It’s the height of summer heat, the time when temperatures rise and days are lazy. This used to be a time when there was little TV, and everyone looked forward to the fall premieres. But now things are a little different, with summer also — you guessed it — a lot of from television.
Among them are a ton of superhero options: for animated Marvel, you can check out Hit monkey season 2 on Hulu; for animated DC there is Kiteman: Sure! on Max. On Prime, The boys Season 4 wraps up with a real change of pace (for the show and the other superhero options here). And on Netflix, there’s Cobra Kaiwhere Daniel and Johnny might as well be honorary superheroes at this point.
And more: Here are this week’s best new TV premieres and finales.
New series on Netflix
Cobra Kai season 6 part 1
Genre: Sports drama
Date of publication: July 18
Showrunner/creator: Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg
Form: Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Courtney Henggeler and more
Netflix hopes to turn the late 90s into an event Cobra Kai — After all, it’s not just the end of a six-season series (a rarity on Netflix!), but also the end of a series that revived a beloved film franchise. This is the beginning of the end, but most of all, the end get started from the end; the 15-episode season will be split into three parts, with the first five episodes airing on Thursdays.
New Shows on Disney Plus
The Acolyte Finale
Image: Lucasfilm
Genre: Star Wars
Date of publication: July 1st
Showrunner/creator: Leslye headland
Form: Amandla Stenberg, Manny Jacinto, Lee Jung-jae and more
We know the truth about what happened on Brendock, and we know why Mae (Amandla Stenberg) feels so much animosity toward the Jedi, and we know why Sol (Lee Jung-jae) feels so much guilt over what happened to the twins. Now, with all that at stake, the question remains: Will Manny Jacinto’s Dark Side pitch convince anyone?
New Shows on Hulu
Hit-Monkey season 2
Genre: Animated superheroes
Date of publication: July 15
Showrunner/creator: Will Speck and Josh Gordon
Form: Fred Tatasciore, Ally Maki, Olivia Munn and more
When we last saw him, Hit-Monkey’s (Fred Tatasciore) fight had gone wrong and resulted in him being smuggled out of Japan with the promise of clearing his name. Unfortunately, Akiko (Olivia Munn) has already taken over as Lady Bullseye and vows revenge for what she saw.
New shows on Max
Kiteman: Sure!
Genre: Animated superhero black comedy
Date of publication: July 18
Showrunner/creator: Dean Lorey, Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker
Form: Matt Oberg, Stephanie Hsu, James Adomian and more
What started as a comic strip became a supporting character in Harley Quinn. And now he has his own show: Let’s hear it for Kite Man! Yes, indeed.
New shows on Prime Video
The Boys Season 4 Finale
Photo: Jasper Savage/Prime Video
Genre: Superheroes (failed)
Date of publication: July 18
Showrunner/creator: Eric Kripke
Form: Antony Starr, Jack Quaid, Karl Urban and more
Things are getting serious for the Boys—I know, I know; when aren’t they? But this time, it’s “there’s a shapeshifter strutting around as one of them and it turns out the super-killing virus isn’t quite here yet” kind of shit. What will that mean for our ragtag group of would-be agents?
New shows on AMC Plus
Snowpiercer season 4
Genre: Dystopian thriller
Date of publication: 21 July
Showrunner/creator: Josh Friedman and Graeme Manson
Form: Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs, Mickey Sumner and more
Season 3 ended with a bit of division and a bit of hope: While some stayed behind on the Snowpiercer in the hope of survival, others ventured to “New Eden” to see what a new reality could be. The premiere picks up nine months later and is called “Snakes in the Garden” — take that for what you will.
New Shows on Peacock
The Ark season 2
Genre: Sci-fi (in space)
Date of publication: July 17 at 10pm EDT on SyFy; the following day on Peacock
Showrunner/creator: Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner
Form: Christie Burke, Reece Ritchie, Richard Fleeshman and more
Season 1 of The ark didn’t see humanity end up so well when they embarked on a desperate, decades-long mission to find a new planet. The finale ended on a major cliffhanger (no spoilers here), but suffice it to say: space may be a lot less empty than you’d hope. Here’s to all the bad things that await us in season 2!