We noted this last month, but we really mean it in May: Things are starting to wrap up big-time on TV in preparation for the deadline for Emmy submission (which is the end of this month). That means some big finales to long-running standout series are all dropping in May, but don’t worry – there are plenty of other things to intrigue you this month, as well as Big Prestige Series Finales.
In fact, if you’re a superhero fan, this might be one of the most packed months for TV since… well, since the last one. Last month we had Daredevil, The Boys, and Invincible. Invincible is now done; the other two, not so much. And there’s at least one more hero on TV ready to punch some bad guys and romance some dames in one of the biggest TV superhero events in the past several decades (we’ll get to why in a second), as well as an anti-hero, guns out, in his own special episode.
Not a big superhero fan? That’s okay. There’s plenty more to stream in addition to the costumed wonders, from action heroes and spin-offs to Stranger Things creators, the Duffer Brothers, producing an all-star sci-fi spectacle that’s best described as “Older Things.”
So without further delay, let’s get into our 10 most anticipated TV shows to stream in May 2026. And there’s so much we’re anticipating, we fudged it a little to get past 10.
(Note: This list is presented in release date order.)
Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2 Finale (May 5)
Whatever you’ve thought about the rest of the season, the Daredevil: Born Again finale on Disney+ is a certified mic drop banger, no joke. Without getting into spoilers, the thrilling episode concludes the Mayor Kingpin storyline with Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Daredevil (Charlie Cox) facing off in a game-changing hour of television that will likely find Marvel fans screaming so loud, you’ll be able to hear the noise from space.
High praise? Perhaps, but the hour delivers on a level many MCU productions haven’t quite hit over the past few years – killer action, a propulsive plot, excellent acting from the full ensemble, and the sort of moments that are made to break the internet. We’ve already seen the episode – in case you couldn’t tell – but can’t wait to watch it again. And trust us when we say that you should watch this one live. You do not want to be spoiled when everyone is absolutely losing their minds and rushing online immediately afterward.
Thankfully, a third season of Daredevil: Born Again is already in production. But even with that news, after what happens in this finale? It’s going to be a long, long wait until 2027.
Devil May Cry, Season 2 (May 12)
After a well-regarded first season of the Capcom adaptation, Devil May Cry is back on Netflix for Season 2, and showrunner Adi Shanker is extremely hyping up his own creation.
“Season 2 is just way, way, way bigger in terms of scope and scale,” Shankar told IGN. “So it’s the difference between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. That’s the comp. Or Halo 1 and Halo 2, where in terms of just scale and scope – orders of magnitude bigger and larger. And the tone is just completely different on top of that. The tone is very, very different, so it cuts deeper.”
Go off, Shankar! While this sort of hubris could be off-putting, the creator has built a great rep on Netflix thanks to the also well-loved Castlevania adaptation. And with demon hunter Dante heading into a bigger world, there is every possibility that Season 2 will top Season 1 of the animated series. More like “Devil May Cry Hooray We Did It,” right? No? Okay.
The Punisher: One Last Kill (May 12)
It’s a little nuts to say something like “we may finally get the take on the Punisher we’ve always wanted” with the Marvel Special Presentation, The Punisher: One Last Kill, on Disney+. That’s because there have already been three whole movies, two seasons of a Netflix series, and multiple appearances on Daredevil and Daredevil: Born Again (not to mention his upcoming appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day). But One Last Kill has the potential to outdo them all.
Co-written by star Jon Bernthal and Reinaldo Marcus Green (who also directs), the team is taking their collab from the well-regarded HBO series, We Own This City, and the movie King Richard to delve deep into the psychology of Frank Castle. And Bernthal loves getting deep into the psychology of Marvel’s most damaged character; sorry, Moon Knight.
While we don’t know a ton about the plot of the thing, rumors point to it exploring the absolutely bonkers Ma Gnucci storyline from Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s run on The Punisher at Marvel Comics… and if so, stay away from the zoo. The special will feature the return of Jason R. Moore’s Curtis Hoyle from the original Netflix series, and it will possibly explain why Frank wasn’t tearing up the streets during the events of Daredevil: Born Again. Hey, as long as we get to hear Bernthal say “one batch, two batch,” this’ll be a winner in our books.
Jack Ryan: Ghost War (May 20)
Just like with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Jack Ryan: Ghost War does not, sadly, feature John Krasinski’s Jack Ryan battling ghosts. Instead, this serves as a continuation of the four seasons of the hit series on Prime Video, as well as the third film reboot of the franchise after movies starring Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck (which comprise one continuity), and Chris Pine, which stalled after one film.
So what’s Jack Ryan up to this time? He’s trying to live a quiet civilian life when, of course, spy stuff intrudes – an off-the-books black ops team called Starling that’s doing what they’re trained to do. Only problem? That’s all bad, bad stuff. So Ryan gets sucked back into action, teaming up with Sienna Miller’s fellow super-spy.
Also starring in the movie directed by Andrew Bernstein and co-written by Krasinski and Aaron Rabin are Wendell Pierce, Michael Kelly, Betty Gabriel, and more. Will this launch a new film franchise, or merely serve as a capstone to the TV series? And when will Jack Ryan finally fight ghosts?
The Boroughs (May 21)
After finishing up the epic run of Stranger Things, its creators – the Duffer Brothers – are expanding their brand in a big way by doing the TV equivalent of franchising (i.e., executive producing). That includes the recently released Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen; the animated spin-off, Stranger Things: Tales from ’85; and the upcoming series, The Boroughs.
While all three share elements of the Netflix mega-hit – particularly Tales from ’85, which takes place directly between Seasons 2 and 3 of the series – The Boroughs is much closer in tone than the odd horror of Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen. But instead of a bunch of kids battling supernatural monsters in a pastiche of every ’80s movie? Think “Older Things,” with a cast of aging superstars running around like kids, battling supernatural monsters in a pastiche of every ’80s movie.
The show stars Alfred Molina as Sam, a man mourning his wife and ending up – against his will – in the middle of the massive retirement community of the title, which is stuck in the middle of the desert. While Sam begrudgingly befriends his neighbors, played by Bill Pullman, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Denis O’Hare, and Clarke Peters, a monstrous creature is stalking the Boroughs… and they have to team up to find out what’s going on in order to save the world.
Fluffy, fun, and featuring some out-of-this-world special effects and neat retro-future set design, nothing may be the next Stranger Things, but The Boroughs might come real close.
Spider-Noir (May 25/27)
The first live-action Spider-Man TV series since the 1970s, Spider-Noir is not the same character featured in the animated Spider-Verse movies, though it does star the same guy – Nicolas Cage as a superhero/private eye named Ben Reilly.
Releasing both in black-and-white and in color, the show also premieres first on MGM+ (May 25) and then on Prime Video (May 27). It’ll also be released in full, with all eight episodes hitting on the same day. It’s a wild release “schedule” for the – did we mention this part? – first live-action Spider-Man series in almost fifty years.
The alternate 1930s setting features plenty of film noir riffs on iconic Spider-Man characters, including Lamorne Morris as nose-to-the-ground journalist Robbie Robertson, Li Jun Li as femme fatale Cat Hardy, and villains including Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson), Electro (Joe Massingill), and others. The real draw, though, is Cage once again putting on superhero tights; even in his fallow days, he’s never turned in a non-interesting performance. Will this latest foray launch a new corner of the Spider-Verse for Sony, or will it be another 50 years until a live-action Spidey swings his way onto the small screen once again?
Star City (May 29)
For All Mankind is the little Apple TV show that could, remarkably continuing well past the expiration date of most streaming series, with a currently running fifth season (the finale streams May 29), and a sixth and final season planned for next year. The alternate universe series posited: What if the Russians won the space race? They’ve then diverged further and further from our own world’s history as the series continued.
What Star City presupposes is: What if we rewound the clock again and saw this whole story from the Russian perspective? Don’t worry, this isn’t an alternate history of an alternate history – what if America won the space race… oh wait, we did – but rather a look at what the Soviet side of things was up to while everything was spiraling wildly on the American side.
The series stars Rhys Ifans (speaking of Spider-Man villains!) as the Chief Designer of the Russian space program alongside Agnes O’Casey, Alice Englert, and others. It’s also curious for a “franchise” that has kept Joel Kinnaman around in increasingly ludicrous old age makeup, but several roles from the original series have been recast for this new one.
Euphoria, Season 3 Finale (May 31)
Not much is known about the Season 3 finale of HBO’s Euphoria, though it may also be the series finale given how much time passed between Seasons 2 and 3, the rising stars of the cast, and the fact that really – is there that much more left to say in the show?
Look, the critical response to Season 3 has been mixed at best, but visually, there’s nothing else like Sam Levinson’s creation on TV. The story of Rue (Zendaya), Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), and the rest remains compelling and watchable, and as of this writing, it’s a huge hit too, with the Season 3 premiere jumping 44% in viewership from the Season 2 premiere.
So will they really, definitively end Rue’s story? Will she get to ride off into the sunset with Jules (Hunter Schafer) if so? Will Cassie find the fame and fortune she craves on OnlyFans? And perhaps most importantly, will there be excessive amounts of nudity, sexual content, and drug use before things come to a close? On the latter: Definitely, 100%, no question, yes.
Saying Goodbye to the Real Ones
Hacks Series Finale (May 13)
Good Omens Series Finale (May 13)
The Boys Series Finale (May 20)
Cue up Sarah McLachlan singing “In The Arms Of An Angel,” as it’s time to say goodbye to three beloved TV series in the span of a week.
First up, there’s Hacks, which finishes its five-season run on HBO Max, ending the award-winning comedy with a finale that star Jean Smart has said left her “shocked and unsure about how I felt because it was not remotely anything I could have imagined.” What could that possibly mean, given the season has found Smart’s aging comedian, Deborah Vance, aiming for a show at Madison Square Garden while her protégé, Ava (Hannah Einbinder), is looking to reboot Deborah’s star-making sitcom? No idea; we’ll just have to watch to find out.
The same day, Prime Video’s adaptation of Good Omens wraps up its run with a movie-length episode in lieu of a third season. While fans are eager to know how the love story between angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tennant) ends, somewhat marring the proceedings is that the initial six-episode order was reduced to a 90-minute movie after the sexual assault allegations against writer and showrunner Neil Gaiman came to light. Though he stepped back from the production, he’s still credited, meaning the hopefully earnest and sweet ending has a bit of an icky cloud around it.
Last and certainly not least, The Boys ends its own five-season run a week later with a sure-to-be-apocalyptic finale pitting Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) against Homelander (Antony Starr) one last time. While showrunner Eric Kripke has been careful to warn fans that we’re not going to get Avengers: Endgame portal-sized battles in the finale (or anything close), so far this season has been firing on all cylinders, and there’s every chance they’ll finish this just as profanely, disgustingly, hilariously, and poignantly as the rest of the run. And hey, good news: Even if The Boys is ending, we’ve still got the Vought Rising prequel, a possible third season of Gen V, and the Mexico spin-off to look forward to. So they ain’t done with you c**ts quite yet.
Will you be watching any of these series this month? What else are you looking forward to that we didn’t get to? Vote in our poll and let’s discuss in the comments!
You can chat with Alex Zalben on BlueSky @azalben.bsky.social, or find him regularly yapping on the Comic Book Club podcast.
