Netflix and other streaming services are currently facing trouble in the form of the FCC's latest attempt to remove Net Neutrality. If these plans go through, then your Internet provider can intentionally slow down the speed at which you can stream certain services or block you from using them altogether. These plans would seriously impact services like Netflix, if not destroy them completely.
The time has come once more to fight for the rights of the consumer. Netflix and the other streaming services have changed the landscape of television for the better and these upcoming rules threaten to put the entertainment industry back twenty years.
We are here today to look at the best new movies and shows that will be added to Netflix in December.
From Will Smith's latest foray into urban fantasy to the return of Marvel's space-faring team, here are the 15 Shows And Movies You Didn’t Know Were Coming To Netflix This December!
Bright
The concept of fantasy creatures existing alongside humans is not a new one by any means. You could make the argument that Twilight and the other "girl in love with mythical being" YA books use this genre. The Shadowrun RPG/video game series also uses the "urban fantasy" concept.
Bright is a Netflix movie that will be using the urban fantasy concept while viewed through the lens of two police officers, one of whom is played by Will Smith. The world of Bright has humans living alongside elves and orcs.
Smith's character is a member of the LAPD who is given an orc partner against his will. Together, they have to stop a powerful magical artifact from falling into the wrong hands.
Going from the trailer, Bright looks like it will be Netflix's highest quality production to date, with the movie costing over $90 million dollars to make.
Bright is coming to Netflix on December 22nd.
Dark
One of the best things about Netflix is their willingness to produce and co-finance high-quality foreign language productions. We have seen many amazing Italian and Spanish productions that would not have seen the light of day if it weren't for Netflix's involvement. Netflix has also allowed a lot of Japanese anime and TV shows to reach a wider audience than they would have otherwise.
Dark is going to be Netflix's first German-language production. It follows the disappearance of two teenagers in a small town, which prompts an investigation into similar incidents in the past. The story of Dark is not just one of a killer, but of someone who is not bound by time itself.
It seems that Dark is following in the footsteps of Netflix's Stranger Things and the success of It. The supernatural is returning to a small town to pick off the residents one by one.
Dark is coming to Netflix on December 1st.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
The recent debacle concerning the DC Cinematic Universe seems to be based on the fact that Warner Bros. believes that a recognizable superhero is all you need to sell tickets.
The anemic reaction to Justice League has proven that a well-known superhero isn't the only thing that can carry the film, as the Guardians of the Galaxy proved back in 2014. This was a movie starring characters that only die-hard Marvel fans would have heard of and it turned out to be one of Marvel's most critically and commercially successful films.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will be coming to Netflix as a Disney exclusive. This film follows up the plot thread concerning Peter Quill's mysterious missing father from the first film, who is revealed to be Ego the Living Planet. The Guardians return to cause havoc, while also possibly saving the universe in the meantime.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is coming to Netflix on December 5th.
Easy (Season 2)
Easy is one of the most highly-acclaimed original series produced by Netflix. It is an anthology comedy series that had an amazing cast throughout its first season, including the likes of Orlando Bloom, Dave Franco, Emily Ratajkowski, and Kate Micucci.
It is an anthology show that follows several romantic relationships in the city of Chicago. Each episode is about the dynamics of sexuality in a modern world that has changed completely within the space of a decade, thanks to the way in which technology has integrated into our lives.
Easy focuses on showing us brief glimpses into the lives of people trying to get their heads around what they truly want from their relationships. The upcoming second season promises to continue these stories, with the addition of new characters played by Aubrey Plaza and Judy Greer to the cast.
The second season of Easy is coming to Netflix on December 1st.
Voyeur
There have been many documentaries produced over the years concerning murderers, assaulters, and dictators. We have seen the lives of horrible people chronicled in frightening detail, yet they are mostly told from the perspective of police officers, scientists, and psychologists. These evil individuals never get their chance to tell their side of the story.
Voyeur is unique in that the subject of the documentary is not only part of the program. Gerald Foos purchased a motel and altered the ceilings so that he could add grates that would allow him to view the people staying in the rooms without their knowledge.
Foos spent years watching his customers under the guise of research. This is the story of Foos and the journalist who covered the story coming into conflict with one another over the piece and the attention/backlash it inspired.
Voyeur is coming to Netflix on December 1st.
The Crown (Season 2)
Queen Elizabeth II has lived one of the most interesting lives of any living head of state. She has been the monarch of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 1952, and is the longest reigning Queen of her country.
That's a lot of ground for a TV show to cover, which is what Netflix's The Crown is attempting to do.
The first season of The Crown followed Elizabeth's life throughout her engagement and ascension to the throne. It turned out to be one of Netflix's most highly acclaimed shows, with plans for another five seasons being drawn up.
The upcoming second season will follow her reign throughout the Suez Crisis, which involved the disastrous invasion of Egypt by Great Britain, France, and Israel. The Suez Crisis signified the decline of Great Britain's status as one of the most powerful nations in the world. The Crown aims to show these events from the perspective of the royal family.
The second season of The Crown is coming to Netflix on December 8th.
Erased
It seems that Hollywood hasn't been able to get its head around adapting anime and manga. The disastrous debuts of Dragonball Evolution (which didn't even spell Dragon Ball correctly) and Ghost in the Shell may have cooled the prospects of Akira and Naruto being adapted.
Netflix themselves are guilty of this, with their adaptation of Death Note earning some scathing reviews from critics and fans alike. They are taking another stab at adapting an anime, however, with a live-action version of Erased, which was based on a manga of the same name.
Erased tells the story of a young man who has the ability to go back in time and prevent his own death. He is eventually sent back to his days in elementary school, where he realizes that he can use his knowledge of the future to prevent the deaths of his classmates who were killed during a kidnapping.
Erased is coming to Netflix on December 15th.
The Ranch (Season 2)
At first glance, The Ranch might seem like an attempt at making a blue-collar version of Frasier. It stars Ashton Kutcher as a failed professional footballer who returns home to his family's farm after a fifteen-year absence in an attempt to rekindle his relationship with his estranged family. The Ranch doesn't have years of characterization that was built up on Cheers to fall back on, so it has to start over from scratch.
The Ranch stars Ashton Kutcher as he attempts to readjust to life on the farm and reconnecting with the people he had left behind years before.
After fifteen years of playing for numerous pro football teams, he has to return to the world of cultivating, with mixed results. According to the official The Ranch Twitter, the show has already been renewed by Netflix for a third season.
The second season of The Ranch is coming to Netflix on December 15th.
Dreamworks Home For The Holidays
The televised adaptation of Dreamworks' Home is unusual in that it switched from CGI to traditional animation. Home was a 2015 animated movie about an alien invasion of Earth which is stopped by a girl named Tip and an extra-terrestrial fugitive called Oh.
The animated series that appears on Netflix is called Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh and is much more light-hearted in tone while using a similar style to shows like Adventure Time and Steven Universe.
Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh is receiving a Christmas special, called Dreamworks Home for the Holidays. The special follows Tip teaching Oh about Christmas, which leads to him incorrectly describing it to the rest of the Boov race, who proceed to ruin the holidays for everyone. It's up to Tip, Ben Schwartz, and Kelly Clarkson to rectify the mistake and teach everyone about what Christmas truly means.
Dreamworks Home for the Holidays is coming to Netflix on December 1st.
Bill Nye Saves The World (Season 2)
Bill Nye was once the presenter of a kids show that aimed to teach children about science. The show ended, but the internet has helped to keep him relevant, as Nye has remained a strong advocate for science, which has helped to give him a large following on social media.
Netflix returned Bill Nye to television with a show called Bill Nye Saves the World. This is a talk show that discusses how science is changing and how it is deeply rooted in everything around us.
Bill Nye Saves the World was able to draw some amazing correspondents and guests, such as Zach Braff and Will Wheaton, and it continues the mission that began with Bill Nye the Science Guy in the '90s. The kids who watched him back then can now enjoy the latest iteration of his show, which deals with the issues that are relevant today.
The second season of Bill Nye Saves the World is coming to Netflix on December 29th.
Judd Apatow: The Return
Trying stand up comedy is something that many people do at least once. It tends to go well for about five seconds while the audience is clapping, but then the applause stops and you actually have to say something.
The dark abyss full of audience members that are waiting to pounce will quickly teach you to stick to your day job, while also giving you some new appreciation for the likes of Eddie Izzard and Chris Rock.
Judd Apatow is going to have it worse than anybody, as he is returning to stand up after a twenty-five-year absence. The whole world will be watching and waiting to see if he bombs and Netflix is there to chronicle the whole thing. Apatow has produced some of the greatest comedy movies of all time, but getting up on the stage and performing is a whole different thing.
Judd Apatow: The Return is coming to Netflix on December 12th.
Peaky Blinders (Season 4)
The BBC continues to produce some of the greatest television shows. The advent of streaming services has allowed their shows to be enjoyed by foreign audiences a lot quicker. Netflix will be running the entirety of Peaky Blinders once it has finished its initial run on BBC Two in the UK.
Peaky Blinders has often been compared to Boardwalk Empire and has even been referred to as the British version of the show. Peaky Blinders is the story of a Romani/Irish gang that rises to prominence in the city of Birmingham following the end of World War I.
Each season has seen the criminal empire expand and grow across the country, but the rising notoriety has finally brought the law to bear against Tommy and his family, which threatens to tear them apart.
The fourth season of Peaky Blinders is coming to Netflix on December 21st.
Wormwood
Those of you who have read The Men Who Stare at Goats will be familiar with the subject matter of Wormwood. The last third of the book focused on the story of Eric Olsen, who is the son of a CIA operative who died under mysterious circumstances.
Olsen has been trying to find out the truth behind his father's death for decades now, though he was unable to find closure in the early '00s. Eric's story is not over yet, however, as Netflix has stepped in and provided him with a means of discovering the truth behind his father's passing and the potential cover-up that followed it.
Wormwood is a documentary series that combines elements of fiction in order to tell Eric Olson's story of trying to find out the truth behind his father's death.
There have been many theories surrounding the death of Frank Olson, some of which concern LSD, mind control experiments, and a CIA cover-up that may have disguised a murder as a suicide.
Wormwood is coming to Netflix on December 15th.
Dave Chappelle: Equanimity
It seemed as if show business had chased Dave Chappelle away forever. He abandoned the massively successful Chappelle Show and walked away from a fifty-million-dollar contract, which suggested to many that Chappelle's days in front of the camera were over.
All it took was people shouting out quotes from his Rick James sketch to send Chappelle over the edge and cause him to abandon his television career, leaving Comedy Central with an unfinished series.
The reach of Netflix is long it seems, as they were able to coax Dave Chappelle into performing three exclusive stand up specials for the service.
Dave Chappelle: Equanimity is the third of these specials, though Netflix will likely pursue him for more, considering that they released two of Chappelle's previously unseen comedy shows on the service and they became the most watched comedy specials in Netflix's history.
Dave Chappelle: Equanimity is coming to Netflix on December 31st.
All Hail King Julien (Season 5)
Dreamworks is one of Netflix's closest business partners, with many of their films receiving spin-off TV shows that appear exclusively on the service. This has led to TV adaptations of properties like How to Train Your Dragon, Shrek, and Voltron, which have all been highly regarded. The relationship between the two companies is expected to grow when Disney separates from Netflix in 2018.
All Hail King Julien is a prequel spin-off of the Madagascar movies that stars the lemurs. It follows King Julien XIII and his attempts to keep hold of his kingdom.
The fourth season concluded with Julien being exiled and losing his crown to Koto, while the new season focuses on his efforts to retake the kingdom. Julien has to unite all the disparate factions on the island and free all of Koto's prisoners in order to start a rebellion and become the king once more.
The fifth season of All Hail King Julien is coming to Netflix on December 1st.
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Are you excited about Netflix's new additions? Which will you watch first? Let us know in the comments!