwell
-
-
Ciarán Hinds
Sir John Franklin
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Jared Harris
Captain Francis Crozier
-
Derek Mio
Chester Nakayama
Devil May Cry Season 2
The whole season drops on Netflix on May 12
This Netflix adaptation of Capcom’s long-running action franchise comes from Adi Shankar, best known for producing Netflix’s animated Castlevania show. Like that series, Devil May Cry is long on stylish fight scenes and pulpy dialogue. This should be a fun, slick, easily digestible show for those who want to sit back and watch some demons get diced.
- Release Date
-
April 3, 2025
- Network
-
Netflix
- Directors
-
Park So Young
-
Johnny Yong Bosch
Dante / Soldier #1 (voice)
-
Chris Coppola
Enzo / Frat Boy (voice)
-
Kevin Conroy
Baines / Demon Soldier (voice)
-
Hoon Lee
White Rabbit / Pilot (voice)
The Punisher: One Last Kill
Drops on Disney+ on May 12
One Last Kill is technically a TV movie, not a TV show, but it has its roots in the new Daredevil TV show (which is currently back on the air and fighting for superhero television supremacy), so I’m counting it.
The Punisher, aka Frank Castle, is a Marvel superhero who punishes criminals and evildoers so brutally he sometimes seems to cross the line into villainy. Jon Bernthal has been playing this version on the character since he first appeared in the second season of Daredevil way back in 2016, when the show was running on Netflix rather than Disney+. One Last Kill sounds like it could bring his story to a conclusion, but we’ll have to wait until May 12 to be sure.
- Release Date
-
May 12, 2026
- Director
-
Reinaldo Marcus Green
- Writers
-
Reinaldo Marcus Green, Ross Andru, Jon Bernthal, Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr.
Cast
-
Jon Bernthal
Frank Castle / The Punisher
-
Jason R. Moore
Curtis Hoyle
-
-
Good Omens series finale
The final episode drops May 13 on Prime Video
The first season of Good Omens was based on the book of the same name by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, a sassy comic fable about an angel (Michael Sheen) and demon (David Tennant) who team up to prevent the apocalypse. The second season pushed beyond the end of that book, and the third is set to adapt a sequel book that Gaiman and Pratchett never got around to writing before Pratchett’s death in 2015.
Originally, this movie-sized final episode was supposed to be a full season of TV, but Gaiman was accused of misconduct and Prime Video scaled things back. In any case, it’ll be fun to see Sheen and Tennant go at it one last time, and the show’s rabid fanbase will finally get a conclusion to the story.
- Release Date
-
2019 – 2026-00-00
- Network
-
Prime Video
- Showrunner
-
Neil Gaiman, Douglas Mackinnon
-
-
-
Gabriella Cirillo
Anathama’s Mother
-
The Boroughs
The whole season drops May 21 on Netflix
Netflix’s flagship sci-fi series Stranger Things ended late last year (and hasn’t been able to catch a break since). Now, creators Matt and Ross Duffer are back with a new show called The Boroughs. Set in a retirement community, it pits a group of men and women of a certain age against an otherworldly presence.
Centering the show around older characters is a great excuse to hire fantastic actors like Bill Pullman, Geena Davis, Alfred Molina,
Alfre Woodard, Ed Begley Jr., and more. This could could one to watch when it arrives late in the month.
- Release Date
-
May 21, 2026
- Network
-
Netflix
- Directors
-
Augustine Frizzell, Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Ben Taylor
Rick and Morty Season 9
Season 9 premieres May 24 on Adult Swim
This foul-mouthed sci-fi comedy has been running since 2013 and shows no signs of slowing down. Rick is a morally flexible super-genius who runs around the universe having adventures with his sometimes hapless grandson Morty. The show has produced classic episodes that are as funny as they are smart, and has gone through fallow periods. Whether you’ve been a fan this whole time, fell off at some point, or have never heard of the series, it’s still standing after all this time, and that has to count for something.
The new season of Rick and Morty will air linearly on Adult Swim to start, and then be available to stream on Hulu and HBO Max on August 31.
- Release Date
-
December 2, 2013
- Network
-
Adult Swim
- Showrunner
-
Dan Harmon
-
Spencer Grammer
Summer Smith (voice)
-
Justin Roiland
Rick Sanchez / Morty Smith
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Chris Parnell
Jerry Smith (voice)
-
Sarah Chalke
Beth Smith (voice)
Spider-Noir
All episodes drop on MGM+ on May 25, and on Prime Video on May 27
Stay with me for this one: Spider-Noir is a live-action Spider-Man TV show set in the 1930s that follows a grizzled private investigator named Ben Reilly who also used to fight crime as the Spider, the only superhero in New York City. He decides to put on the mask again to fight a new crime wave, which includes 1930s versions of familiar Spider-Man villains like Electro and Sandman. Ben is played by Oscar winner and legendary scenery chewer Nicolas Cage.
Spider-Noir can be streamed in two ways: in “Authentic Black & White” and in “True Hue Full Color.” I can’t say I’m not intrigued. All eight episodes will drop at once.
- Release Date
-
May 27, 2026
- Network
-
MGM+
- Showrunner
-
Oren Uziel, Steve Lightfoot
-
-
Lamorne Morris
Robbie Robertson
-
Brendan Gleeson
Silvermane
-
Jack Huston
Chief McNamara
Star City
Premieres on Apple TV+ on May 29
For All Mankind is one of the best (and most optimistic) sci-fi shows currently on TV. The series is set in an alternate universe where the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union never stopped, meaning technology advanced at a much faster rate than it did in our world. The first season started in the 1960s and is now in the 2010s. The spin-off Star City will take things back to the beginning, this time exploring this alternate history from the Soviet point of view.
It’s an ambitious conceit that could become special. For All Mankind has been the biggest show on the planet, but it’s nice that Apple is giving it the resources it needs to grow.
- Release Date
-
May 29, 2026
- Network
-
Apple TV
- Showrunner
-
Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert
Cast
-
Rhys Ifans
Chief Designer
-
Anna Maxwell Martin
Lyudmilla
-
-
Tops and bottoms
I think the show I’m most interested in is The Terror: The Devil in Silver, since I enjoyed the first season very much and it would be great if they could get back to that peak. I’m a fan of For All Mankind, so I’m interested in Star City, and The Boroughs has so much great acting talent I’m going to have to at least give it a try. And it’s hard not to at least be curious about Spider-Noir. What will Nicolas Cage do with his first lead TV role?
On the flip side, I might skip Devil May Cry, but mileage will vary for everyone. What looks good to you?
