TV Guide Magazine Sci Fi Fantasy

WELCOME TO TV GUIDE MAGAZINE’S ultimate collector’s edition celebrating science fiction and fantasy television. No other TV genre is as beloved and cherished, or inspires such devoted fans. This issue commemorates that enduring hold on us, as new series continue bringing uncharted worlds to life while also revisiting classic tales using the latest (and most startling) visual effects. But why do we keep tuning in? More than any other type of show, sci-fi and fantasy programs get us closer to the mysteries that intrigue us about both our own world and the worlds beyond. Beginning some 70 years ago, in the days before space travel—when Captain Video and his Video Rangers fought for intergalactic law and order from some secret mountain retreat—these series offered a thrilling vision of possibility as good and…

DON’T LOOK AT Geralt of Rivia as a hero. The silver-haired professional monster slayer—played by Henry Cavill (right) in Netflix’s sprawling epic, based on bestselling fantasy novels by Andrzej Sapkowski—is a reluctant savior at best, hired across the Continent to take down terrifying beasts. Abandoned as a child and raised in the mountainous Kaer Morhen, Geralt underwent experiments that mutated and hardened him into a Witcher. Despite the vital services they provide, Witchers are hated and feared, seen as anomalies with superspeed and mega-strength. (Damned if you do…) But the “White Wolf” does his best to do good in a vast realm packed with magical creatures (faeries, elves, gnomes—you name it!), political intrigue and constantly warring kingdoms. As his traveling pal Jaskier reminds him, “You never get involved, except actually, you…

AFTER 83 YEARS of comics, radio shows, films and TV iterations, what is left for the Man of Steel to conquer? Domestic drama! “This isn’t a superhero show like we’re used to seeing,” says Elizabeth Tulloch, whose stoic Lois Lane moved from Metropolis to Smallville with hubby Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin, right, with Tulloch) and twin sons Jonathan and Jordan (Jordan Elsass and Alex Garfin) in this new take on DC Comics’ first family. Between the requisite cape-flying action involving alien visitor John Henry Irons (Wolé Parks) and villainous mogul Morgan Edge (Adam Rayner), the supercouple is proving to be super relatable, working to be there for their boys and each other. “They’re not killing it as parents, in particular Clark,” Hoechlin notes. “But we wanted to show that even…

GOOD VERSUS EVIL isn’t so cut-and-dry in this Emmy-nominated adaptation of Garth Ennis’ subversive comic book series. “What if superheroes existed in the real world with all their privilege, influence and power?” asks showrunner Eric Kripke. “Fact is, they’d be huge a--holes.” And they’d have corporate overlords, such as the show’s central band of costumed crusaders, the Seven, backed by the mega-conglomerate Vought International. The team’s vicious frontman Homelander (Antony Starr, right) is an amoral, fame-hungry hero with homicidal tendencies. His many misdeeds have fueled the rage of Billy Butcher (Karl Urban, left), the leader of a CIA black-ops group known as the Boys. He’s a brute who blamed Vought for the sudden disappearance of his wife Becca (Shantel VanSanten), only to find out a far-worse truth: She had gone…

HOLY SMOKES! AS Lucifer Morningstar—the fallen angel exiled from Heaven by his father, God—Tom Ellis has been scorching our screens since the first time we saw him swagger through LUX nightclub and set off sparks with his future paramour, Det. Chloe Decker, when the show premiered in 2016. (Netflix picked up the series after Fox canceled it in 2018.) The living embodiment of the DC Comics character, Ellis’ LAPD consultant proves to be a perfectly aloof antihero, helping solve crimes while getting into lots of cheeky trouble. But he’s not the only one onscreen who has kept us hooked all these years. CHLOE DECKER (Lauren German) Literally a gift from God, the former B-movie actress turned LAPD homicide detective was placed on Earth by Lucifer’s father (Dennis Haysbert) as some sort of…

MOVIE MADNESS Filmgoers may slowly be gravitating back to megaplexes, but you can still see some new releases on any of your own screens at the same time the titles hit theaters. The latest adaptation of Frank Herbert’s landmark sci-fi novel Dune (HBO Max, October 22) will try to turn the rich source material into a hit franchise. Director Denis Villeneuve, who helmed Arrival, hopes to have better luck than David Lynch, whose 1984 version was sandblasted by critics. In this epic tale, a family become guardians of a dangerous desert planet’s storehouse of the most valuable substance in the universe. A Game of Thrones–style power struggle leads to the rise of a messianic hero (Timothée Chalamet). Dune costars Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Charlotte Rampling, Zendaya and a load of giant…