If you’ve ventured onto social media in recent days, you’ll know that last weekend was a pretty exceptional moment for streaming services. The return of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney Plus and Stranger Things on Netflix sent the internet into a tailspin, and you’re probably still working your way through one or both of those series as we move into June.
We’re not going to pretend that any of this week’s new streaming arrivals can match either of those tent-pole shows for hype, but the long-awaited return of Amazon’s The Boys on Prime Video will surely throw a spanner in the works for fantasy fans with plenty of entertainment options already on their plate.
Below, we’ve rounded up seven of the biggest new movies and TV shows available to stream on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus and more this weekend.
The Boys season 3 (Prime Video)
Superhero fans, stand up. Amazon’s R-rated (and wildly popular) Prime Video series, The Boys, returns for its long-awaited third season this weekend.
Picking up one year after the show’s explosive season 2 finale, new episodes find the titular Supes struggling to adjust to their newfound positions of power in a world enjoying a period of long-overdue peace. Naturally, though, the quietude doesn’t last long, and the emergence of fearsome foe Soldier Boy puts Billy, Hughie, Annie and company on a collision course with destruction once again. We recently spoke to showrunner Eric Kripke to find out how The Boys season 3 dials up the drama versus previous seasons – and suffice to say, fans are in for a treat.
The first three episodes of the new series are available to stream now on Prime Video, with the remaining five scheduled to land on a weekly basis through July 8.
Now available to stream on Prime Video.
Pistol (Hulu, Disney Plus)
Trainspotting director Danny Boyle pivots to the small screen with Pistol, a six-part, FX-produced miniseries dramatizing the early days of legendary British punk band The Sex Pistols.
Based on guitarist Steve Jones’ 2017 memoir, Lonely Boy, the show chronicles the coming together of Jones (Toby Wallace), frontman Johnny Rotten (Anson Boon), drummer Paul Cook (Jacob Slater) and bassists Sid Vicious (Louis Partridge) and Glen Matlock (Christian Lees) in the 1970s, charting the band’s rapid rise to prominence and notoriety. Talulah Riley, Maisie Williams and Thomas Brodie-Sangster are among the other stars to feature in the series, which has, regrettably, been described by critics (including TechRadar’s very own Tom Goodwyn) as being all style and no substance.
Still, Pistol might be worth a look for its off-screen controversy alone. John Lyndon (aka Johnny Rotten) called the show “the most disrespectful s**t I’ve ever had to endure” – which makes us more interested in watching than we otherwise might’ve been.
Now available to stream on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK.
Interceptor (Netflix)
If you’re in the mood for some mindless action fare this weekend, look no further than the feature film debut of Australian novelist Matthew Reilly on Netflix.
Co-produced by Marvel movie star Chris Hemsworth, Interceptor follows a stubborn army officer (played by the Thor actor’s real-life wife, Elsa Pataky) who finds herself stationed as the last line of defense against a soldier-turned-criminal’s villainous plan to take over a remote nuclear missile base.
Admittedly, that synopsis couldn’t sound much more unoriginal, but we’d wager that Interceptor will still be an enjoyable way to switch off for 90 minutes – especially given the involvement of Extraction and 12 Strong alumnus Hemsworth.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
The Orville: New Horizons (Hulu, Disney Plus)
Legendary funnyman Seth MacFarlane’s fan-favorite Star Trek spoof, The Orville, returns for a long-awaited third season this weekend.
New episodes will once again focus on the U.S.S. Orville and its misfit crew, with Ed, Kelly, Gordon and company embarking on yet more planet-hopping misadventures through the universe. The series’ third outing will also mark the final bow of actor-comedian Norm Macdonald, who passed away in 2021 soon after production concluded.
Episode 1 of The Orville: New Horizons is available to stream now on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK, with the remaining nine new entries arriving on a weekly basis every Thursday.
Now available to stream on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK.
Borgen: Power and Glory (Netflix)
Let’s be honest: the Scandinavians have always done gritty TV dramas better than anyone else. Borgen, the acclaimed Danish political drama which originally aired between 2010 and 2013, is among the best around, and the series returns to the small screen via Netflix this weekend with Power and Glory (aka Borgen season 4).
New episodes of the The West Wing-esque show focus on the attempts of Foreign Minister Birgitte Nyborg (Westworld alumnus Sidse Babett Knudsen) to control a dangerous dispute over Greenland oil reserves. Much of the original Borgen cast return to proceedings, with the exception of Game of Thrones star Pilou Asbæk.
That all sounds suitably House of Cards-meets-Fortitude, and Borgen: Power and Glory has been hailed by critics as an intelligent, mature and stylish series that “puts American political dramas to shame.” Get watching.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Physical season 2 (Apple TV Plus)
Apple’s pitch-black dramedy, Physical, heads back to Apple TV Plus less than a year after the premiere of its first season this Friday.
The series once again places Rose Byrne’s housewife-turned-aerobics guru Sheila Rubin front and center, with new episodes finding the anti-hero not only forced to confront the realities of growing competition in the fitness industry, but the challenge of staying loyal to her husband (Rory Scovel) in a world of sun and spandex.
The White Lotus star Murray Bartlett joins the cast for Physical season 2, which is, in itself, enough to pique our interest in the show’s swift return. Episode 1 is available to stream now, with the remaining entries set to arrive weekly every Friday.
Now available to stream on Apple TV Plus.
This is Going to Hurt (AMC Plus)
Having debuted in the UK earlier this year, the BBC’s critically-acclaimed adaptation of Adam Kay’s best-selling medical memoir, This is Going to Hurt, finally comes to AMC Plus (and Sundance Now) in the US this weekend.
Ben Whishaw stars as Kay in this seven-episode black comedy, which dramatizes the author’s experience working as a junior doctor in the OB-GYN ward of a busy (and we mean busy) British NHS hospital.
This is Going to Hurt shines a light on the hectic professional and personal lives of medical workers the world over, so we’re inclined to describe it as necessary viewing in 2022. Episode 1 of the show is available to stream now on those aforementioned streamers, with new entries arriving weekly.
Now available to stream on AMC Plus.