'Your Friends & Neighbors' Insane Twist for James Marsden Sets Up Explosive Season 3 Plans
Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for the Season 2 finale of Your Friends & Neighbors


Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for the Season 2 finale of Your Friends & Neighbors


Apple TV is entering a new phase — one marked by its continued production of high-quality shows that have attracted acclaim and awards. But this new phase leans into what is currently sustaining many streaming services and networks: franchises. The streamer has expressed interest in expanding the universes of some of its biggest shows, with Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Severance, and Ted Lasso in consideration. However, one of the earliest contenders for a spin-off is the streamer's oldest sci-fi series, and that plan recently materialized.


Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for the For All Mankind Season 5 finale.


Apple TV doesn't have the same type of endless back catalog like most of its streaming competitors, but what this streamer lacks in volume, it makes up for with an almost annoying level of quality. It's one of the production companies that has very few shows with Rotten ratings on Rotten Tomatoes; most hang around and above 80%.


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.


Apple TV has dabbled in plenty of thrillers over the years. Shows like Presumed Innocent and The Last Thing He Told Me have offered intriguing mysteries to solve, while Slow Horses and The Last Frontier offer a variation on modern-day spies. Each thriller has, of course, provided jaw-dropping twists and compelling plotlines, but all of these shows tend to embrace a similar aesthetic. Apple TV's newest psychological thriller, however, looks far different than anything else it's produced so far.






Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Episode 4 of Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed


Anya Taylor-Joy is quickly becoming one of Apple TV’s most valuable stars. After leading The Gorge alongside Miles Teller, a sci-fi thriller that became Apple TV’s biggest movie launch ever, the actress with the most fascinating multicultural background is already lining up her next major project for the streamer. This time around, there's no monsters or snipers or a terrifying abyss with nothing in it but suffering — probably for the best — because she's trading it for a con artist thriller with a pretty sweet cast. And now we know when we'll get to see it, and what we can expect when we do.


In the last few years, Apple TV has done more than enough to establish itself as one of the premiere homes for original sci-fi programming. Many fans first flocked to the platform for more wholesome hits like Ted Lasso (starring Jason Sudeikis), but it was more dystopian thrillers like Severance (starring Adam Scott) that got subscribers to re-up their deal and hang around for the long haul. Severance was the most-watched Apple TV show in platform history until last year brought on the arrival of Pluribus, which was written and created for TV by Breaking Bad scribe Vince Gilligan. Both Severance and Pluribus have been renewed for new seasons, but neither will return before the end of this year. There is another Apple TV sci-fi show you may have forgotten about that’s set to return for a new season sooner than you realize.


Some Apple TV series work better than others, but nearly all of them are promoted with the same low-intensity approach that might give the streamer's competitors false hope. However, even without globe-spanning marketing, many of Apple's shows often find an audience during their run and receive tremendous reviews. It also helps that Apple releases new episodes weekly, unlike most major titles on Prime Video and Netflix. This gives the Apple shows time to grow, and their success isn't limited to how well they perform in the first week. This strategy has paid off handsomely this year with arguably the most acclaimed new show of 2026, which is saying something. Apple is on a hot streak thanks to the critically acclaimed Margo's Got Money Troubles and Star City.
