It’s no secret that Netflix has had a huge year in 2026, and one of the first massive projects to emerge from the shadows for the streamer was War Machine. The sci-fi epic stars Reacher veteran Alan Ritchson, and after earning over 125 million views during its first month on streaming, Netflix has already announced that a sequel to the film is officially in the early stages of development. This demand for more sci-fi content coming from Netflix subscribers started with the finale season of Stranger Things — Season 5 began airing last November, and it concluded over three parts, with the final episode arriving on Netflix and in theaters on New Year’s Day. It didn’t take long for Stranger Things to come back and assert its dominance over Netflix streaming charts, though, with the first animated spin-off, Tales From ‘85.

When it comes to crime thrillers, few stars have had as much success in the last 10 years in a single role as Titus Welliver. The role is, of course, Harry Bosch, who he first played in the Prime Video original cop drama that ran for seven seasons between 2014 and 2021. The year after Bosch went off the air, Welliver returned as the titular character in a new series, Bosch: Legacy, which was also beloved by Bosch fans around the world. Bosch: Legacy was tragically canceled after only three seasons, but Welliver has since reprised his role in the spin-off show, Ballard, which has been picked up for Season 2. Welliver’s future as Bosch is up in the air at this time, but good news for Bosch fans: he’s got a brand-new crime thriller set to release before the end of the summer.

Prime Video has had more than its fair share of big TV shows return this year already, but nothing has had as much anticipation behind it as the fifth and final season of The Boys. The show first arrived back in the summer of 2019, and it was such an unknown at the time, that Prime Video debuted all episodes of the series at once — it didn’t waste any time becoming one of the hottest binges of the year. Over the course of five seasons in seven years — an impressive turnaround schedule for any show with this level of budget — The Boys became one of Prime Video’s flagship properties. There were high expectations heading into The Boys Season 5, but it didn’t take fans long to begin picking apart the show’s final outing, which will undoubtedly taint how it’s remembered in the long run.

The last few years have been a roller-coaster ride for Ridley Scott, who has had a couple of big-time box office misfires with Napoleon (starring Joaquin Phoenix) and Gladiator II (starring Paul Mescal). The former was much more divisive than the latter — after being heavily criticized for historical inaccuracies, Napoleon grossed only $222 million at the box office against a $200 million budget, leaving it more than $100 million short of its break-even point. With a $250 million budget, Gladiator II also fell short of its $500 million break-even point by turning in only $460 million globally, and the lack of Russell Crowe in the film certainly made fans more hesitant to show up to theaters. Scott has suffered a few misfires in the historical epic department, but this summer, he’ll officially return to the genre he has helped revolutionize.

Over the last few years, Alan Ritchson has quietly become one of the most popular action stars working in Hollywood today. This is largely due to his role in Reacher, the hit Prime Video show with three full seasons already out and a fourth on the way later this year. Prime Video is so sure that Reacher Season 4 is going to be a smash hit — Ritchson has already promised that it’s by far the best season of the show yet — that it’s been picked up for Season 5 before Season 4 even has a premiere date. Ritchson has also expanded into movies recently with hits like The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which was directed by Guy Ritchie. Earlier this year, Ritchson headlined the biggest Netflix sci-fi thriller of 2026, War Machine, which has scored over 125 million views.

Marvel fans have a lot to look forward to later this year, particularly the return of Robert Downey Jr. to the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday. After occupying the role of Iron Man in the MCU for over 10 years, Downey Jr. will shift to the villain side of the aisle to play Doctor Doom in the film — there could be Tony Stark crumbs coming, though, considering the multiversal implications. Marvel viewers were treated to a street-level project to start the year with the second season of Daredevil: Born Again, which led directly into the Jon Bernthal-led Punisher special, One Last Kill. Bernthal will also reprise his role as Frank Castle in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the fourth solo MCU Spider-Man film coming to theaters on July 31. The movie co-stars Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo.

Prime Video is in line for one of the biggest years in the streamer’s history in 2026 after releasing new seasons of some of its biggest properties. The first show that comes to mind is The Boys, which just wrapped up with a divisive finale that still has fans watching and debating close to a month later. Prime Video also aired a new season of its critically lauded adult animated show, Invincible, and confirmed on the day of the Season 4 finale that more episodes are coming next year. However, the biggest Prime Video show returning before the end of this year is Reacher, the hit action series starring the gargantuan Alan Ritchson. There is such little doubt that Reacher Season 4 is going to be a massive hit that the show has already been picked up for Season 5 before Season 4 even has a release date.

Marvel fans have been enjoying a surplus of content on Disney+ this year, and it all started with the premiere of Wonder Man, the showbiz epic starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley. The show was dropped as a binge at the end of January, but the same can’t be said for Marvel’s second Disney+ show of the year, Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. The MCU is also eyeing a big year on the big screen, starting with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, and Jon Bernthal as The Punisher. The film is expected to lead directly into Avengers: Doomsday, starring Robert Downey Jr as Victor Von Doom, which is coming to theaters on December 18. However, there is one more Marvel project coming back this year that has everyone talking.

Taylor Sheridan fans are riding high right now after the legendary writer has delivered several intense shows to kick off 2026. Sheridan got the ball rolling with a new Yellowstone offshoot, Marshals, which stars Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton now that he’s left ranch life behind to become a U.S. marshal. Around the same time that Marshals was first released via CBS — the first Sheridan-produced network show — Paramount Plus subscribers were treated to the first season of The Madison, the touching drama led by Kurt Russell and Michelle Pfeiffer. The Madison has already been renewed for second and third seasons, so the show isn’t going off the air anytime in the next few years. Sheridan has a few other shows set to return later this year, including Tulsa King (starring Sylvester Stallone) and Mayor of Kingstown (starring Jeremy Renner), but the latter isn’t the first time he has worked with the MCU star.

2025 was a huge year for Russell Crowe, as he finally had the chance to bring his long-gestating WWII epic, Nuremberg, to the big screen. Nuremberg has been a passion project of Crowe’s for years, so much so that director James Vanderbilt publicly stated that, without his support, it never would have made it through the various stages of development setbacks. Crowe didn’t waste much time returning to the big screen this year for his new MMA movie, Beast, which scurried onto VOD platforms like Prime Video after grossing less than $2 million at the box office. Crowe has been hard at work this year filming his new sci-fi fantasy reboot with Henry Cavill, Highlander, but he has a new project coming to the big screen much sooner that has fans around the world buzzing.

When it comes to cop dramas, few names carry the same weight as Titus Welliver, who has spent the better part of the last decade playing Harry Bosch. What makes his rise to prominence even more impressive is that most of the world’s most popular police procedurals came from network TV — Welliver was one of the first actors to commit to bringing a great cop drama to life on streaming, which he did thanks to Prime Video. Welliver first played Bosch all the way back in 2014, where he starred as the LA-based detective for seven seasons in the show of the same name. Bosch went off the air in 2021, but fans didn’t have to wait long to see Welliver return to the role in Bosch: Legacy, which even saw him team up with one of his arch-rivals.

It’s taken years, but Harlan Coben has quietly become one of the most legendary writers of crime fiction in the world. Coben’s work has become so popular that he was recruited to star in an unscripted series, Harlan Coben’s Final Twist, which follows the author as he exposes shocking murder and scandals that peel back layers of deceit. The show aired earlier this year in January, and it was such a success that it was picked up for Season 2, though it’s unclear at this time when it will be released. Coben’s first project of 2026 was Run Away, the Netflix original crime thriller starring James Nesbitt and Minnie Driver. Run Away went toe-to-toe with Stranger Things Season 5 at the time of airing, and Coben will have a chance to keep the momentum soon with another binge-worthy Netflix series.