After some relative quiet, it’s a jam-packed streaming release schedule this coming week, which includes Marvel’s Eyes of Wakanda animated series, the return of Wednesday, Jason Momoa’s Chief of War series, Eddie Murphy/Pete Davis action-comedy The Pickup, the VOD debut of Alex Garland’s Warfare, and more!
SERIES
Eyes of Wakanda S1
1 August 2025 – Disney+
Spinning out of filmmaker Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther films, Marvel Animation’s new action-adventure series is the four-part anthology series Eyes of Wakanda. Actually conceived and pitched to Coogler by storyboard-artist-turned-showrunner Todd Harris while he was working on Avengers: Infinity War, the show follows the adventures of the brave Wakandan “War Dogs” of the secret Hatut Zeraze organization as they carry out dangerous missions throughout history, to retrieve Vibranium artifacts lost to the world. Besides for Coogler producing, the series features a talented ensemble voice cast including Winnie Harlow, Cress Williams, Patricia Belcher, Larry Herron, Adam Gold, Lynn Whitfield, Jacques Colimon, Jona Xiao, Isaac Robinson-Smith, Gary Anthony Williams, Zeke Alton, Steve Toussaint, and Anika Noni Rose.
Chief of War S1
1 August 2025 – Apple TV+
Fan favourite actor Jason Momoa has always been very proud of his Polynesian heritage, which is why Chief of War is such a passion project for him. Co-created with fellow Hawaiian native Thomas Paʻa Sibbett Momoa stars in, produces, and directs the final two episodes of this thrilling period drama which follows the epic and unprecedented telling of the unification and colonization of Hawai‘i at the turn of the 18th century. Told from an indigenous perspective, the series features a predominantly Polynesian cast, led by Momoa alongside Luciane Buchanan, Temuera Morrison, Te Ao o Hinepehinga, Cliff Curtis, newcomer Kaina Makua, Moses Goods, Siua Ikale’o, Brandon Finn, James Udom, Mainei Kinimaka,Te Kohe Tuhaka and Benjamin Hoetjes. And if that wasn’t enough talent, Grammy and Academy Award winning composer Hans Zimmer wrote the theme music and co-produced the score for all nine episodes with composer, James Everingham, during his tenure with Bleeding Fingers Music, the multiple Emmy Award-winning and BAFTA-nominated composer collective co-founded by Zimmer in 2013.
Wednesday S2 – Part 1
6 August 2025 – Netflix
It’s the return of Wednesday! On Wednesday! Jenna Ortega’s fan-favourite young Addams family member is back for a second season of more kooky adventure and dark mystery as she tackles a new year in the Gothic halls of Nevermore Academy, now filled with throngs of fans after she saved the school the year before. Tim Burton, the king of dark, offbeat cinema like Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, is back to direct four out of the season’s eight total episodes. Those eight episodes are split up into two parts this time around, the first four dropping on 6 August, and the final four premiering on 3 September. Along with Ortega, the new season sees the return of Luis Guzman and Catherine Zeta Jones as Wednesday’s parents, Gomez and Morticia Addams, Fred Arnisten as Uncle Fester, Isaac Ordonez as Wednesday’s brother Pugsley (who gets an expanded role this time around), Emma Myers as Wednesday’s werewolf roommate Enid, and more. But there are some seriously recognizable faces joining the show this year, including Joanna Lumley, Thandiwe Newton, Steve Buschemi, Haley Joel Osment, Heather Matarazzo, and Joonas Suotamo. Christopher Lloyd, who famously played Fester in Burton’s movies, is also guest starring, while Mother Monster herself, the multiple Grammy and Golden Globe award-winner Lady Gaga is set to appear in an undisclosed role.
Platonic S2
6 August 2025 – Apple TV+
Wednesday is actually the first of three different shows all returning for a sophomore season next week. Apple TV’s buddy comedy-drama Platonic is also back. Starring Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne, the show follows a platonic pair of former best friends approaching midlife who reconnect after a long rift. The duo’s friendship becomes all consuming, and destabilizes their lives in a hilarious way.
1923 S2
6 August 2025 – Showmax
I’ve yet to watch a single episode of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone and all its sprawling spinoffs, so I’m the last person who can get you hyped for the return of prequel series 1923. All I know is that is stars incredible veterans Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, and Timothy Dalton, and it was partly shot in Cape Town. That should be enough, but if you still need more convincing, here’s the official blurb: “In Season 2 of 1923, a cruel winter brings new challenges to Dutton Ranch. Donald Whitfield still has his eyes on the ranch, with designs on turning Montana into a playground for the elite. Jacob and Cara must buckle down and wait for Spencer to arrive and help them repel the latest attack. Meanwhile, Spencer’s new bride, Alexandra, sets off on her own harrowing trans-Atlantic journey to find him and reclaim their love.”
MOVIES
My Oxford Year
1 August 2025 – Netflix
I’m still trying to puzzle out exactly how new romantic comedy My Oxford Year came about. From what I can tell, screenwriter Allison Burnett wrote an original screenplay which was seemingly never made, but author Julian Whelan then adapted that screenplay into a novel of his… which is now being adapted for the screen by screenwriter Melissa Osborne and… checks notes… Alison Burnett?! Ok then. Directed by BAFTA nominee Iain Morris (The Inbetweeners), the film follows Sofia Carson’s Anna, an ambitious young American woman who sets out for Oxford University to fulfill a childhood dream. With her life completely on track and following her plan, she is suddenly thrown a curveball when she meets Corey Mylchreest’s charming and clever local Jamie who profoundly alters both of their lives. Dougray Scott and Catherine McCormack co-star.
My Mom Jayne
6 August 2025 – Showmax
Actress, Playboy Playmate, and international sex symbol of the 1950s/1960s, Jayne Mansfield was a Hollywood legend. She was also a mom. In feature documentary My Mom Jayne, Mansfield’s own daughter Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress herself, steps behind the camera as a director and embarks on a journey to discover the mother she never knew, and reclaim her story beyond being a “blonde bombshell”.
The Pickup
6 August 2025 – Prime Video
If you haven’t noticed, Prime Video is currently two for two when it comes to action movies that sound generic in their premise and look rather silly in their trailers, only to actually be way better than anybody expected. And I’m hoping that following G12 and Heads of State, new action-comedy The Pickup will make it a hat-trick. Directed by genre veteran Tim Story (Ride Along, Barbershop) and starring Eddie Murphy and Pete Davis, the film follows a pair of mismatched armored truck drivers, Russell and Travis, who find themselves in over their heads when a routine cash pickup is ambushed by a gang of ruthless criminals led by a savvy mastermind, Zoe (Keke Palmer), with plans that go way beyond the cash cargo.
RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
Warfare
Purchase: Apple TV – R170
Rental: Apple TV – R45
If you’re tired of Hollywood’s unrealistic and over the top dramatization of real-world combat scenarios, then Alex Garland’s Warfare is for you. Aiming to be as authentic as possible, Garland co-writes and co-directs the film with former Navy SEAL Ray Mendoza, who is actually a character in the film. Put together exclusively from the direct testimonies of the soldiers involved, Warfare plays out in real-time as it recreates a dangerous mission undertaken by a platoon of Navy SEALs in Ramadi, Iraq. And now you can watch it all at home as Warfare hits VOD.