Streaming is hot, hot, hot this summer! June 2023 is ushering in a tide of new movies and shows to Netflix, Max, Disney Plus, Hulu and the other best streaming services.
This month’s slate is packed with high-profile new series. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is expanding yet again with Secret Invasion, centering on Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and an alien takeover of Earth.
As far as returning favorites go, we’re looking forward to watching The Witcher season 3 part 1, The Bear season 2 and Outlander season 7, as well as the final chapters of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Manifest and Never Have I Ever.
On the movies side, Avatar: The Way of Water makes its streaming debut on both Max and Disney Plus, Chris Hemsworth headlines Extraction 2, and Flamin’ Hot reveals the origins of the spicy version of Cheetos.
Here’s our guide on what to watch in June 2023.
Manifest season 4 part 2 (Netflix)
Netflix saved Manifest after the mystery box series was canceled at NBC, but it also left fans hanging. The first part of this final season dropped last November 2022. If you haven't dived in yet, know that this series has all the drama you could ask for as it follows the passengers of Montego Air Flight 828 after their return from an unexplained five-year absence.
Last we saw the 828 survivors, Angelina (Holly Taylor) was set up as the big bad. Ben (Josh Dallas), Mick (Melissa Roxburgh) and Cal (Ty Doran) are going to have to work together to stop her. There's also the matter of the divine consciousness introduced recently, which ties loved ones together — even if one is dead. – Henry T. Casey
Premieres June 2 on Netflix
The Idol (HBO)
HBO is hoping that Euphoria creator Sam Levinson's passion for chaotic, messy drama delivers another hit with The Idol, which stars Lily Rose-Depp as bombshell pop star Jocelyn and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye as the mysterious Tedros. She's looking to get her career back on track after a messy tour, while he's a nightclub mogul who is her latest conquest.
Featuring a stacked cast of actors and music industry folks such as Hank Azaria, Rachel Sennott, Troye Sivan, Mike Dean and Schitt's Creek's Dan Levy, The Idol looks to fill the dark and hyper-sexual hole left in HBO's lineup when Euphoria season 2 ended. Critics, though, have not been kind. - HTC
Premieres June 4 on on HBO and Max
Avatar: The Way of Water (Disney Plus and Max)
The biggest movie of the last few years is finally streaming, as Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) family's continuing war with the RDA pushes them to a new part of Pandora. Their latest skirmish is more complicated, as they face a group of Recombinants: Na'vi avatars with the memories of defeated soldiers — including Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang).
While this chapter's more about being a parent and how teens socialize, the biggest revolution here is the use of high frame-rate footage. Much like how the original Avatar pushed 3D forward, The Way of Water's technological advance helps remove blur and makes its CGI characters look phenomenally real (though I argue it makes humans look worse). – HTC
Premieres June 7 on Disney Plus and Max
Never Have I Ever season 4 (Netflix)
It’s the end of the high school road for Indian-American teen Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan). In the final season of Mindy Kaling’s coming-of-age comedy, Devi embarks on her senior year of high school. After completing her big goal of losing her virginity — thanks to a hook-up with Ben (Jaren Lewison), she can focus on her other important objective: getting into Princeton.
But as usual with adolescent life, distractions abound. Her hottie ex, Paxton (Darren Barnet), is back in town. And then there’s sexy new skater boy Ethan (Michael Cimino). Plus, while Devi may be ready to leave the nest, mom Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan) will have to come to terms with saying goodbye. - Kelly Woo
Premieres June 8 on Netflix
The Crowded Room (Apple TV Plus)
Tom Holland continues to explore troubled waters as he exits the Spider-Verse. His latest project is a TV miniseries where he plays Danny, a suspect in a shooting who doesn't seem to fit the crime. Or at least that's the belief of Rya (Amanda Seyfried), an interrogator trying to figure out what's at the core of the crime.
While Danny's willing to tell Rya about the odd man and woman who offered him help in a time of need, he's seemingly also hiding more from her. The Crowded Room gives us glimmers of last year's Apple miniseries Black Bird — and that's a good thing. - HTC
Premieres June 9 on Apple TV Plus
Flamin’ Hot (Hulu and Disney Plus)
Hot — dare I say flaming hot — on the heels of corporate hero biopics Air, Tetris and Blackberry comes this chronicle of the birth of a now-beloved spicy snack: Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
Based on his own memory, Richard Montañez (Jesse Garcia) is a lowly Frito-Lay janitor whose Mexican heritage inspires an exciting new product that eventually becomes a global phenomenon. The rousing underdog story will leave a tear in your eye — just don’t wipe it away with your red-dust covered fingers. — KW
Premieres June 9 on Hulu and Disney Plus
The Full Monty (FX on Hulu)
Twenty-five years ago, The Full Monty was the little indie that could, earning over $250 million (on a $3.5 million budget) and four Oscar nominations (winning Best Musical or Comedy Score). Somehow, a movie about a bunch of unemployed English steelworkers letting it all hang out became a smash hit and cult classic.
Now, a sequel series checks in with the blokes a quarter century after the success of their cash-seeking striptease act. Original cast members Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, Lesley Sharp, Hugo Speer, Paul Barber, Steve Huison, Wim Snape and Tom Wilkinson all return. This time, they’ve got a younger generation to corrupt inspire. - KW
Premieres June 14 on Hulu
Black Mirror season 6 (Netflix)
Finally, after a very long wait, Black Mirror is back — and it's starting to look inwards and outwards. This five-episode batch includes “Joan Is Awful” where a woman (Schitt's Creek's Annie Murphy) loses her life's story to a streaming service adaptation starring Salma Hayek Pinault (as herself). Then, in “Beyond the Sea,” Aaron Paul and Josh Hartnett are losing it on a mission filled with despair.
Showrunner Charlie Brooker has warned viewers to throw out their expectations, stating, “Consequently, this time, alongside some of the more familiar Black Mirror tropes, we’ve also got a few new elements, including some I’ve previously sworn blind the show would never do, to stretch the parameters of what ‘a Black Mirror episode’ even is. The stories are all still tonally Black Mirror through-and-through — but with some crazy swings and more variety than ever before." — HTC
Premieres June 15 on Netflix
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 (Paramount Plus)
Arguably the best of the new Star Trek spinoffs, Strange New Worlds is back with more space exploration, alien adventures and even romance in its second season. Its appeal lies in the jaunty planet-of-the-week episodic structure, the lighthearted tone and excellent cast, led by Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike and Ethan Peck as science officer Spock.
Things are tense on board the enterprise, with First Officer Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) in custody after her arrest. This season, you can also expect a part-animated crossover with Lower Decks, as well as more sightings of one Captain James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley). - KW
Premieres June 15 on Paramount Plus
Extraction 2 (Netflix)
Netflix is trying so hard to create its own action movie franchise. Their efforts have ranged from good (The Old Guard) to bad (The Gray Man) to meh (Red Notice). Extraction falls more in that latter category — serviceable but also forgettable. Yet, with the star power of Chris Hemsworth, it’s the first to get a sequel.
At the end of the first film, Hemsworth’s black ops mercenary Tyler Rake was presumed dead. Of course, he’s way too tough for that. Not only did he survive, he’s well enough to take on another dangerous mission: saving the imprisoned family of a ruthless gangster. - KW
Premieres June 16 on Netflix
Outlander season 7 (Starz)
The Droughtlander is over! The revolution is beginning when Outlander season 7 returns — the American Revolution, that is. Tensions have been mounting in the colonies, but now war is breaking out. In the midst of the fighting, Claire (Caitriona Balfe) is in prison after being falsely accused of murder. Of course, Jamie (Sam Heughan) is doing whatever he can to set her free.
But the home that they’ve worked hard to build in North Carolina is quickly becoming a bloody battleground. They owe their prosperity to the British, yet Claire, Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin) know the colonists will prevail and ultimately form the United States of America. - KW
Premieres June 16 on Starz
The Righteous Gemstones season 3 (HBO)
Looking for a replacement for Succession's Roy family in your TV schedule? Might I introduce you to the Bible Belt's biggest bunch of bumbling buffoons: the Gemstones. Jesse Gemstone (Danny McBride) is the Kendall, except this self-righteous son finally won the chair at the head of the table. His brother Kelvin (Adam DeVine) is a goofier Roman, and Judy (Edi Patterson) is far more bitter than Shiv would ever be.
Now that Jesse's taken command of the family's megachurch and televangelism empires, he will learn that there's always someone putting targets on those in power. Steve Zahn appears to play the Gemstone family's biggest opposition this season, which will also find the family headed to the race track. - HC
Premieres June 18 on HBO and Max
Secret Invasion (Disney Plus)
If recent Disney Plus Marvel shows didn't hit the nail on the head for you, Secret Invasion just might. While I loved Ms. Marvel, I can admit that She-Hulk's CGI was questionable and Moon Knight was a bit convoluted. Secret Invasion, however, looks like a tense spy series that will be a ton of fun.
Samuel L. Jackson is back as Nick Fury, who starts the ball rolling toward Avengers: Secret Wars by discovering that the shape-shifting Skrulls have pulled a HYDRA by taking positions of power throughout the world. To stop them, Jackson will be aided by the likes of his Skrull friend Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders).
The series will also introduce Emilia Clarke, Dermot Mulroney and Olivia Colman into the MCU, with Clarke playing Talos' radicalized daughter G'iah and Colman as Fury's MI6 equivalent, Sonya Falsworth. – HTC
Premieres June 21 on Disney Plus
The Bear season 2 (FX on Hulu)
Yes, chef! The high-octane dramedy is back to dish out a second course (and possibly more memes about star Jeremy Allen White’s arms). Carmy and his kitchen crew are renovating their Italian beef eatery after finding tens of thousands of dollars hidden in canned tomatoes. Now, he and aspiring chef Sydney (Ayo Edibiri) are hoping to open the fine dining restaurant of their dreams.
That is, if everything doesn’t fall apart. Opening any kind of restaurant is a brutal business. The clock is ticking, the money is slipping away, the staff needs more training and Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is still being a jerk. Carmy may have gotten out of the frying pan, but he’s fully in the fire now. - KW
Premieres June 22 on Hulu
And Just Like That … season 2 (Max)
“Life’s too short not to try something new,” Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) says at one point in the teaser trailer for the second season of the Sex and the City sequel series. And yet, just like that, an old love makes a reappearance in her life: Aidan Shaw (John Corbett).
Let’s hope this is just a friends-catching-up thing and not Carrie and Aidan’s long, tumultuous relationship going back “on” again. Much more interesting: Carrie grappling with widowhood and having grief sex with handsome men. Meanwhile, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is still mooning over Che (Sara Ramírez) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) faces the horror of raging teenage hormones. Oh, and make sure you watch the finale, as reports suggest Kim Cattrall will reprise the role of Samantha Jones for that episode. - KW
Premieres June 22 on Max
The Witcher season 3 part 1 (Netflix)
When does a season finale feel like a series finale before it's even aired? When it's The Witcher season 3, as Netflix already announced this is Henry Cavill's final showing as Geralt of Rivia. This season sees Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer in more trouble than before, as the wraith riders known as The Wild Hunt are coming to take Ciri.
Since Witcher season 4 will feature Liam Hemsworth in its starring role, we're curious how these installments will be bridged together. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has spoken of season 3 as something of an ending, stating, “In so many ways, Season 3 is the culmination of what we’ve been building toward all along.
The Witcher's third season is getting the Stranger Things/Ozark treatment, with Netflix splitting it in half. We'll have to wait until July for the final chunk of Henry Cavill's run as Geralt of Rivia to end. – HTC
Premieres June 29 on Netflix
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan season 4 (Prime Video)
The summer of series finales continues with Jack Ryan season 4. This time, Ryan (John Krasinski) is tracing corruption inside the U.S. government when he tracks down a big new potential lead for a spinoff.
Fan-favorite Tom Clancy character Domingo 'Ding' Chavez (Michael Peña) joins the series this season, and could headline a new series. But no matter what happens after this season, know to expect tons of espionage action as Prime Video's biggest dad-core series concludes. – HTC
Premieres June 30 on Prime Video
Other notable premieres to watch in June 2023
- iCarly season 3 (June 1, Paramount Plus)
- Shooting Stars (June 2, Peacock)
- Cruel Summer season 2 (June 5, Freeform)
- It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 16 (June 7, FXX)
- Our Planet II (June 14, Netflix)
- Stan Lee (June 16, Disney Plus)
- The Walking Dead: Dead City (June 18, AMC)
- Downey’s Dream Cars (June 22, Max)
- The Bachelorette season 20 (June 26, ABC)
- Hijack (June 28, Apple TV Plus)
- The Night Manager season 2 (June 30, Hulu)
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