The fantasy genre was on its deathbed by 1999. Indeed, things were outright dire by the decade's second half, with hardly any movies taking off outside of the animated realm. Sure, there were still masterpieces by Princess Mononoke, but overall, the likes of Hercules couldn't live up to the greatest gems produced throughout the early days of the Disney Renaissance. Then 2001 came along, and everything changed.

The best sci-fi shows often come from the best sci-fi authors. The genre has no bounds, exploring whether technology could advance beyond imagination or how far humanity itself might evolve in the future. However, the greatest sci-fi works are usually the ones that ring closest to real-life issues. No matter how many years pass, what kinds of governments rise and fall, or how advanced science becomes, the human conflict between right and wrong remains timeless and universal.

Few genres are as tailor-made for parody than the superhero genre. Sure, we love it. It's pure, escapist spectacle that can stir a passionate debate over the most minute of details. But let's be honest: the concept of adults, fighting crime in tights and capes, is inherently ridiculous. Yet "tailor-made" can't be mistaken for lazy: it's the difference between clever superhero parodies that work, like Mystery Men or The Boys, and those that don't, à la Superhero Movie. And well before The Boys, 25 years ago, Fox took a shot at the burgeoning genre with The Tick... and it is perfection.

HBO has often been home to some of the most iconic television series in history, whether it's the compelling craft of The Wireor the shock-and-awe of Game of Thrones. In recent years, HBO's seen its throne challenged by streaming services like Netflix and Prime Video, but it now has a new series that's become the talk of the town and a bona fide streaminghit. That series is the medical drama The Pitt, which just wrapped up its sophomore season on HBO Max. Though it's a fairly new show, The Pitt has proven to be a massive draw that could last for multiple seasons, especially with new info about its ratings.

Netflix has finally decided to treat its Spanish heist franchise Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) like a living universe for good, it seems, and the latest teaser says that the show still has more to offer. The original series previously ended with Season 5, Part 2, with the surviving crew successfully stealing the gold from the Bank of Spain, faking their deaths, and escaping to new lives with new identities and passports in Portugal.

With just two episodes left in its fifth and final season, The Boys has once again topped Prime Video's TV rankings as the most popular show on the platform for another week running. Created by Eric Kripke and based on the comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, the gratuitously violent superhero satire show is a fan-favorite that ranks among the biggest superhero franchises of the 21st century, and all eyes are appropriately on the series as it enters its final chapters. But while you wait for the show’s last episodes, there’s still a lot of other great series on the streaming platform that could occupy your time. Here’s a look at three great shows that we think you should binge on Prime Video this week, including both recent hits and iconic TV classics.

Steven Spielberg is about as legendary as filmmakers get, and that’s something that should be emphasized right away, before things get a little negative. He’s made a few dozen movies, as a director, across a career that’s lasted more than half a century, and he remains active, as of 2026, with the (currently) upcoming Disclosure Day being one of many blockbuster-scale movies he’s made. It would be great if that movie were great, of course, but it almost doesn’t matter, in the overall scheme of things, because Spielberg’s always going to be a legend because of what he’s already done. Some of the most beloved, enduring, and popular American movies of all time were directed by him (see Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Jurassic Park, for starters), and he’s also taken on a few films of a more serious nature that are remarkable, and not necessarily the kind of blockbuster fare that he’s most celebrated for, like Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, and Munich.

An action hero can find trouble while looking for justice, but for many, trouble oft finds them first. And that's the sweet spot for this underrated and bruising thriller, which features some of our most favorite things: a haunted ex-soldier, a violent past that refuses to stay dead, and some serious hand-to-hand chaos. So obviously, viewers are starting to catch up and join in with all the fun.

Apple TV has cemented its reputation as an ambitious streamer, thanks to the strength of its sci-fi series. Shows like Severance and Silo have defined the platform for their unique perspectives on the worst-case scenarios that humanity can face. Apple TV has become the sci-fi network because of these series, but in the end, that wasn't what won the streaming service recognition.

IT is that Stephen King book about a scary clown fighting a bunch of kids, except there’s also a lot more to it than that. The clown is actually a shape-shifting entity that emerges every 27 years to do horrific things, and the clown is, furthermore, just one of the appearances it takes on while terrorizing the people of Derry. But the image of a particularly scary (or at least scarier than usual) clown and a gang of young heroes endures, maybe thanks to the miniseries and two-part movie adaptations of IT.