2026 will be a HUGE Year for Fantasy Fans

Fans of the fantasy genre have been spoiled as of late with the return of major franchises like The Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice & Fire, and Percy Jackson, as well as seeing the first formal adaptions of The Wheel of Time, Good Omens, and His Dark Materials come to life on our television screens. Animated TV series like Arcane, Legend of Vox Machina, and Twilight of the Gods have also given genre fans more to enjoy, but what if I told you that things are only getting started?

Though 2025 looks to supply us with a steady supply of fantasy goodness, 2026 is set to be even better as both fantasy films and TV shows look to take center stage as the year’s biggest genre showcase unfolds. Let’s break down everything we can expect to see coming in 2026.

The Lord of the Rings franchise looks to have a strong campaign two years from now as both The Hunt for Gollum and The Rings of Power season three are expected to release in 2026. The Hunt for Gollum will be the first of two live-action films produced by Peter Jackson with Gollum being directed by and starring Andy Serkis as the iconic titular character. Potentially joining him in his return to Middle-earth is none other than the Grey Pilgrim himself, Sir. Ian McKellen. McKellen has shown great interest in returning to the role of Gandalf and since the Wandering Wizard plays such a vital role in the story of The Hunt for Gollum, it would only make sense for Sir. Ian to return to his legendary robes for another go in Middle-earth.

Though season three of the Rings of Power has not officially been announced, reports say that it has been internally greenlit after a successful season two campaign. No one should be surprised by this, however, as according to Amazon’s Q3 investor report, The Rings of Power season two was the “most watched returning season ever by hours watched.” While season two was generally more liked than season one by both fans and critics, season three looks to build on the growing momentum as showrunners, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, are set to tackle one of the biggest conflicts in Tolkien’s Legendarium: the War of the Elves and Sauron.

With an estimated $200 million budget, Greta Gerwig’s Narnia is as highly anticipated as it is mysterious. Not much is known about it other than Gerwig’s directing two films with the first expected to release Thanksgiving 2026 with an initial four-week run in theaters. There have been rumors circulating the project for many months now, including which films she’ll adapt (many believe it to be The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), if they’ll be filmed back-to-back (similar to The Lord of the Rings films), and who will be starring in them (both Louis Partridge and Saoirse Ronan were initially rumored to appear but that news turned out to be false). With the recent news of Gerwig’s push to give the films theatrical releases, a flood of information about the project is seemingly on the horizon.

The God of War video game series is one of the most popular in its industry, boasting over 60 million copies sold and a devout fan base that will rival any in its space. This is probably what enticed Amazon to greenlight a series based on the popular IP just a few years back. There hadn’t been much movement on the project until less than a month ago when Amazon announced that the series would be starting over from scratch with brand-new showrunner, Ronald D. Moore tapped to lead the show in a new direction. Originally, Rafe Judkins (also behind The Wheel of Time TV series) was tapped to both run the show and help produce, but after multiple failed scripts, Judkins ultimately left the project as both showrunner and executive producer. The show is still slated for a 2026 release.

This year, we saw the return of The Last Airbender franchise in the form of a live-action retelling of the uber-popular Nickelodeon show from the mid-to-late 2000s. While it wasn’t as great as the original, the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender proved to be a massive success for Netflix as it pulled in a swath of viewers—both old and new. The show’s sequel season is expected to be released in 2026 alongside Aang: The Last Airbender, an animated movie following the journeys of an adult Aang and his friends. Both the movie and the show will be available to stream on Netflix.

The Legend of Vox Machina hit the ground running when it first premiered back in 2022—quickly finding a cult following that helped to bring more eyes to the series. As time went on, the show became more and more popular. After season two had premiered, Amazon readily announced that both season three and season four had been greenlit, with the latter season expected to be released early in 2026. Though I still don’t think the series gets the attention it deserves (it’s *really* good), it’s nice to know that it’s doing well enough in viewership for Amazon to keep renewing it.

House of the Dragon proved to be a huge success for HBO back in 2022 after the much-maligned series finale of Game of Thrones left a bad taste in people’s mouths only a few years prior. While that ending left many fans questioning if a return to Westeros would be worth it or not, the first season of House of the Dragon seemed to answer that question with a resounding: YES! And though season two was a notable step down in quality, many fans of Martin’s works are still on board to see how the story plays out on screen, and lucky for them, they don’t have to wait long as season three is on track to release in 2026. In the meantime, a new show set in the Game of Thrones universe with the title: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, is releasing on June 15, of next year.

HBO isn’t stopping there though, as the platform is set to reintroduce us to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with a TV adaption covering the seven books on track to premiere in 2026. Showrunners for the project were formally announced back in June, and while controversy abounds with the involvement of Andy Greenwald (the writer behind FX’s Legion who admitted to never finishing the Harry Potter books), it will nonetheless be interesting to see what comes out of this already somewhat notorious project.