The powers that be at Netflix have noted that the streaming service is aiming to ensure that the contents of its library consists of 50 percent original programming next year, with CEO Reed Hastings announcing that his company will be spending a whopping 6 billion dollars on original programming in 2018 alone.
In fact, 2018 could be a banner, standout year for Netflix, as it will also be adding a slew of diverse and potentially exciting new TV shows and limited series from all over the globe, featuring new original programming from Korea, Australia, Germany, and Brazil, among others. It’s clear that the streaming juggernaut is aiming for the most diverse array of programming available on any streaming service, and after all is said and done next year, Netflix may have some seriously coveted content.
Shows coming to Netflix next year include the latest series from Cary Fukunaga, a few interesting reboots/remakes, and several new anime series, among others. Netflix will also air new seasons of their Marvel hits as well, with fresh entries into the sagas of superheroes like Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Daredevil. We may never leave home again!
Batten down the hatches, because here are 16 Netflix Shows You Didn’t Know Were Coming In 2018.
New Seasons of Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, & Daredevil
We don't normally lump the Marvel shows together like this, but since three biggies are all returning with a slew of new eps next year, we figured we'd make an exception in this case. The second season Luke Cage has no release date yet, but after the huge happening involving Missy we saw in The Defenders, we could see some major developments for her character during the second season.
As for everyone's favorite foul-mouthed alcoholic detective, Krysten Ritter promises that the second season of Jessica Jones will be more binge-worthy than the first--which is saying something. Netflix hasn't revealed the release date yet, but we're thinking it could be sometime in the spring.
As for Matt Murdock, whom we last saw hanging in a convent while everyone he cares about mourned his death, we're still not sure when exactly we'll see him again either. But we do know that the Devil of Hell's Kitchen's likely new nemesis for the upcoming season may be Sin-Eater, so we definitely don't mind waiting a little extra for that.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Prepare yourselves: The Coen Brothers are coming to Netflix! The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a western anthology series that will star James Franco, Zoe Kazan, and Coen bros staple Tim Blake Nelson as Buster, marks the idiosyncratic brothers’ first foray into television—and we couldn’t be more excited about it.
Current info about the show is sparse, yet incredibly intriguing. Scruggs will apparently follow the exploits of a singing cowboy, and will be divided into six different stories about the Old West, with each separate episode featuring a different character and story. The series was originally intended to be a motion picture, but sources close to the project say its scope was too large for a movie. Considering that the Western is very familiar territory for the Coens, we’re certain that Scruggs will be one of the epic TV events of next year.
Lost in Space
Netflix has ordered 10 episodes of this reboot, which will be a much more modern take on the ‘60s cult classic, and will feature Neil Marshall in the director’s chair. Marshall has worked in both television and film, and has some stellar TV credits on his resume (he directed episodes of Westworld and Black Sails, as well as two of Game of Thrones’ most acclaimed episodes: “Blackwater,” and “Watchers on the Wall”).
Parker Posey, who should be in everything, and Toby Stephens, who will be fresh from filming the criminally underrated Black Sails, will have major roles. When asked in an interview what fans should expect from the upcoming Space reboot, and whether it was as epic as, say, Black Sails, Stephens replied: “I think it’s equally as big, just in a different way. It’s spaceships and planets that aren’t like ours and spacesuits…this is a version that is for our time. I’m hoping it will still have humor and humanity in it, but it has obviously gotta be for a modern audience.” Ummm, most definitely count us in.
Troy: Fall of a City
Netflix has teamed up with BBC One for this upcoming limited series set in the UK. David Farr, who penned the underrated indie Hanna, will be directing, and the cast is full of talented and familiar faces. Tom Weston-Jones (Copper), Alfred Enoch (How to Get Away With Murder), and Jonas Armstrong (Ripper Street) are just a few big names in a cast full of talented veterans and intriguing newcomers.
If nothing else, Troy: Fall of a City definitely should look incredible: both BBC and Netflix are shelling out 6 million dollars an episode making it. Sure, we all know what happens once Paris and Helen fall in love, but considering that the last huge, big budget event covering this story once became Brad Pitt’s 2004 quasi-epic Troy, we’re beyond curious to check this potential epic out.
Carmen Sandiego
This one could be loads of fun for kids and adults alike. Featuring Jane the Virgin herself, Gina Rodriguez, as Carmen Santiego, and Eleven’s boyfriend Finn Wolfhard as Player, this upcoming animated series has a surprising amount of intrigue surrounding it. Rodriguez will be playing a more sophisticated and complicated version of Carmen, and the series will focus on Carmen’s past, and how her personal history has made her the oft-traveling thief she is today.
Those familiar with the ‘90s cartoon(s) shouldn’t be disappointed—the reboot will still feature the globetrotting lady and her sticky fingers, but it promises to explore the character in exciting and new ways. 20 half-hour episodes have been ordered, and the series will likely appear late next year, though it could end up being pushed until 2019.
Altered Carbon
Here’s the teeny-tiny blurb Netflix gave us telling us what Altered Carbon is about: “A new series set 700 years in the future, when the human Mind is digitized and downloaded from body to body. Based on the classic cyberpunk novel.” Yeah. That’s hardly anything to go on, and yet that coy, catchy premise coupled with the talent involved has us more than a little curious.
So far, two alum from The Killing, Joel Kinnaman and Kristin Lehman, have signed on. They have been joined by The Following’s James Purefoy, Buffy’s Adam Busch, BSG’s Tahmoh Penikett, and Dichen Lachman, among others (Dollhouse fans, rejoice!). Miguel Sapochnik (who directed the epic GoT episodes “Hardhome” and “Battle of the Bastards”) is set to direct the pilot episode. Kinnaman’s character is said to be a formerly awesome space warrior who was imprisoned and downloaded into the future he tried to prevent from happening. We’re already salivating at the idea of the first trailer…
Dogs of Berlin
Netflix has ordered 10 episodes of this German series, its second show from Germany after the upcoming (and pretty terrifying looking) Dark. Dogs focuses on two very different detectives who are forced to work together to take down some pretty unsavory elements in the Berlin underworld, but not before they are each forced to face the darkness within each of them. It promises to be an intense and action-packed drama—think Narcos in Deutschland.
Christian Alvart, the German writer-director of Case 39, Pandorum, and several successful films in his native country, will be literally running the show. This could be one of the more under the radar series coming out next year, and based on everything we’ve heard about it, we think it will be a sleeper hit at the very least.
The Spy
This upcoming series is based on real life events, and it sounds like a cross between AMC’s Turn and The Americans, but set in the Middle East. The Spy takes place in the 1960s, and is centered on an Israeli man named Eli Cohen, who spent several years of his life undercover infiltrating government and military operations in Syria. Information he ascertained while undercover there played a crucial role in the outcome of the Six Day War—but Cohen’s efforts came at a great personal cost.
The show will be helmed by Gideon Raff, who is best known for his work as a scribe and producer on Homeland. If Raff matches his best work on Homeland here, we spy a major hit for the streaming service.
Sacred Games
Netflix is going to India! Sacred Games, an adaptation of Vikram Chandra’s critically successful 2006 book, will be the first original series the streaming service has filmed in India. Popular Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan has been cast, and is rumored to play a Mumbai police officer who is tasked with the near impossible: taking down Mumbai’s most notorious and deadly gangster. Again, we're getting Narcos vibes here.
Sacred Games, if it follows the novel on which it’s based, should highlight the inner workings of India’s modern day organized gangs and their criminal activities, from the political connections Indian dignitaries have to mobsters, to those working secretly to take the criminal element down. The bilingual show (it will be in both Hindi and English) promises to be alternately exciting, intriguing, and gut wrenching—right up our alley!
Samantha!
This comedy series about a former ‘80s child star will be produced by Brazilian actress Alice Braga, and its premise is pretty hilarious. According to the paltry description and summary given by Netflix, “Samantha clings to the fringes of celebrity with hilarious harebrained schemes to launch herself back into the spotlight.” Washed up former celebs generally make decent comedic fodder, and other elements of the show promise to be potentially hilarious: Samantha is also married to a former football star who was recently released from prison—we’re thinking no laugh track will be necessary here.
The casting of Samantha, which is still yet unknown, seems crucial here (we’re thinking Riverdale’s Camila Mendes would be perfect for the role—too bad she already has a job), but regardless, we’re still pretty curious about this one.
Tidelands
With Tidelands, Netflix will launch its first original series from Australia—and it sounds like a doozy, mate. Set in and around Queensland, the show’s title refers to the half-human locals of a small Australian fishing village called Orphelin Bay. The plot revolves around what happens when a former female criminal returns home to Orphelin Bay, only to find the body of an area fisherman that has washed ashore. Party time!
Character names and casting decisions haven’t been made just yet, but we do know that this supernatural thriller will have a 10 episode first season, and that Stephen M. Irwin (Secrets & Lies) will serve as the show’s primary writer. The show sounds like a mix of Top of the Lake and The Fall, with a sprig of True Blood’s supernatural craziness thrown in. We’ll wade—carefully—into these waters.
The Rain
According to the press release from Netflix, The Rain is a post-apocalyptic drama with a twist. Set in Scandinavia, the series takes place after a virus has killed nearly everyone on Earth. It follows two young siblings who have managed to survive on their journey for safety. The young’uns then meet up with a small group of fellow survivors—which is where the true terror lies, apparently.
The press release notes that “it’s a story about responsibility and whether survival is about the individual or the group…And it’s a story about experiencing everything for the first time in a world where there’s no-one to tell you how to react.” Created and written by Jannik Tai Mosholt (Borgen), The Rain promises to be both harrowing and exhilarating. An apocalyptic scenario focusing on the POV of young kids? Jealous much, Carl Grimes?
B: The Beginning
We noted in the intro that Netflix will be ushering in some new anime programming next year, and this show might be the one we’re most excited about from that particular genre. Slated for a spring 2018 release, B: The Beginning will be directed by Kazuto Nakazawa (Parasite Dolls) and Yoshinobu Yamakawa (Kimikiss: Pure Rogue), and will consist of 12 episodes—which will likely leave viewers wanting more.
Early word on the plot suggests that the show will be killer in oodles of ways: set in the future, the series is about a team of scientists who have created a brand new species of beings with the ultimate goal of world peace in mind. Things get crazy when said scientists are kidnapped by some bad guys who may or may not be working for an evil corporation. B cannot be missed, especially by anime maniacs.
Kingdom
This Korean zombie drama by Kim Seong-hun (who made 2016’s fantastic Tunnel) promises to be one of Netflix’s most unique new original programs. Kingdom (not to be confused with the excellent show about mixed martial arts fighters) is reported to be an intriguing blend of genres. Erik Barmack, the vice president of international original programming at Netflix, described the show as a “visual feast of historical drama blended with supernatural fantasy.” So far, so good.
Set in Korea, Kingdom takes place during the medieval Joseon era, and its action involves a prince who is sent on a suicide mission of sorts involving the investigation of a puzzling and deadly virus. The series promises to be visually stunning, and the premise alone makes it a worthy addition to your queue.
Maniac
Emma Stone, Jonah Hill, and Justin Theroux will star in this sure to be stellar series by Cary Fukunaga, who is coming off the incredible one-two punch of True Detective’s first season and Beasts of No Nation.
Based on a 2014 Norwegian TV show, what we know so far about the project is limited, but itsounds loaded with both comedic and dramatic potential. Maniac is a dark comedy that focuses on the lives of two mental patients and the fantasy scenarios they concoct. We also know that it’s set in the ‘80s, as Hill was photographed on set wearing acid washed denim and a Warren Moon jersey, while Emma Stone looks like she did her hair with the help of a can of peroxide before standing in front of an über powerful fan for an hour. Full disclosure: we’d watch to check out the wardrobe alone.
The Toys That Made Us
This 8 part documentary series directed by Tom Stern is the upcoming show we’re looking forward to the most—and not just because we’re obsessed with toys from the ‘80s. As its title suggests, The Toys That Made Us is a nostalgia-filled look back at all of the toys we used to love as kids. Focusing mainly (but not exclusively) on the toy boom of the 1980s, fans of many Mattel offerings, from He-Man toys to the Ghostbusters action figures, will likely watch with delight as the worlds they used to delight in are brought back to life in new and informative ways.
Whether you were a fan of GI Joe, Barbie, Transformers, or Hello Kitty, all will likely be represented here. The series has no release date yet, but if Netflix doesn’t tell us soon, we’ll see them after school by the bike rack.
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Did we miss any amazing original shows set to air on Netflix in 2018? Let us know in the comments!