It may not feel like it now, but 2017 may be the best year ever for fans of geeky television and films.
From Wonder Woman to Sherlock, Star Wars to Star Trek, American Gods to Baby Groots, 2017 will feature the first arrival of many anticipated movies and television shows, as well as the return of many beloved sci-fi/fantasy classics! The more we thought about it, the more we realized…there’s a lot to look forward to on screen in 2017.
Sherlock (January)
Sherlock, John, Mary, and a baby Watson make four! Moffat keeps hinting that this season will be the MOST TRAGIC EVER, but it’s really hard to feel blue knowing that Sherlock is going to have to vie with a baby for attention next year. I mean. It’s what he deserves. —Emily
All the trailers point toward this series going in an even darker, more personal direction than Series Three, and there nothing I like more than dark and personal Cumberbatch. —Leah
The Young Pope (January)
The Pope is American, so clearly this show is a fantasy, and he’s played by Jude Law, who is an android, so it’s also apparently sci-fi. —Leah
Emerald City (January)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKeRnyFIHWs&t=1s
I know there are people who are tired of Oz variants. I am not one of those people—especially not when Tarsem Singh is applying his vision to Oz. I’m not sure what I’m more excited about: grown-up Dorothy with a German shepherd? The casting of the three witches? The involvement of comics writer Kelly Sue DeConnick? The combination of magic and technology? Giant rock monsters and magic jewels? Or just seeing Oz through Singh’s eyes? All of the above, really. Just give it to me now. —Molly
I like everything about who is involved with this show, and I would actually be super happy to find an Oz variant that rings true to an older version of tiny-kid-me who asked for ruby slippers every year. —Emily
Riverdale (January)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0qH4AsZIvY
All I know about Archie comics is what I read when I was a kid, but Riverdale looks like someone took the vampires out of The Vampire Diaries and then moved the story to Twin Peaks, and I am 100% here for this. —Molly
The 100 (February)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3koIh0Izwk
Despite the narrative missteps of last year, I have faith that this plucky post-apocalyptic series will continue to serve up both the ridiculous (lots of make-outs and power plays) with the profound (representation and commentary on survival and regaining our humanity). —Natalie
Jasper with a cup of coffee, telling Clarke that survival is insufficient? That’s everything I want out of season four. (OK, I also want someone to make out with Roan.) —Molly
The Expanse (February)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06EIAuYRRTw
Since the first season of The Expanse ended, I’ve read the first three books in the series, and HOLY CATS. I thought I was already invested in this story, but now that I’ve met Bobbie Draper and seen how certain narrative threads play out and know where a few things are going … I’m not sure there’s anything else I’m looking forward to this much. And that’s saying a lot, given the rest of the things on this list! —Molly
American Gods (“Early 2017”?)
American Gods is one of my favorite kinds of novels—long, messy, and overstuffed with ideas. The idea of what Greatest Showrunner of All Time Bryan Fuller will do with this source material makes my heart speed up to unacceptable levels. —Leah
I’m SO NERVOUS and SO EXCITED and still all but holding my breath waiting to see who they cast as Sam, who gives the speech of my heart in the book. C’mon, Bryan Fuller. You can do this. You can do this right. —Molly
American Gods is a great book, but it’s also a story that’s packed full of ideas that are begging to be expanded upon. And as I noted in the reread that Bridget McGovern and I did back in 2012 (wow, it’s been a while), a lot of the tech ideas in it are already outdated and will be crazy fun to bring up to date. —Emily
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (April?)
This might sound hyperbolic, but so be it: the return of MST3K is the only thing that got me through a couple of particularly dark days this year. Not like I would have shuffled off my mortal coil or anything, just that this was the pop cultural event that I could hold onto like a security blanket. When I was a kid, the delicate balance of snark and warm humanism of MST3K was an axis for my mundi, so getting a new version, that’s going to attempt to take the show in new directions rather than simply coasting on nostalgia, fills me with hope. —Leah
What Leah said. Although getting used to Servo’s new voice is going to be really hard. —Chris
Doctor Who (April)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miZVEkic89I
I wanna meet Bill! I want more Missy! I miss the TARDIS! Hurry up already, Who. —Emily
Doctor Who closed its last season on a block of extremely strong episodes, but no one seemed to notice. I’m curious if the new season will continue that quality, and if it will feel similarly surprising. The show may be a bit of a Comeback Kid this year, and that’s exciting.—Chris
The Fate of the Furious (April)
What, are you going to tell me it doesn’t take magic to do what they do with those cars? —Molly
I think Ludacris gets to drive a tank in this one? What the hell else is cinema for? —Leah
The Handmaid’s Tale (April)
I’ve been waiting for this kind of adaptation, with its diverse casting and a long-form structure that will let the story breathe, since I first read The Handmaid’s Tale in high school. While I wish it were less relevant, I cannot wait to poke into every detail of Margaret Atwood’s harrowing dystopian past-future/future-past. —Natalie
Star Trek: Discovery (May)
We need this now more than ever. Come on, Star Trek. Remind us of the glorious future that is possible when we work together. —Emily
Sense8 (May)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7JTJzb6ybQ
We get a Christmas special on December 23, and then a whole new season of Sense8 next May! This show is odd, but addicting in the extreme. And maybe the second season will be too complicated, but it’s also one of the most affirming pieces of television/art out there right now, and I need more of it. —Emily
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Vol. 2 (May)
BABY GROOT. —Leah
Note to self: Put The Who’s Greatest Hits back on your phone. It’s been long enough.—Chris
Spider-Man: Homecoming (July)
Spider-Man: Homecoming is doing something that I don’t think any superhero movie has yet attempted: appear as if it takes place in our world. We’ve gotten glimmers of this from various MCU films, but after the first Avengers this essential quality of the Marvel universe has more and more been left behind.
And it shouldn’t, because seeing Spider-Man in a New York City that actually acts like New York City makes Spider-Man: Homecoming feel extremely close. That is how diverse Queens high schools actually are. I’ve been in that funky, cramped ATM foyer. And the thought of the Staten Island Ferry splitting in half during my daily commute gives me chills…and makes me really, really root for a hero like Spider-Man. —Chris
What Chris said. Although getting used to Spider-Man’s new voice is going to be really hard. —Leah
Give me the tiniest of Peter Parkers who actually is a teenager and seems like a teenager and has real teenager problems. Also, give me Fairy Godmother Tony Stark because I live for this crap. —Emily
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (July)
I got to meet Luc Besson (he was so nice) and ask him about this film at New York Comic Con this year completely by chance, and it was pretty much my childhood dream come true. I’ve been hoping he would direct another space movie since The Fifth Element, so I’ll be there with bells on. —Emily
I want that Platform Gun.—Chris
The Justice League (November)
If the whole movie is Batman and Wonder Woman snarking at each other like two super stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood, combined with Jason Momoa glaring at people, that will work fine for me? (Also, I’m team Barry-Allen-Needs-Friends.) —Emily
“Flash is Ringo Starr … Uncle Fish Curry [Aquaman] is very grumpy. Dad [Batman] gets grumpy too. (He’s had a long life of fighting crime.) Wonder Woman is very considerate, so even though she’s annoyed with the Flash, she’s still very compassionate.” If this movie is anything like Ezra Miller’s description, I’m sold. —Natalie
Thor: Ragnarok (November)
I have been desperate for this movie since the second Thor: The Dark World ended, and every little hint from the set has made me desperately impatient. If this film is mostly Thor and Loki palling around on accident, my life will be complete. No word yet on precisely how they plan to handle the actual “Ragnarok” part of the story, but it will likely be different from the comics given the current state of the MCU. Or maybe not, and a new Asgard will suddenly be situated over Oklahoma? Your guess is as good as mine. —Emily
In my head this is the end of the world in the style of What We Do in the Shadows and while I fully accept that this vision of the movie is unlikely to come to pass, I’m going to keep enjoying imagining it. —Molly
If they basically expand Thor’s Civil War mockumentary into Ragnarok, I’m there. —Natalie
Star Wars Episode VIII (December)
….AAAAAHHHHHHHH —Emily
….AAAAAHHHHHHHH —Leah
#TeamLukesBeard —Chris
IS IT TRAILER TIME YET IS IT IS IT HOW ABOUT NOW —Molly
The moment that the first trailer drops, I’m going to be like Kristen Bell with the sloth—I’ll just start spontaneously crying, knowing that a new Star War is imminent. —Natalie
