TV Trailers of the Week: House of the Dragon: Season 3, X-Men '97: Season 2, Sugar: Season 2, Zorro and More
📺 Take a peek at some of the latest trailers for upcoming TV shows.
📺 “House of the Dragon: Season 3” Final Trailer: Westeros Burns as Rhaenyra Enters a Dragon-Fueled War for the Iron Throne — Premiering Sun, June 21st on HBO
War is hell. That goes without saying. War with dragons, however, is a massacre in motion that, once it gets going, might be impossible to contain.
That’s something worth pondering as House of the Dragon heads into its highly anticipated third season, where a Targaryen civil war isn’t just tearing a family apart, it’s threatening to burn an entire kingdom down with it. And it’s something Rhaenyra Targaryen (again played with fiery determination by Emma D’Arcy), the disputed Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, is facing as her claim to the Iron Throne becomes harder to defend without turning the entire realm into a mountain of smoky ash.
The pursuit of power has always been messy, bloody, and full of betrayal in the world of Game of Thrones. But taking power is rarely the hardest part. Holding onto it is where the real damage begins. Now add a fractured kingdom, a royal bloodline at war with itself, and several fire-breathing dragons, and Westeros is once again staring down a family feud big enough to scorch just about everything worth fighting for.
After the surprise success of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which brought a lighter dose of honor and humor to the franchise, House of the Dragon aims to return this June with the kind of political chaos and dragon-fueled carnage that made the Game of Thrones universe famous. Backstabbing alliances, brutal strategy, feuding bloodlines, and throne-room ambition are all back on the menu as viewers prepare for another fiery descent into Targaryen madness.
The new season finds Westeros in utter turmoil as multiple factions fight for control. Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) now sits on the throne after turning against his own brother, Prince Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), leaving him scarred and believed dead. Meanwhile, Alicent (Olivia Cooke), shaken by what her son has become, secretly aligns herself with Rhaenyra in hopes of restoring order before the realm tears itself apart. But they all seem to have forgotten that the throne isn’t a prize to be won, but a curse that demands blood from everyone who gets too close to it.
Joining this new season is James Norton as Ormund Hightower, Tommy Flanagan as Roderick Dustin, and Dan Fogler as Torrhen Manderly, along with returning cast members Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, Phoebe Campbell as Rhaena Targaryen, Phia Saban as Helaena Targaryen, Bethany Antonia as Baela Targaryen, Fabien Frankel as Criston Cole, and more.
With showrunner Ryan Condal back, working from George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, Season 3 serves as the show’s penultimate chapter, with Season 4 expected to bring the saga to its conclusion in 2028. So expect escalation, shifting loyalties, plenty of dragon-sized consequences, and a whole lot of blood-soaked political fallout.
House of the Dragon: Season 3 premieres Sunday, June 21st on HBO and streams on HBO Max.
📺 “X-Men ’97: Season 2” Trailer: Apocalypse Rises as Marvel’s Mutant Heroes Get Thrown Across Time — Premiering Wed, July 1st on Disney+
Anyone who picked up a few X-Men comic books back in the 1990s can tell you those stories were something else. Arguably, the ’90s was the best decade in X-Men history, not just because these issues were flying off the shelves and becoming some of the biggest-selling comics of their era, but because the storytelling felt massive and operatic in the best comic-book way.
That’s probably one reason why the ’90s animated series became such a favorite among fans, capturing all that mutant angst, comic-book melodrama, and world-ending drama in a way that made Saturday morning cartoons feel unexpectedly epic. So it was a pretty nice surprise when Marvel Animation managed to rekindle that same spark with X-Men ’97, the revival series designed to pick up exactly where the original series left off nearly 30 years ago.
Well, it seems the highly acclaimed Marvel animated series is returning this summer with its eagerly awaited second season, aiming to bring viewers back to the very decade that helped make the X-Men feel larger than life in the first place. And this season, it’s the age of Apocalypse. The X-Men’s infamous supervillain Apocalypse is back in play, bringing with him the kind of mutant mayhem, time-twisting chaos, and extinction-level stakes that made the comics feel so cinematically epic.
Season 2 finds the heroic mutant team divided and scattered across different eras in time, from the ancient past to the present and even a distant future, as they struggle to find their way back home. Meanwhile, back in the 1990s, new enemies and fresh waves of mutant intolerance begin rising in the wake of the X-Men’s absence.
The nine-episode season features the returning voice cast of Ross Marquand as Professor X, Matthew Waterson as Magneto, Ray Chase as Cyclops, Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, Lenore Zann as Rogue, and George Buza as Beast.
X-Men ’97: Season 2 streams Wednesday, July 1st on Disney+. So prepare to follow the X-Men back to the ’90s... and maybe a few other timelines as well.
📺 “Sugar: Season 2” Trailer: Colin Farrell Digs Into a New L.A. Mystery in Apple TV’s Stylish Neo-Noir Detective Series — Premiering Fri, June 19th on Apple TV
At this point, Colin Farrell has entered one of those interesting phases in his career where he can stretch his acting chops while still leaning into his status as a classic leading man with character-actor instincts.
That worked beautifully in The Penguin, where Farrell delivered a genuinely stunning performance buried under layers of full prosthetic makeup, disappearing so completely into Oz Cobb that it almost felt like a magic trick of sorts.
But with Sugar, Farrell is doing something different. No heavy makeup. No comic-book grotesquerie. Just old-school movie-star cool, bruised melancholy, and plenty of gumshoe mystique. He’s still stretching those chops, still leaning into his leading-man charm, but also diving into a character who feels like he stepped out of a classic detective movie and wandered into a very modern Los Angeles mystery.
And now, Farrell is back as John Sugar in the second season of Apple TV’s neo-noir mystery series, once again playing a dashing Los Angeles private detective with a fondness for cinema and a few secrets tucked away in the shadows.
Season 2 brings Sugar into a new case, tracking the troubled older brother of an up-and-coming local boxer while his search for a beloved missing sister continues. But because this is noir territory, one missing-person case doesn’t stay small for long. The deeper Sugar digs, the more the investigation pulls him into a citywide conspiracy with sinister intentions.
Naturally, that also means Sugar will have to wrestle with the big moral question at the heart of every great detective story: how far is he willing to go to do what’s right?
Farrell returns as both star and executive producer, with Sugar creator Mark Protosevich still behind the series. Season 2 is showrun by Sam Catlin, known for Breaking Bad and Preacher, with executive producers including Audrey Chon, Simon Kinberg, Scott Greenberg, and Chip Vucelich.
The new season also introduces a fresh ensemble cast that includes Sasha Calle, Jin Ha, Raymond Lee, Tony Dalton, Laura Donnelly, and special guest star Shea Whigham.
Sugar: Season 2 premieres Friday, June 19th on Apple TV.
📺 “Zorro” U.S. Trailer: Jean Dujardin Suits Up as the Legendary Masked Hero in This Playful French-Language Action-Comedy Series — Premiering Tues, June 30th on MHz Choice
It’s Zorro... but in French?
If you need an example of just how far and wide the swashbuckling Spanish Californian character has traveled through pop culture over the decades, this new French-language reimagining might do the trick.
After all, Zorro has long been considered a prototype for the modern superhero: a masked hero with a secret identity who fights for justice, stands up against corrupt tyrants, and knows how to make an entrance with a sword. He’s certainly a proto-superhero character with worldwide appeal. And much like Robin Hood, Zorro has become a symbol of righteous rebellion.
Of course, the myth can also be a source of humor.
In this playful French-language period action-comedy, Oscar-winning French superstar Jean Dujardin, of The Artist fame, dons the Zorro mask and sword as Don Diego, a reluctant mayor trying to save Los Angeles from financial ruin in 1821.
After inheriting the mayor’s chair following the sudden death of his father, Diego finds himself overwhelmed by a city in turmoil. So, with some encouragement from his mute servant Bernardo, he decides to bring his legendary alter ego back to life after a ten-year break. The only problem? The suit feels a little tighter, the heroics are a little rustier, and being Zorro isn’t quite as simple as it used to be.
Before long, Zorro is restoring order, winning hearts, and becoming the toast of the town. Unfortunately for Diego, that includes winning over his own wife, Gabriella, while his everyday mayoral self becomes increasingly unpopular. So now Diego has a new problem: how do you defeat your own alter ego when everyone likes him better?
Directed by Émilie Noblet and Jean Baptiste Saurel, the series also stars Audrey Dana, Salvatore Ficarra, and Grégory Gadebois.
Zorro is slated to premiere Tuesday, June 30th in the U.S. and Canada on the streaming platform MHz Choice, via watch.mhzchoice.com.
📺 “A Different World” Sneak Peek Teaser: Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert’s Daughter Starts Her Own Hillman Legacy in the New Spinoff/Sequel Series Starring Maleah Joi Moon — Premiering Thurs, September 24th on Netflix
Class is back in session at Hillman College, and this time the next Wayne generation is trying to make the grade without living under a famous family shadow. Maleah Joi Moon stars as Deborah, the free-spirited youngest daughter of Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) and Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy), whose freshman year brings new friends, old expectations, and plenty of campus-sized growing pains. With Guy, Hardison, Darryl M. Bell, and Cree Summer, among others, returning alongside a fresh young cast, this reboot sequel series looks ready to mix a little ’90s nostalgia with some new-school energy at Hillman.
📺 “The Simpsons: Extreme Makeover — Homer Edition” Trailer: Homer Gets a Full-Blown Marital Makeover in Disney+’s New Exclusive Simpsons Special — Streaming Wed, June 17th on Disney+
Springfield’s favorite family is kicking off a summer of new Disney+ exclusives, and naturally, Homer is already finding new ways to make married life more complicated. When Marge discovers Homer left Bart, Lisa, and Maggie unsupervised with only a doorbell camera as a babysitter, date night takes a hard left into tipsy fantasy territory. The result is a trilogy of “what if?” versions of Homer, proving that even after 800-plus episodes, America’s most lovable doofus still has plenty of room for self-improvement... or at least a few more donuts.
📺 “AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Eddie Murphy” Sneak Peek: Netflix Celebrates a Comedy Legend with a Star-Studded Hollywood Tribute — Premieres Sun, May 31st on Netflix
Eddie Murphy’s career has never exactly been short on iconic moments, and this Netflix special looks ready to celebrate the full sweep of that massive comedy legacy. The 51st AFI Life Achievement Award honors Murphy’s decades of blockbuster roles, stand-up brilliance, and culture-shifting screen presence with a lineup of friends, collaborators, and admirers. From fast-talking comic firepower to genuine movie-star charisma, this tribute puts the spotlight on an entertainer who didn’t just make audiences laugh... he helped redefine what comedy could look like on the big screen.
📺 “All American: Season 8 (Final Season)” Trailer: The CW’s Long-Running Football Drama Heads Into Its Series Finale — Premieres Mon, July 13th on The CW
The end zone is finally in sight, but nobody’s getting there without a few hard hits first. The final season of this long-running CW football drama picks up six months after the Beverly-versus-Crenshaw showdown, with Jordan still sorting through Cassius’ betrayal, Cassius facing the fallout at Beverly, and the Baker legacy once again casting a long shadow. With Daniel Ezra and Samantha Logan returning as Spencer and Olivia, now expecting twin girls, this farewell season looks ready to bring the drama full circle before the final whistle blows.
📺 “A Woman of Substance” Trailer: Jessica Reynolds and Brenda Blethyn Lead This Sweeping Rags-to-Riches British Period Drama Series — Premieres Wed, June 24th on BritBox, U.S.
A penniless Yorkshire maid with a master plan is about to turn hardship into empire-building in this sweeping BritBox period drama. Jessica Reynolds and Brenda Blethyn star as Emma Harte across six decades, tracing her rise from early 1900s servant girl to one of the wealthiest women in the world. Based on Barbara Taylor Bradford’s bestselling novel, this ambitious saga mixes family power struggles and glass-ceiling-smashing fortitude into one long climb to the top.
📺 “Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence” Teaser: Antonia Thomas and Josh Dylan Bring Christie’s Classic Detective Duo Into Modern London — Premieres Tues, September 15th on BritBox, U.S.
Agatha Christie’s sharp-witted sleuthing duo gets a modern-day refresh in this BritBox mystery series about romance, danger, and detective work that rarely stays tidy. Antonia Thomas and Josh Dylan star as Tuppence and Tommy, a complicated pair navigating both their turbulent relationship and a string of thrilling cases across contemporary London. With Imelda Staunton, Nicholas Richardson, Charlie Condou, Callie Cooke, and Chizzy Akudolu rounding out the cast, this new adaptation brings a fresh spark to one of Christie’s most playful crime-solving teams.
📺 “Surviving Earth” Trailer: This New Prehistoric Nature Docuseries Journeys Through 450 Million Years of Extinction, Evolution, and Survival — Premieres Thurs, June 11th on NBC, Streaming Next Day on Peacock
Earth has been through a lot, and this eight-part NBC and Peacock docuseries looks ready to dig into the planet’s long, brutal history of survival. From the producers of Walking with Dinosaurs, this prehistoric deep dive travels across 450 million years to explore major extinction events and the creatures that somehow fought their way through them. Dinosaurs may get the marquee treatment, but the real star here is the planet itself... resilient, chaotic, and apparently very hard to keep down.
