You could be someone who’s largely apathetic to movies in general and still be, in all likelihood, at least a little aware of how superheroes have been kind of a big deal lately. Maybe the 2010s was the golden era, and there was also a fruitful 2000s leading up to that next decade’s dominance, but you can’t rule out the 2020s when something like Avengers: Doomsday is still pretty hyped (at least at the time of writing, because time will ultimately tell whether it’s any good or not).

Doomsday seems like it’ll be pretty darn ambitious, so looking at superhero movies that have already come out – and focusing on ones that were impressively ambitious – feels like it could be worth doing. These aren’t necessarily the best superhero movies of all time, but more ones that did something new, started some kind of trend, successfully threw together countless iconic characters on screen, or even did all of the above, to some extent.

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‘Spider-Man’ (2002)

Image via Sony Pictures Releasing

Sure, X-Men (2000) and Iron Man (2008) are worth shouting out if you’re talking about superhero movies that helped kick off some kind of overall trend. X-Men was a flawed but solid movie for its time that showed you could make something with tons of superheroes work on the big screen, and then Iron Man ultimately served as the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, albeit in a way where it didn’t feel like dozens of later films were part of the plan (at least not at first).

So, why not include them while including Spider-Man? Maybe because Spider-Man (2002) is a better film, and also because it’s hard not to be fond of it, if you’re one of those people who can remember it being the first big superhero/comic book movie you ever saw. It’s not a perfect film, but it gets all the basics right and hits all the beats it has to quite effortlessly, as an origin story, paving the way for various Spider-Man movies – and other superhero fare – to come.

9

‘Watchmen’ (2009)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

With Watchmen, there was an attempt to get some very beloved source material (to say the least) adapted into a single movie, and that attempt was, honestly, a mostly successful one. There are things to nitpick here if you want, and like just about any adaptation, it’s not a one-to-one thing, but Watchmen does look and feel like the graphic novel series of the same name.

It’s also a film that gets across the deconstructive elements of the source material, being like a psychological drama with superheroes, and also having some distinctive sci-fi elements, plus a sense of brutality that, even nowadays, you don’t see much of in comic book/superhero movies. Watchmen is a better adaptation than some give it credit for, and there’s a lot here worth celebrating and admiring.

8

‘Superman’ (1978)

Image via Warner Bros.

Superman wasn’t the first superhero movie ever, but it was the first big-budget one, and also arguably the first superhero movie about a recognizable character that did such a character justice. Like 2002’s Spider-Man, Superman (1978) does what you’d expect an origin story to do, but the ambition here comes from when you consider the time in which the film came out.

It was a risk, and a lot of money was spent on the whole thing, and the movie had a tagline it really needed to live up to, since that tagline was “You’ll believe a man can fly.” If Superman hadn’t made people believe, and if it had been a failure in other ways, the whole future of blockbuster cinema (especially blockbusters involving superheroes, for hopefully obvious reasons) might well have looked incredibly different.

7

‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

The Dark Knight is one of Christopher Nolan’s biggest movies, and it’s probably also his best film overall, too. It comes in the middle of a trilogy which is made up of two other movies that definitely aren’t bad, and then The Dark Knight in the middle of them, which doesn’t really have anything bad in it, delivering everything you’d want out of a comic book movie, plus some things you might not really expect to see in a comic book movie.

It’s that quality which makes it feel extra ambitious, since The Dark Knight manages to work exceptionally well as a fairly action-heavy crime/thriller film that just so happens to have Batman – plus some other associated characters – in it. There is also an argument to be made that The Dark Knight Rises is more ambitious, but that film sort of collapses under its own weight (even if it’s not bad overall), so The Dark Knight feels more worthy of a shout-out. It’s just cleaner, more well-crafted, and overall quite a bit more satisfying.

6

‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ (2014)

Image via 20th Century

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The first X-Men was promising, then the second was an improvement in pretty much every way, and then things got a bit messy, what with a third movie and a solo Wolverine prequel, neither of which were particularly well-received. But then in 2011, there was X-Men: First Class, which was a better prequel, and then a few years later, X-Men: Days of Future Past came out, and it was a grand old crossover between the “original” X-Men movies and First Class.

There’s a time-travel plot that gets everyone on the same wavelength, more or less, having to team up to prevent a dystopian future that seems otherwise inevitable. And maybe it was inevitable, since the world of Logan is pretty desolate, but then again, the X-Men have now joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Logan might not be canon, and so it’s all very confusing. Eh, plenty of movies in the series are still good. Maybe time-travel is going to muddy any timeline, but still, what a time-travel movie this one is.

5

‘The Batman’ (2022)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

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Now, The Batman is ranked higher than The Dark Knight here, but that’s not a suggestion that it’s a better Batman movie overall than The Dark Knight. Ambition is what’s being focused on, and The Batman is a hugely ambitious movie, with the runtime standing out as the first thing that feels notable, given it’s just a minute or two shy of three hours, in total.

Also, it introduces a new Batman without doing it as an origin story, and then it also ventures outside of expected territory by de-emphasizing action more than just about any other big-budget superhero movie in recent memory. The Batman is all about the quieter and moody side of Batman, with detective work being highlighted more than fight sequences, and all in a way that gives this version of Batman a genuinely interesting character arc, too. Like a certain Spider-Man movie that’s about to be mentioned, it’s a shame that, at the time of writing, the wait for some kind of follow-up movie set in a world this interesting has been more than four years (and counting).

4

‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ (2023)

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After Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse came out and more or less blew everyone’s minds, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse had its work cut out for it, needing to live up to the first. Thankfully, it did that and then some, going above and beyond in the sense that it felt much bigger, and ran for a fair few minutes longer, and increasing the scope of something that was already about the multiverse can’t have been easy.

Things overflowed when it came to this movie, because it really doesn’t conclude, and there’s been one hell of a prolonged cliffhanger because, at the time of writing, it’s been three years since Across the Spider-Verse came out. Still, it’s an easy movie to rewatch and pick up details or isolated jokes you might’ve missed the first time around, so that’s nice, at least.

3

‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ (2021)

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2017’s Justice League was possibly ambitious, but not in a good way, since it was really quite a mess, owing to how it tried to do way too much in too short a runtime. Maybe 2021’s recut, called Zack Snyder’s Justice League, is a lot spread out over too long a runtime, in the eyes of some, but it works a whole lot better than the 2017 cut, and it’s hard not to be at least a bit impressed by the grandiosity of it all.

At the time of writing, it’s the last superhero movie Zack Snyder has directed, and it feels like it could be a grand finale of sorts to that part of his filmography. It is the most Snyder-ish of all the Snyder movies, and, in all likelihood, very much the movie he wanted to make (hence his name being in the title and stuff). It’s a four-hour-long superhero epic that’s overflowing with ideas, but that’s not really a problem for most of its runtime (it’s only the endless set-ups for movies that’ll probably never come, in its final 20 to 30 minutes, that’s a bit hard to defend nowadays).

2

‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018)

Since it got labeled – both sincerely and ironically – as “the most ambitious crossover event in history,” it feels more than fitting to mention Avengers: Infinity War whenever you’re talking about extra ambitious superhero movies. There was an attempt at getting most of the main heroes who’d appeared in a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie in this one film, and said attempt was a largely successful one.

Certain characters do get more screen time than others, and anyone rocking up for Hawkeye or Ant-Man specifically might’ve left disappointed, but the size of this film still feels impressive. Avengers: Infinity War does all that while also being the movie that made Thanos perhaps the most memorable villain of the MCU so far, after earlier films had shown him kind of hovering in the background. There’s also the rather bold way this movie ends, which, of course, leads into…

1

‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019)

Image via Marvel Studios

…Avengers: Endgame, which may or may not be even more ambitious than Avengers: Infinity War. That 2018 epic ended with Thanos actually winning, and half of all life in the universe disappearing in an instant. Avengers: Endgame picks up with all that life being avenged, albeit emptily, and then there’s a big time-skip before those who are left devise a time-travel-related plan to get the disappeared people back.

And it all sounds a little silly when you lay it out like that, but this was a logical continuation of the events depicted in Infinity War, and a film that did a lot to pay off – or have callbacks to – various movies that came before. There’s also a dramatic and cathartic final act to Endgame that future Avengers movies will probably struggle to exceed, as far as spectacle and sheer emotion go (still, never say never).

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Avengers: Endgame

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Release Date

April 26, 2019

Runtime

181 Minutes

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Writers

Keith Giffen, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, Jim Starlin, Joe Simon, Steve Englehart, Jack Kirby, Steve Gan, Bill Mantlo, Stephen McFeely, Christopher Markus

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  Robert Downey Jr.

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  Tony Stark / Iron Man

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  Chris Evans

  Steve Rogers / Captain America

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I’m one of those people who rarely rewatches a show. Once I watch it and have enjoyed it, I’m done. Maybe I’ll rewatch a show decades later, like Beverly Hills, 90210, to recall pivotal moments I completely forgot about. There’s so much great TV and so little time that you likely want to use your time to see new shows anyway. This means that when someone watches a show a second time, it’s a good indication that the series is absolutely perfect and worth the investment in time.

HBO has shows you want to watch once and bank in your memory, but also ones with great rewatch value. These series, which date all the way back to the origins of HBO as a provider of quality TV, changed the game for television and entertain throughout every episode of every season.

‘The Righteous Gemstones’ (2019–2025)

Image via HBO

Recently ending after its fourth and final season, The Righteous Gemstones is more relevant than ever with its themes of religion, corruption, and family dysfunction. The crime comedy drama follows the Gemstone family of televangelists who spread the word of God. But what their church seems to worship is the almighty dollar: they are living large thanks to the kindness of their parishioners.

The Righteous Gemstones is so funny, so quirky, with engaging characters played by talented actors that it’s worth rewatching to enjoy the laughs a second time around. What’s so wonderful about rewatching The Righteous Gemstones is that you can witness the show get better and better, going from a 76% Rotten Tomatoes critics score in Season 1 to perfect scores for its third and fourth seasons.

‘Sex and the City’ (1998–2004)

Image via HBO

The preeminent female-led romantic comedy drama, and the show that put HBO on the map even before The Sopranos arrived, Sex and the City is definitive viewing for any woman in her 30s, 40s, even older. It’s an expression of the challenges of being mature, single, honing your career, and looking for love. Of course, it’s also a fashion show every episode as the ladies at the center, notably Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), wear elaborate outfits and drool-worthy shoes they pull from their insanely enviable walk-in closets.

A show about friendship, fashion, love, dating, careers, and life’s challenges from the female perspective, Sex and the City defined a generation. If you watched it when you were too young to really understand and relate to the women and their situations, it’s a great show to re-watch once you’re older and wiser. If you don’t want to re-watch the entire thing, you can also just catch the essential episodes.

‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ (1999–2024)

Image via HBO

Much like Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm is the type of show where you can catch any episode at any time and enjoy it without worrying about continuity of the story. The Larry David mockumentary style comedy is, similarly to Seinfeld, about the mundane doings of daily life. Each episode follows David as a fictionalized version of himself involved in situations that showcase his grumpiness or disdain for those who feign enthusiasm or social interactions.

Featuring a long list of guest stars playing exaggerated versions of themselves, Curb Your Enthusiasm earned 55 Emmy nominations throughout its run, a testament to the witty writing and great acting. It’s a show you don’t necessarily need to sit down and watch all 12 seasons back-to-back, but can toss on an episode here and there when you need a good laugh.

‘Six Feet Under’ (2001–2005)

Image via HBO

Widely considered to be one of the best shows ever on television with the most satisfying ending, Six Feet Under follows a family that runs the Fisher & Sons funeral home. It includes the challenges they deal with in daily life, alongside the difficult nature of a job helping people through their saddest times.

The drama, which aired for five seasons, has an incredible cast that includes Michael C. Hall, Peter Krause, Frances Conroy, and Lauren Ambrose. Each episode dives into the complex, existential topics of life and death. But it’s also a standard family drama tackling tough topics beyond death, like sexuality, religion, and familial dysfunction. Death is at the center, but it’s also used as a vehicle in each episode to shed light on reflections of life.

‘Veep’ (2012–2019)

Image via HBO

As we deal with a challenging political landscape, a show like Veep is worth a rewatch to enjoy a little political satire, even if some of the storylines might hit a little too close to home today. Earning Julia Louis-Dreyfus a record six consecutive Emmy wins, she plays Selina Meyer, the fictional Vice President of the United States who wants to make her mark but keeps getting entangled in ridiculous political games.

Politics has become frightening and worrisome, so a show like Veep is a great rewatch to lighten the mood and explore the inner workings of politics, even if the stories in this show come from a place of satire. The show comes into its own through each season, a satisfying watch all the way through.

‘Silicon Valley’ (2014–2019)

Image via HBO

We live in a world led by technology, and Silicon Valley humorously pokes fun at the inner workings of this space from the biggest hub in the world where start-ups go to get their ideas off the ground. The comedy begins with programmer Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch), who develops a game-changing program. But when he leaves his conglomerate company to try and develop it as a start-up, he realizes the game of tech is not an easy one to win with so many dominant players looking to crush you.

The series, one of the funniest HBO shows of all time, features characters who are clear parodies of real-life figures, from Peter Thiel to Mark Zuckerberg, as well as companies like Google, Facebook, and Uber. Every person and company is an exaggeration, but you can’t help but wonder how far an exaggeration they might be. The series, which also stars Martin Starr, Kumail Nanjiani, Jimmy O. Yang, and Zach Woods, will have you in stitches.

‘Entourage’ (2004–2011)

Image via HBO

Celebrity culture persists and is even more in the spotlight today thanks to social media. Entourage is an early 2000s satirical comedy drama that provides a glimpse into the life of a young man who suddenly catapults to fame, and how he and his pre-fame friends deal with this massive life change. The series is executive produced in part by Mark Wahlberg and is loosely based on his own life, career, and rise to fame.

Told across eight seasons, Entourage has so many guest stars playing themselves and a relatable story about being in the public eye. It’s about experiencing fame at a young age when you don’t really know what to do with all the money, attention, and influence. Most notably, the show follows newly famous actor Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his insistence on keeping his hometown friends close, which seems to lead to a never-ending frat party. Jeremy Piven is a stand-out as Vinny’s arrogant and stereotypical agent Ari Gold.

‘Da Ali G Show’ (2000–2004)

Image via HBO

Going way back, Da Ali G Show originally premiered on Channel 4 in the UK and moved to HBO for its second and third seasons in the U.S. Sacha Baron Cohen‘s beloved characters like Borat and Brüno gained widespread attention with his later movies. But it’s in this satirical sketch comedy series that they first appeared, along with his interviewer persona, Ali G.

In each episode, one of these three characters interviews a celebrity or known person, including important government officials. But they don’t realize he’s in costume and putting on an act. He asks them ridiculous questions and makes inappropriate comments, much like in the movies. There are some memorably hilarious moments throughout the three seasons, like when he interviews David and Victoria Beckham and asks the latter if their child wants to be a soccer player like their dad or a singer like Mariah Carey (they both took the moment in stride). With more than 20 years having passed since the show ended, it’s a fun one to check out again.

‘The Comeback’ (2005–2026)

Image via HBO

The Comeback has fittingly had its own comeback, recently returning for a third season more than a decade after Season 2. It’s for this reason that re-watching the first two seasons, which themselves had almost a decade between them, is worthwhile. The mockumentary satirical sitcom stars Lisa Kudrow as Valerie Cherish, a sitcom actor trying to get a TV pilot off the ground. Shot in found footage style, Valerie works with reality TV producer Andy Cohen, who plays himself, to create content that she hopes will help get her concept sold.

Praised for its writing, acting, and story, The Comeback is a peek behind the curtain of the TV business from an actor who knows a thing or two about being a sitcom icon. The series also covers the topic of aging in Hollywood and struggling to find meaningful roles in an industry that values youth above all else.

‘Succession’ (2018–2023)

After watching Dynasty: The Murdochs on Netflix, I recognize just how closely Succession, a satirical black comedy drama about the Roy family and their media conglomerate, mirrors stories from that real-life media family. It’s enough to make me want to re-watch the brilliant series. The story follows Logan Roy (Brian Cox), the patriarch and head of the company, as he goes through the grueling process of trying to figure out who should take over once he retires.

Ideally, Logan would keep things in the family. But which of his arrogant, spoiled grown children is capable of taking over? Logan isn’t so sure any of them are, despite each one pleading their case and believing they have earned the position and can do the job. The story of a fractured family, shady business practices, and backroom deals of manipulation and betrayal, Succession is engaging throughout with memorable scenes that highlight the absurdity of society’s one-percenters.

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Succession

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Release Date

2018 – 2023

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Network

HBO Max

Showrunner

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Jesse Armstrong

Directors

Mark Mylod

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By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 11 hours ago

Before he was Fox Mulder, David Duchovny was Jake, a heartbroken man whose fiancée commits suicide and leaves behind a diary detailing her innermost thoughts, feelings, and the details of multiple affairs. Jake ask women to send in their stories of love and betrayal. That’s the basic premise for Zalman King’s Red Shoe Diaries, the anthology that brought softcore to premium cable networks and re-launched Showtime for the 90s. No one would have guessed how amusing it would become only a year after it launched in 1992, to have The X-Files Fox Mulder acting as the Cryptkeeper of Erotica. 

Red Shoe Diaries Set A New Standard For Cable

Duchovny’s role in the series was the same as the Cryptkeeper in Tales from The Crypt, or Rod Serling’s in The Twilight Zone: briefly introduce the story, then get out of the way. His narration plays out over recycled footage of walking with his dog, getting an envelope, and opening it up as new narration brings us into the upcoming story. All of which are as barebones as you’d expect and exist as an excuse to get to the erotic part of the erotica. 

Red Shoe Diaries is, looking back, quaint. The stories all follow the same formula of woman meets man, falls for his (or him for her) charms, the enjoy their time together, and most of the time, part ways. A newly divorced woman falls in love with a hometown cowboy, a model rediscovers her love for life thanks to a cabbie, business rivals become lovers, the early seasons are filled with the type of trope-filled story you’d find in any romance section. 

It’s a little later on that Red Shoe Diaries gets weird, though the soft-lightning, awkward music ripped straight from Pure Moods, and Duchovny’s narration remain, when the stories are about trapped astronauts having fun before they die, a Mexican luchador, a sci-fi tale in the future where love is forbidden, and a fallen angel. None of which reached the spice level of a dark romantasy novel you can buy from Barnes & Noble. But in the 90s, this was groundbreaking. 

The Ex-Files

Red Shoe Diaries ushered in a wave of similar artistic erotica shows on premium cable, including a revival of Emmanuelle, Women: Stories of Passion, and even faux-reality television including Taxicab Confessions. Before Showtime struck gold with Dexter, the network was mostly known for this type of softcore show. 

The success of The X-Files helped raise the profile of Red Shoe Diaries, especially once fans learned David Duchovny starred in the Season 1 episode, “Jake’s Story.”  This was long before Californication was even a passing thought. In Germany, the series was rebranded as Foxy Fantasies, heavily implying Duchovny was playing Fox Mulder instead of Jake. 

Looking back from 2026, the other enjoyable part of Red Shoe Diaries is a few of the guest stars you’d never expect, including a pre-Friends Matt LeBlanc, a post-Star Trek: The Next Generation Denise Crosby, both of whom appear twice during the show’s run. 

Prior to the Golden Age of Cable, following the launch of The Sopranos, premium cable was kept afloat through movies and shows like Red Shoe Diaries that could get away with far, far more than the broadcast networks. It’s an evolutionary step from the avant-garde wild west original cable shows of the 80s to the first massively successful original Showtime series, Stargate SG-1. Without Zalman King’s soft focus lighting, David Duchovny’s Jake, and Playboy Productions, we might live in a world without Teal’c and the Goa’uld, Dexter Morgan, and cannibalistic girls’ soccer teams.

As further evidence that television culture has changed, today you can stream Red Shoe Diaries for free on Tubi.

Science fiction is one of the most versatile genres at the disposal of TV creatives, one that allows them to tell exciting stories about modern society and the human condition through grand tales of technological advancement, space exploration, and futuristic speculation. Hard science fiction, however, is a category all of its own. The majority of sci-fi shows on Netflix are soft sci-fi, a subcategory of the genre that focuses on “soft” sciences like sociology and psychology. The main concerns of these shows are character development, thematic work, and emotion over scientific rigor. Hard sci-fi, on the other hand, is all about the “sci” part of the equation. These are shows focusing on “hard” sciences, scientific accuracy, natural laws, and an internal logic system.

Hard sci-fi series don’t need to be entirely true-to-life, but as long as scientific plausibility is prioritized as a key part of the narrative, they fall into this category. Thankfully for fans of these kinds of sci-fi stories, the streaming giant has a few precious gems lying in their catalog which approach perfection to an admirable degree. Whether it’s a serialized cult classic like Scavengers Reign or an anthology show like Black Mirror (which, we should note, isn’t hard sci-fi all the time), these shows should go straight into the Netflix watchlist of anyone who enjoys scientifically accurate science fiction. As intellectually rigorous as they may typically be, these shows also put heavy emphasis on actually being delectably entertaining.

1

‘3 Body Problem’ (2024–Present)

After their infamously catastrophic final stretch as the showrunners of HBO’s Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss were in desperate need of creating a show that would put a very strong band-aid on their reputation. Thankfully, 3 Body Problem has thus far proven to be just that. It’s the third-ever adaptation of the Chinese novel series Remembrance of Earth’s Past, written by former computer engineer Liu Cixin, comprised of some of the best sci-fi books of the last 25 years. Named after a physics problem dealing with Newton’s laws of motion, it’s about a fateful decision made in 1960s China which reverberates into the present, where a group of scientists partners with a detective to confront an existential planetary threat.

The show is bolstered by a star-studded cast that includes the likes of Eiza González and Benedict Wong, but it’s its status as hard science fiction that really makes it stand out among the rest of Netflix’s sci-fi catalog. It’s a delightfully nerdy and admirably ambitious show, and even though it does start relying more and more on some fictional concepts as the story progresses, the majority of the narrative is anchored in actual science. This mixture of imaginative creative liberties and real physics provides a phenomenal balance that’s not often found in the streaming giant’s sci-fi shows, featuring concepts like quantum entanglement and — of course — the physics problem that gives the show its title.

2

‘Pantheon’ (2022–2023)

Image via AMC+

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Created by Craig Silverstein and based on a series of short stories by Ken Liu, Pantheon is a cyberpunk thriller about Maddie, a young woman who starts getting messages from an unknown number that claims to be her deceased father. Trying to uncover the truth, she finds a larger conspiracy involving the singularity, a hypothetical event in which technological advancement accelerates beyond humanity’s control. It’s one of the best-ever animated series for adults, offering a uniquely engrossing exploration of a concept that’s abundantly common in science fiction about artificial intelligence. Three years after AMC+ canceled the show to claim a massive tax write-down amid internal restructuring, the series feels even more relevant and timely than it did back when it was still running.

Those who are fascinated by hard sci-fi that’s primarily about Artificial Intelligence are bound to find Pantheon absolutely enthralling. Ambitious, mind-bending, and refreshingly intelligent in how it approaches its philosophically and scientifically complex ideas and themes, it’s some of the best science fiction animation that the 21st century has been treated to thus far. Though the show’s treatment of topics like consciousness definitely takes some creative leaps, it’s undeniably a hard sci-fi series grounded in theoretical science, one of the most fascinating portrayals of the singularity that the small screen has ever seen. It’s purely cerebral and incredibly well-written sci-fi.

3

‘Scavengers Reign’ (2023)

Image via HBO Max

It’s easily one of the biggest tragedies of the last decade of televisual animation that Scavengers Reign was only allowed to run for one season. Though it was designed and originally pitched as a self-contained miniseries (one of the highest-rated sci-fi miniseries ever on IMDb), this avant-garde series about the crew of a stranded deep-space freighter surviving on a beautiful but dangerous planet had all the potential to run for at least a few more seasons. Alas, Max canceled it due to low viewership and high production costs after a single season, and though Netflix then acquired the series, they decided not to renew it.

Even still, Scavengers Reign has aged flawlessly as one of the best animated hard sci-fi shows of all time over the course of the last three years. Though a series entirely set on an alien planet may not initially seem like hard sci-fi on the surface, Scavengers Reign proves that the category is more of a spectrum. The show spends so much intellectual attention and scientific rigor on grounding its surreal alien ecology in plausible science rather than “space fantasy” that it undeniably counts as hard science fiction — and some of the most fascinating, entertaining, and best-written of the decade so far, at that.

4

‘Black Mirror’ (2011–Present)

Image via Netflix

Black Mirror is the modern-day spiritual successor to The Twilight Zone, a near-perfect sci-fi anthology series that reflects the intellectual and philosophical concerns of our modern hyper-technological society almost flawlessly. Like any anthology series, it definitely has had its fair share of duds throughout its seven seasons, but when a Black Mirror story hits, it hits hard. The show, which originally aired for two seasons on the British network Channel 4 before moving to Netflix, has offered some of the greatest anthology show episodes of the 21st century as a whole throughout its run. With a consistently star-studded cast and some incredible scripts, it’s the peak of modern anthology television.

Logically, Black Mirror hasn’t become one of the best sci-fi TV shows of all time by simply offering the same kind of story over and over again. Instead, it has shown tremendous creative versatility over the course of the last 15 years, which has obviously led it to explore very different sides of the sci-fi genre. As such, it falls into the soft sci-fi camp as often as it does hard sci-fi, but those who enjoy scientifically rigorous science fiction will find plenty of material to sink their teeth into here. When the show decides to ground its speculative technology in realistic advancements, it often results in absolutely riveting “what if?” storylines that would make Rod Serling proud.

5

‘Dark’ (2017–2020)

Image via Netflix

Whether Dark is hard or soft science fiction is a topic of contention among sci-fi fans. After all, it’s not often that shows about time travel and parallel universes are able to ground their stories in any kind of believable or rigorous scientific system. However, one thing that isn’t really up for debate is that this is one of the best TV shows that Netflix has ever produced. Smart, impeccably and meticulously constructed, and delightfully mind-bending in ways that make keeping a notebook by one’s side while watching obligatory, it’s the peak of what the sci-fi thriller genre has to offer. It’s the type of sci-fi show that keeps you hooked from start to finish, a practically undeniable masterpiece that comes as close to perfection as the genre possibly can.

At first, Dark doesn’t really feel like hard sci-fi. It’s mostly quite character-driven, moody, emotional, and intensely atmospheric in a way that almost feels supernatural. But that’s precisely what makes it one of the most special hard sci-fi shows in Netflix’s catalog: It treats time travel and parallel universes like a self-contained and rigorously-constructed system, not magic. It’s coldly logical and extremely committed to causality, always framing its ideas in realistic scientific language — even when they’re mostly speculative. It’s proof of just how larger-than-life hard science fiction can feel without really deviating from what makes it unique, and it’s undoubtedly the best hard sci-fi show that those with a Netflix subscription can watch on the streaming giant’s platform.

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Dark

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Release Date

2017 – 2020

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Netflix

Showrunner

Jantje Friese

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Directors

Baran bo Odar

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  Louis Hofmann

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  Jonas Kahnwald

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  Lisa Vicari

  Martha Nielsen

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More than three years after Kaylee Goncalves and her three friends were murdered by Bryan Kohberger, the college student’s parents still have one question they desperately want answered.

“I would ask him, ‘Why? Please, please, please. Do you not think that our family has been through enough?’” Kaylee’s mother, Kristi Goncalves, told the Daily Mail in an interview published on Thursday, June 4. “Do you not think what you did to our daughter — when we found out that you stabbed her 38 times with a seven-inch KaBar military model knife, 24 times to her face, to her head, 11 times to her chest and neck, and three defensive wounds as she sat up in that bed, and she fought for her life? … Can you just tell me why? I’m a mother, and you have a mother, too. Can you please just tell me why?”

Kaylee’s father, Steve Goncalves, added, “That’s all you would have to do. Explain to us how that happened and what other weapon you used.”

In July 2025, Kohberger, 31, pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. The plea deal was condemned by the Goncalves family because it allowed Kohberger to avoid the death penalty and did not require him to reveal details of his murders.

Related: Kaylee Goncalves’ Father Scolds State for Releasing Graphic Forensic Reports

The murderous actions of Bryan Kohberger continue to haunt the families of his four victims, as the state of Idaho stirs up fresh heartache with the continued release of graphic court filings. Most recently, Idaho officials made public forensic reports containing previously unreleased details. In them, medical examiners noted in vivid detail just how Kohberger […]

As Kohberger remains behind bars, Kristi struggles not knowing what the motive was for the killer’s highly publicized crimes.

“That is something that I still deal with daily. I am constantly thinking, why?” she said. “Why our kids? Why that house?”

In honor of Kaylee’s memory, both Kristi and Steve are trying to turn their pain into purpose by launching a foundation that aims to help other families get answers in their cases.

The Kaylee Goncalves Foundation, which operates under the name Murder Has a Name, has a mission statement online stating, “We are committed to expanding access to advanced forensic DNA technology, investigative resources and critical case funding so that victims are never forgotten and families are not left without options.”

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Related: Kaylee Goncalves’ Dad Says Public Deserves to Know Idaho Murders Details

Steve Goncalves, the father of murdered University of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves, insisted that the public deserves to know the details of Bryan Kohberger’s plea deal. “I think the public should demand [the truth] 100 percent. Sometimes the courtroom doesn’t realize that there is no courtroom without victims, and they need to represent them, people […]

Kristi and Steve are confident their daughter would be proud to see what her parents have been working on.

“To think of her thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh, I helped such and such’s case,’ there’s a meaning, a reason to this,” Kristi shared. “I know she’s rooting us on. She would give us an A for effort.”

Steve added, “She is directly playing a role in us doing this, and as long as we’re successful, as long as we keep working and keep doing what we’re doing today, then we can get these cases solved.”

As Kohberger remains behind bars at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, Kristi holds out hope that he may decide to answer burning questions about the case.

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Related: Idaho Murder Victim Kaylee Goncalves’ Family Blasts Crime Scene Photo Dump

Relatives of one of confessed killer Bryan Kohberger‘s four victims have been speaking out after a recent photo dump by Idaho officials left them reeling. The family of Kaylee Goncalves denounced the thousands of redacted crime scene photographs Idaho State Police made public on Tuesday, January 20, claiming through social media they were given very […]

“Maybe one day he’ll choose to speak to a journalist and will spill the beans,” Kristie shared. “Maybe he’ll hold onto it forever. But there’s still a chance. … It is hard not having those answers. It’s incredibly horrible.”

At the same time, she is grateful to at least know who is responsible for taking her daughter’s life too soon.

“I have to put myself in a position to accept the fact that the most important answer we do have, and that’s who did it,” she revealed. “When I’m sitting thinking we don’t know why, I also think that some people don’t even have answers to who did it. I try to be mindful of that.”

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 10 hours ago

Want to know the question that has mystified countless fans around the internet and one of the most powerful film studios in the world? Here it is: “What can save the Marvel Cinematic Universe?” Once, the MCU was the dominant force in pop culture, regularly cranking out movies that earned over a billion dollars at the box office. However, things began to fall apart after Avengers: Endgame. Fans resented the influx of lackluster Marvel programming on Disney+, and they rejected movies that felt like lazy Variants of the same old tights-and-flights formula. By the time “superhero fatigue” entered our vernacular, the unthinkable happened, and The Marvels actually lost money at the box office.

This was particularly significant because it was a sequel to Captain Marvel, one of those movies that earned over a billion dollars. The writing was on the wall: the MCU was going to have to change things up significantly if it wanted to live, much less to thrive. Now, though, Deadpool & Wolverine star Emma Corrin has the perfect idea. Since she played Cassandra Nova, Professor X’s evil twin sister, she wants to star in a vulgar “sibling comedy” that shows how these two bitter enemies learn how to bury the psychic axe and finally start bonding.

Creepy Comics Queen

Cassandra Nova is one of the weirder characters in Marvel history. She was created by Grant Morrison for his amazing run on New X-Men. The long story with this villain is that she’s a parasite who copied Charles Xavier’s DNA in the womb and created her own body to serve as his dark “other.” The short story is that she’s his evil twin, one who has her own set of spooky powers. Nobody ever expected to see her on the silver screen, but Cassandra popped up as the surprise Big Bad of Deadpool & Wolverine, where she served as the brutal overseer of the Void, the ultimate wasteland at the end of time.

The villain is killed at the end of Deadpool & Wolverine, but that doesn’t preclude one of her Variants popping up in the MCU. Cassandra Nova actor Emma Corrin agrees: in a recent interview with Variety, when asked if she would consider reprising her role, she replied that she “absolutely would, 100%.” Noting that the “story’s not over” for her character, she went on to pitch a very unconventional superhero story. “I would like to see a Professor X and Cassandra Nova bonding film — a sibling comedy like ‘Step Brothers.’ Make it happen! Internet, do your thing!”

Marvel Needs To Take A Little Off The Top

Obviously, this may be nothing more than an actor very publicly signifying that she’s open to more work. After all, who wouldn’t want another fat check from one of the biggest studios in the world? But the more I thought about it, I just couldn’t get over what a weirdly good idea this really is. Such a film would instantly solve two of Marvel’s biggest problems. One, it would be inexpensive to make, so there’s no need for another bloated budget. Two, a sibling comedy is like nothing at all in the MCU, and the sheer novelty of a movie so far outside the usual superhero formula is likely to put butts in seats.

Right now, Obsession, which was made for $750,000, is absolutely destroying the first new Star Wars film in seven years at the box office. The success of this movie (as well as its fellow low-budget horror film, Backrooms) is proof that what audiences really want is something new, ideally from filmmakers with a vision. That’s the opposite approach of Marvel Studios, which has spent nearly two decades effectively dooming itself by forcing some of the best directors to follow a cookie-cutter superhero formula. Every movie has to abide by the MCU house style, has to have the same quirky dialogue, and has to end in the same CGI slugfest slurry. 

The Future Face Of Marvel

That’s the real cause of superhero fatigue: audiences didn’t get tired of watching superhero movies, they got tired of watching a barely-reskinned version of the same superhero movie. Emma Corrin’s idea of a Cassandra Nova/Professor X sibling comedy could finally give us a new kind of Marvel movie, one that emphasizes killer punchlines rather than world-threatening supervillain showdowns. Done well, such a movie would also focus on characterization, something that modern MCU movies like Captain America: Brave New World struggle with because they are busy shuffling us from one tepid fight scene to the next.   

Emma Corrin called on the internet to do its thing. Well, I’m the internet, and I’m doing my thing to magnify her delightfully insane idea. Right now, Kevin Feige is hard at work trying to craft an X-Men movie to serve as the new foundation for the MCU, and it’s likely to be weighed down by attempts to match the gravitas of films like Avengers: Endgame. However, if Marvel Studios made Corrin’s idea a reality, we could finally have a mutant movie that celebrates the best thing about the X-Men comics: how delightfully silly they are and how bonkers plots and chaotic campiness have always, always been part of their charm!

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 9 hours ago

Some actors have the worst luck in picking solid roles. More often than you might think, they get a strong start and then pick stinker after stinker for their next big appearance. For example, Sarah Michelle Gellar became a teen icon thanks to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but afterwards, she had an almost supernatural ability to pick doomed TV shows that died after one season. As for Kevin Costner, he dazzled in unconventional dramas like Field of Dreams, but he developed a seeming fetish for doomed epics like The Postman, and he pissed away his beloved Yellowstone role to spend $38 million of his own money to make the failed Western Horizon: An American Saga. 

These two, like most actors, don’t say much about their previous failures, preferring to look forward rather than backwards. Recently, however, the hottest TV actor of the modern age decided to buck this trend and acknowledge that she had made some bad decisions when it came to picking her next role. That actor is Emilia Clarke, who became a household name after the breakout success of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Recently, she gave a hilariously frank interview where she made fun of her most hated roles while making it clear that she doesn’t blame the fans for those projects failing.

The Naked Truth

Emilia Clarke’s recent interview with Variety was surreally fascinating. She wasn’t going out of her way to promote any upcoming projects or even just satisfy her own vanity. Instead, she largely focused on some of the missteps she had taken as an actor. Acknowledging that she felt bitter after not winning an Emmy in 2019 because she felt like she had become “old news,” she also opened up about long-festering gossip, including rumors of how much the Game of Thrones cast made and whether she experienced any sex pests on that set (the answer was no, though she declined to comment on whether anything like that happened on the set of Solo or Terminator: Genisys).

Soon enough, she began dishing about her failed attempts to distinguish herself from Game of Thrones. When talking about how fans reacted to Secret Invasion, she adopted a silly voice and said, “I don’t think no one liked that show, guys. I’m sorry!” The seal broken, she continued: “Star Wars’? They didn’t like it. Terminator? That should never have happened. But these were jobs I said yes to, you know what I mean?” Fortunately, she doesn’t blame the different franchise fandoms for these film failures. “I entered into already existing franchises,” she said, “so when they don’t work out, it’s not personal.”

She’ll Be Back

Honestly, this is a very refreshing attitude, especially when you compare Emilia Clarke’s humility with various stars who have blamed fans for their projects failing. When Ocean’s 8 bombed, star Mindy Kaling blamed “white men” for simply hating what she, a woman of color, had created. Similarly, when A Wrinkle In Time disappointed, Captain Marvel star Brie Larson notoriously lashed out at a certain type of critic: “I don’t need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn’t work … It wasn’t made for him!” Meanwhile, Ghostbusters (2016) star Melissa McCarthy questioned the real motivation of fans hating that reboot by saying, “I just don’t know why people are so afraid of women.”

So, while the bar is obviously in hell, Emilia Clarke deserves full props for not lashing out at fans after starring in three failed franchise projects (four if we count that final Game of Thrones season). She understands that fans want what they want, and if she or her projects fail to deliver, she doesn’t get offended. Eventually, the Game of Thrones actor decided to stop focusing on starring in the next big thing and start picking roles “for no other reason than that I would enjoy that job.” That’s really the healthiest approach to Hollywood, and her humility is enough to make fans fall in love with her all over again.

Not bad, huh? Especially for a girl whose most famous character solved all her problems by setting them on fire!

On this episode of ‘Stepping Into The Shade Room,’ Lex P. and Drea Nicole, hosts of the ‘Pour Minds’ podcast, step in to discuss everything from six-figure checks, their next money moves, scaling a brand, and maintaining a 10-year friendship. Additionally, Lex P. addresses the viral “cheating” jokes and why she loves to make men uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Drea opens up about her single life and her non-negotiables when dating. This, all with host Thembi.

Lex P. And Drea Nicole Speak On “Cheating” Jokes & Interracial Dating

While chatting it up with Thembi, Lex P., and Drea Nicole landed on the topic of “cheating” jokes and interracial dating. Lex explained that she likes to “embellish” stories, but admitted that she did cheat on someone back when she was in college. Nonetheless, Lex explained that her current preference is being able to date freely. Furthermore, she even jokes that she likes to make men uncomfortable by admitting that freely, as they usually do.

On the topic of interracial dating, Drea Nicole noted that she is open to dating outside of their race.

“Whatever is going on, this isn’t working. So maybe I should try something different,” Drea Nicole explained while chuckling.

Meanwhile, Lex P. ultimately disagreed.

The Hosts Of ‘Pour Minds’ Share Their Thoughts On Other Content Creators

Furthermore, as the conversation continued, Lex P. and Drea Nicole shared their thoughts on other content creators: specifically on whether they’d shot their shot.

Watch the clip below to see the hosts discuss whether they’d shoot their shot at Nick Cannon, Shannon Sharpe, Cam Newton, DJ Akademiks, and more! Additionally, watch as the ‘Pour Minds’ hosts discuss the entertainment industry, their “Still Sippin” tour, their individual business ventures, and more!

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