There’s always plenty to see on television or on streaming services, with new shows popping up almost every day, especially in theactiongenre. This year promises to be no different, with a grand variety of2025 shows making their debut or returningin the new year with a new season—more often than not after a considerable amount of time, for the joy of fans everywhere.
Among that variety, there are several shows that fall either completely or partially within the action genre. After all,a genre so like action broad has plenty of space for all kinds of sub-genres, from Western to crime to fantasy. There will be plenty of shows ready to deliver just that in 2025, from the latest entries inshows like Prime Video’sReacherto brand-new series.
American Primeval
Cast
American Primeval is a Netflix limited series that follows the lives of several men and women in the middle of the expansion of the American West. Social dynamics clash as men and women battle for a piece of the new world against rivals and each other.
American Primevalis actually already available to stream on Netflix, making it one of the very first new releases to hit the screens in 2025. Created by showrunner Mark L. Smith and starring Taylor Kitsch, Betty Gilpin, and Dane DeHaan among others,American Primevaltakes place on the American frontier towards the middle of the 19th century.
In true neo-Western style, the plot follows the struggles of an ensemble cast fighting over the control of the Utah Territory in what has become known as the Utah War—particularly between the Indigenous American tribes and the colonists following the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.Brutal, violent, and gritty,American Primevalfeatures all the tropes one could expect in a Western story set in a place where all that matters is survival.
The Last Of Us
The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic drama series set two decades after a global catastrophe. It follows Joel, a seasoned survivor, who is tasked with escorting Ellie, a teenage girl, across a desolated United States, transforming into a harrowing journey of survival and companionship.
The first season ofThe Last of Us, which aired in January 2023, was an incredible success that gained praise left and right for everything from its production design to the performances of its two main protagonists, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. Nowthe show is finally about to return with its second season, which will partly follow the plot of the second video game in the franchise,The Last of Us Part II.
While people who have played the game will know what’s in store for Joel and Ellie,the show-only audience has simply been told that the relationship between thede factofather-and-daughter duo has become strainedafter the brutal events of the final episode of the first season ofThe Last of Us. Life during an apocalypse, however, doesn’t always leave much time for emotionally charged conversations, a premise that sets the tone for the second game.
8Splinter Cell: Deathwatch (Upcoming)
Espionage and black-ops missions
Another project based on a video game,Splinter Cell: Deadwatchis an upcoming animated show that followed the stories of theTom Clancy’s Splinter Cellvideo game franchise. The story follows protagonist Sam Fisher, an elite agent of a fictional NSA black-ops division known as the Third Echelon who specializes in stealth infiltration missions.
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While details of the show’s plot have not yet been released, it can be presumed it will be based on the already existing games or be something original but still heavily influenced by the missions Sam Fischer has gone through before. The only clue Netflix’s announcement teaser gives audiences is the shot of a casket belonging to Douglas Shetland, a former colleague of Sam Fischer who appears for the first time in the second game of the franchise,Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow.
Andor
Andor is a Star Wars prequel series set before the events of Rogue One, following Cassian Andor as he navigates a world of danger and deception. The series delves into his transformation into a pivotal figure in the struggle against the Galactic Empire.
Andoris arguably one of the best series produced by Lucasfilm after its acquisition by Disney, acting as a prequel to theRogue One: A Star Wars Storymovie and covering the very first beginnings of the movement that will grow into the Original Trilogy’s Rebel Alliance.
The story follows the main character Cassian Andor, who turns from thief to rebel spy despite being initially cynical and disillusioned. He and several other characters—like Mon Mothma, who has already appeared in otherStar Warsmovies, or the eccentric Coruscant merchant Luthen Rael—play a key role in the hidden net that is beginning to spread across the galaxy to oppose the Empire.The final episode of eeason 1, which aired back in 2022, was a masterpiece of incredibly inspiringmomentsso, hopefully, audiences will get treated to more of them onceAndorseason 2 comes out.
Reacher
Reacher follows Jack Reacher, a former military police investigator, as he navigates civilian life. Without a phone and carrying minimal belongings, Reacher drifts across the country, experiencing the nation he once served, and encounters intriguing challenges along the way.
Reacherseason 3is set to be released in the first months of 2025, continuing the story of former military police major turned drifter Jack Reacher as he moves across the United States. The show is based on the book series of the same name by author Lee Child, which consists of almost thirty novels and a huge number of accompanying short stories and novellas.
The plot followsReacheras he uses his extensive experience in the Army to investigate conspiraciesand crimes wherever he finds himself at the time. Season 3 will see Reacher clash with a vast criminal enterprise that hides just out of sight of the law after he attempts to rescue a DEA informant, a meeting that will also bring up some dark secrets from his past.
1923
1923 is a series following the Dutton family during the early twentieth century. It explores the challenges they face amidst pandemics, the end of Prohibition, historic drought, and the Great Depression, as they struggle to maintain their home in the mountain west.
AfterYellowstoneofficially ended its five-season runin 2024, fans of Taylor Sheridan’s neo-Western universe will be happy to know that the second season of1923is finally being released in the first months of 2025.Season 2 will pick up right where season 1 left off, with the Duttons in Montana fighting tooth and nail to keep their ranch and Alex and Spencer being forcibly separated and promising to find each other again in the United States.
Set between the auto-conclusive miniseries1883—the beginning of the story of the Dutton family—andYellowstone,1923follows the lives of the Duttons who are alive during the Twenties through a series of momentous periods in time, from Prohibition to the Great Depression. Leading the family are Jacob Dutton and Cora Dutton, played by Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren respectively.
The Recruit
The Recruit follows a young attorney recruited by the CIA, navigating the perilous realm of international espionage.
The Recruit’s first season follows young CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks, who finds himself embroiled in a series of dangerous international conflicts that are miles above his pay grade as a new hire but that he nonetheless has to deal with. It all starts when he comes in contact with CIA asset Max Meladze, an Eastern European woman who strong-arms him into releasing her from prison.
An underrated gem in terms of Netflix action shows,The Recruitis finally back.Season 2 is going to be set mostly in South Korea,with actor Teo Yoo ofPast Livesfame set to take on a major role and Nathan Fillon returning as Owen Hendricks’ director at the CIA. Before getting to South Korea, though, Hendricks will have to disentangle himself from the life-threatening situation he was in during the season 1 finale.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians
Percy Jackson and the Olympians follows the journey of Percy Jackson as he embarks on a perilous quest to return Zeus’s master bolt. Joined by friends Annabeth and Grover, Percy confronts mythical challenges, seeking to avert a divine war and discover his place in the world.
The first season ofPercy Jackson and the Olympianswas very much welcomed by longtime fans ofRick Riordan’s book sagaabout Greek demigods inhabiting every corner of the modern United States. The new year will finally see the release of the show’s second season,which is going to adapt the second book of thePercy Jackson & The Olympians series,The Sea of Monsters.
Protagonists Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, and Grover Underwood, Percy’s satyr protector, will return to take on a new mission to save Thalia’s tree and so by extension Camp Half-Blood—finding the legendary Golden Fleece. All of this while, of course, battling the ever-growing number of monsters and demigods allied with the titan Kronos, including Luke Castellan, son of Hermes and their former friend.
Prime Target
Prime Target follows Edward Brooks, a brilliant mathematician, in his pursuit of a prime number breakthrough that could blow open the door to international cybersecurity. Teamed with NSA agent Taylah Sanders, he confronts a hidden conspiracy threatening his discovery and life.
Prime Targetis a thriller miniseries from Apple TV+,which is always somewhat flying under the radar even though it keeps delivering incredible show after incredible show. Starring inPrime Targetis Leo Woodall, whose previous projects include the second season ofThe White Lotusand Netflix’s remake ofOne Day.
The story follows Edward Brooks, a postgraduate mathematics studentwho has worked his way to a pattern of prime numbers that would theoretically allow him access to every computer in the world. Of course, that’s also when he discovers that mysterious forces are working to destroy his research. He begins to track down these unknown enemies with the help of NSA agent Taylah Sanders, who was already keeping tabs on him and his work.
A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight is set in a time when the Targaryen dynasty rules Westeros.
Even thoughHouse of the Dragonis busy filming its third season, audiences won’t be left missing Westeros and its Seven Kingdoms for the entirety of 2025. Sometime this year,HBO is set to releaseA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, anewGame of Thronesprequelbased on George R.R. Martin’s collection of short storiesTales of Dunk and Egg.
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Set beforeGame of Thronesbut afterHouse of the Dragon,A Knight of the Seven Kingdomswill focus on the hedge knight Duncan the Tall during the events of the legendary Tourney at Ashford Meadow. Ser Duncan finds himself embroiled in a dispute between highborn lords, at the end of which he will walk away with a new squire to follow him on his adventures, Egg—who is secretly a prince of House Targaryen. WhileTales of Dunk and Eggis not necessarily aboutaction, we can expect to see plenty of duels and battles.
