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.

When it comes to TV shows, few networks have the same level of stacked lineup as NBC, which has been producing the top hits for years now. The first group of shows that come to mind are those that operate under the One Chicago banner, Chicago P.D., Chicago Fire, and Chicago Med. The trio of interweaving procedurals were all written and created for TV by Derek Haas, who also recently penned Countdown, the Jensen Ackles-led crime thriller on Prime Video. The series was tragically canceled after only one season, but having the One Chicago series to fall back on certainly helped soften the blow for Haas. NBC is also responsible for the highly popular Law & Order franchise, which has been on the air for the better part of the last 35 years.

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.

HBO has released plenty of shows from various genres over the last few years, but few have become as popular as The White Lotus. The critically acclaimed HBO drama show didn’t even need a full season under its belt to accrue some big-time stars — Season 1 features performances from Sydney Sweeney, Alexandra Daddario, Murray Bartlett, and Steve Zahn. The White Lotus has become so popular that HBO has since released two new seasons of the show following the conclusion of Season 1, and a fourth is already confirmed to be on the way. Writer/director/producer Mike White has confirmed that he is shooting The White Lotus in France right now, and while an official release date has not been set, all signs point to it airing before the end of 2027.

2026 is set to be a huge year for Christopher Nolan, who will return to the director’s chair for what may be the most ambitious movie of his career. Nolan spent most of 2025 working on The Odyssey, the new historical epic based on Homer’s work featuring one of the most star-studded casts ever assembled. Starring in the lead roles of Odysseus and his son Telemachus in The Odyssey are Matt Damon and Tom Holland, who are already being eyed as potential Oscar contenders at the 2027 Academy Awards. Over the last 15 years, Christopher Nolan has become one of the most important and established filmmakers in Hollywood history, but not every one of his films has been a certified hit. His last film, Oppenheimer, was viewed as his magnum opus, but before that came the most polarizing release of his career.

Apple TV is lining up to have another big year in 2026, and things are already off to a hot start with the Season 2 premiere of sci-fi shows like Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Apple TV also has a few big crime thrillers coming this summer with Cape Fear and Lucky, both of which are premiering this summer. Cape Fear features some big stars like Javier Bardem and Amy Adams, and it’s based on the same source material that inspired Robert De Niro’s 1991 film of the same name. Following Cape Fear around a month later is Lucky, the Anya Taylor-Joy-led crime thriller that also stars Timothy Olyphant. Last year around this time, Apple TV debuted all episodes of one of the most underrated crime thrillers in platform history, but the future of the show is still incredibly murky.

An Oscar has evaded Josh Brolin so far to this point in his career, but that doesn’t take anything away from what he’s accomplished as one of the most prominent actors working in Hollywood today. It’s been almost 20 years, but Brolim has been nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the 2008 film Milk, which also stars Sean Penn. Most fans would agree that Brolin deserved a nomination for his performance in the CoenBrothers-directed Western, No Country for Old Men, but the spotlight shined brighter on his co-star, Javier Bardem, who won the Best Supporting Actor award that year. Brolin has also earned fame for his role as Gurney Halleck in the Dune franchise, but after playing a key role in the first two films, he will seemingly be absent from Dune: Part Three, which is coming to theaters later this year on December 18.

Few animated franchises have endured as long as Ice Age without ever crossing over into live-action. The first Ice Age movie released all the way back in 2002, and while it may not have aged as well as you remember, it’s still widely considered one of the best animated movies ever made. It was four years later that stars such as Ray Romano and John Leguizamo returned for the 2006 sequel, Ice Age: The Meltdown, which grossed over $660 million at the box office, proving worthy of its $80 million budget. Three more films were released theatrically in 2009, 2012, and 2016, and while most fans thought that the time of Ice Age was finished, Disney has been working on another installment for years now, Ice Age: Boiling Point, which is coming to theaters around the world on February 5, 2027.

2026 hasn’t exactly been an ideal year so far for Kyle Cooke, who has built his entire brand around being fun — especially in the summer, which is definitely supposed to be fun. Still, the Summer House superstar maintains his status as one of the biggest reality TV legends in the world, but his ambition has grown far beyond being the face of a Bravo show about the chaos that goes on in a house in the Hamptons. Cooke started his own sparkling hard tea and canned cocktail company, Loverboy, which has been a vital part of the last few seasons of Summer House. Kyle’s struggles and triumphs with Loverboy have been in the public eye since the company launched in 2018, but through the ups and downs, the company has become one of the biggest beverage brands in the world.

Marvel may have some of the most popular characters in comic book history, but where the brand has really shone is with its teams. One of the first that comes to mind is Marvel’s First Family, aka The Fantastic Four, who have headlined several feature films and hundreds of comics over the years. The Avengers have also become one of Marvel’s biggest cash cows in recent years, particularly thanks to the rise of the team during the early days of the MCU’s Infinity Saga. There is, however, another Marvel team that stands above the rest as the most popular in comic book history: The X-Men.

Video game adaptations have been hit or miss over the years, but more creators have shown dedication to the source material in recent years, which has helped to produce some more faithful remakes. One of the most universally lauded video game adaptations to come in recent years is the live-action Fallout show on Prime Video. The show has already released two full seasons, and it’s been renewed for a third, which is expected to film later this year. Most fans would agree that The Last of Us has also done a fine job adapting the series of critically acclaimed Naughty Dog games from the mind of Neil Druckmann. There is always a new video game adaptation to look forward to, and one of the biggest projects ever brought into live-action is officially coming next year.

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.