Halfway through 2025, Disney+ and Hulu have already dropped some of the must-see shows of the year.
Considering that some heavy hitters such as The Bear season 4 and Alien: Earth are still to arrive this year, it’s quite something that there’s already a whole heap of contenders for the best Disney+ shows. Everything from intergalactic espionage to cartoon comedy has been streamed by viewers across the globe, not to mention the long awaited return of a comic book fave and the explosive final season of one of TV’s biggest shows.
But with hours of top quality streaming at your fingertips, it can be difficult to know exactly what to hit play on, but let me do the hard work for you, as I lay out my pick of the seven must-watch shows across two of the best streaming services so far this year.
Andor season 2
Episodes: 12
Main cast: Diego Luna, Kyle Soller, Adria Arjona, Stellan Skarsgård, Fiona Shaw, Genevieve O’Reilly, Denise Gough, Faye Marsay, Varada Sethu, Elizabeth Dulau, Ben Mendelsohn, Benjamin Bratt, Alan Tudyk
Watch: Disney+ (global)
The Emmy-nominated espionage thriller concluded its two season run with another outstanding outing.
A prequel to the events that come to a head in Rogue One, Andor season 2 tells the story of Diego Luna’s titular rogue turned spy turned rebel. While not without some gripping action scenes, Andor is first and foremost a political spy thriller that just happens to be set in a galaxy far, far away.
Eschewing the swashbuckling tone of the big screen adventures of the Rebel Alliance, Andor instead tells a grounded story of living under oppression and the clandestine struggle of rising to fight it. Frequently cited as the best Star Wars has been since Empire, any fans disillusioned by the franchise’s Disney era would be well advised to join this rebellion.
The Handmaid’s Tale season 6
Episodes: 10
Main cast: Elisabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski, Bradley Whitford, Max Minghella, Ann Dowd
Watch: Hulu (US only)
On the subject of rebellion, Hulu’s adaptation of Margret Attwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale returned for an explosive final season.
The latest outing saw Elizabeth Moss’ June pulled back into the fight against Gilead as more revolutionaries joined the cause. And on the other side of the rebellion, the likes of Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) and Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) were forced to contend with the prospect of their empire crumbling. Every episode of the increasingly prescient show is a must-see, but the closing season is and explosive and powerful denouement.
A Thousand Blows
Episodes: 6
Main cast: Malachi Kirby, Erin Doherty, Francis Lovehall, James Nelson-Joyce, Jason Tobin, Stephen Graham
Watch: Hulu (US), Disney+ (international)
From Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, this down and dirty portrayal of life in Victorian London shares more than a little DNA with the hit gangster drama.
Following two best friends arriving in Blighty from Jamaica, the beating heart of the show is the criminal underbelly of the capital’s illicit boxing scene. As immigrant Hezekiah (Malachai Kirby) becomes a rising star in the ring, he attracts the attention of not only Stephen Graham’s veteran boxer Sugar Goodson, but also Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), the leader of all-female criminal gang the Forty Elephants. Kinetic, brutal and darkly funny, A Thousand Blows is a gripping binge.
Daredevil: Born Again
Episodes: 9
Main cast: Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Margarita Levieva, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Wilson Bethel
Watch: Disney+ (global)
Seven years after the Man Without Fear wrapped his Netflix run, Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock joins the rest of the MCU in the House of Mouse.
Tied enough to the previous interaction to make it worthwhile, but not so much as to alienate fans, the original cast return for this semi-reboot. The show picks up several years after the character’s last appearance, with Murdock having retired from masked vigilante duties. However, when crime boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onfrio) is elected mayor, declares martial law and begins to target vigilantes, Daredevil is forced back into action. A treat for old and new fans alike, Daredevil: Born Again is a refreshing change of pace for a somewhat tired MCU.
Paradise
Episodes: 8
Main cast: Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Shahi, Nicole Brydon Bloom, Aliyah Mastin, Percy Daggs IV, James Marsden
Watch: Hulu (US), Disney+ (international)
Part sci-fi, part political thriller, Paradise had audiences gripped when it debuted earlier this year.
Set in the near future, the action takes place in a city-sized underground bunker three years after an apocalyptic event ravaged the world above. When the US President is murdered, it falls to Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) to unravel the truth while landing squarely at the top of the suspect list. With excellent world building and a propulsive mystery, Paradise is a gripping watch that you’ll want to binge all the way to its shocking conclusion.
Bob’s Burgers season 15
Episodes: 19
Main cast: H. Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, Larry Murphy, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal
Watch: Hulu (US), Disney+ (international)
The unsung hero of Fox’s Animation Domination line-up continues to be one of the best animated sitcoms on TV.
Revolving around the (mis)adventures of the Belcher family and their struggling burger joint, the show, where other long-running domestic animation is starting to wear thin (does anyone still visit Springfield and Quahog?), Bob’s Burgers still feels fresh, with the show’s antics as funny and heartwarming as ever 15 seasons and one movie down the line.
While the plots can often be outlandish, there’s a relatability to Bob and co’s mundane antics that makes the show infinitely watchable. And while the show contains the requisite sitcom conflict and misunderstanding, the amount of love the characters show one another, and the touching conclusions to so many of the episodes make Bob’s Burgers just about as cosy and comforting as TV gets.
Doctor Who season 2
Episodes: 8
Main cast: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Millie Gibson, Alan Cumming, Jemma Redgrave, Archie Punjabi, Anita Dobson, Ruth Madeley
Watch: Disney+ (excluding UK)
The second full outing in Doctor Who‘s big budget Disney era delivered a universe spanning adventure across time and space.
Introducing the second companion in as many series was never going to be easy, especially when Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor was still learning the TARDIS controls, but season two of the semi-rebooted show pulled it off, giving us one of the best, if a little underserved, companions in years.
With stories ranging from a cinema in 50s Miami to an Interstellar version of Eurovision in the far future, the series took some big swings, building a mystery that crescendoed in an emotional and shocking finale. The upcoming UNIT spin-off notwithstanding, this is likely to be the last we see of the Timelord under the Disney banner, but what a run it’s been.
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