May is absolutely jam-packed with new shows and original series on Netflix - and in addition to the high-profile debuts, there are a few binge-worthy favorites returning to the streaming service this month. Castlevania and Special are both delivering their final seasons, while Love, Death + Robots, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, and Lucifer, and Who Killed Sara? all return with a new season in May. As for the brand-spankin-new offerings, superhero fans should check out Jupiter's Legacy, TV Foodies and history enthusiasts will want to add High on the Hog to their watchlist, and anybody who loves a splashy A-list biopic will want to make note of the deliciously extravagant limited series Halston.
Get all the details on our picks for the best new shows on Netflix in the list below, and if you don't find what you're looking for here, be sure to check out the complete list of new movies and shows arriving in May.
Jupiter's Legacy
Available: May 7
Developed by: Steven S. DeKnight
Cast: Josh Duhamel, Ben Daniels, Leslie Bibb, Andrew Horton, Elena Kampouris, Mike Wade, Matt Lanter
Your mileage may vary on Jupiter's Legacy depending on where you're at with superhero fatigue, and I certainly wouldn't say it's the best comic book adaptation to hit TV in recent memory, but I found it to be a fairly fascinating watch, in part because of those very factors. For me, I'm pretty dang fatigued on superhero deconstruction specifically, at this point, and Jupiter's Legacy isn't much of a success in that regard. However, I'm still a sucker for a different approach to the genre, so the parts of the series set back in the Depression Era offered an entertaining change of tone and tempo. I just wish the series spent more time there. Split between unearthing the origins of the Union (the name of this universe's Avengers/Justice League-style superhero team) in the past and intertwining how those events led to the fallout we witness in the "present-day", Jupiter's Legacy doesn't always nail the pacing or structure in pulling those two elements together, but I consistently found myself enjoying the mythology the series built, even when I didn't love the way it was building it. Most of all, I enjoyed a return to some old-fashioned discussions about what it means to be a hero, when it's acceptable take a life (if ever), and how to draw the boundaries of influence when someone is already to so powerful. A lot of superhero entertainment is either blithely indifferent to superheroes who kill or entirely pessimistic in the assessment of why they do - for me, Jupiter's Legacy gets back to the root of the dilemma without taking cynicism for granted. And I dug it.
Castlevania: Season 4
Available: May 13
Developed by: Adi Shankar
Cast: Richard Armitage, James Callis, Graham McTavish, Alejandra Reynoso, Tony Amendola, Matt Frewer, Emily Swallow, Theo James, Adetokumboh M'Cormack, Jaime Murray, Peter Stormare, Jessica Brown Findlay, Yasmine Al Massri, Ivana Miličević, Bill Nighy, Navid Negahban, Jason Isaacs, Toru Uchikado, Rila Fukushima, Barbara Steele, Lance Reddick
The action-packed animated horror-fantasy series Castlevania returns for its final season this month, delivering 10 more episodes of gorgeously animated, blood-soaked battles. Does it land the epic finale fans are hoping for? In my opinion, it does, but it sure takes a minute to get there. The fourth season suffers from some of the same pacing and plotting issues I struggled with in previous seasons, and sometimes they feel even more frustrating with the knowledge that this is the last leg of the epic journey, but when it comes to closing the book on these beloved characters, Castlevania comes through with some shocking twists and an absolutely bonkers-bloody battle to cement the series' legacy as some of the best animated action ever put on TV.
Love, Death + Robots: Season 2
Available: May 13
Created by: Tim Miller
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Nancy Linari, Emily O’Brien, Joe Dempsie, Ike Amadi, Nolan North, Fred Tatasciore, Peter Franzén, Jennifer Hale, Sebastian Croft, Brian Keene, Steven Pacey, Scott Whyte, Zita Hanrot
From executive producers David Fincher and Tim Miller, Netflix's animated anthology series Love, Death + Robots is back with a shorter second season, but just because there are fewer episodes, doesn't mean the series is skimping on the imaginative sci-fi storytelling and breathtaking animation that made the first season such a breakout sensation. With just 8 episodes (down from 18 in the previous season), Season 2 is a testament to the less is more approach, feeling less like an endurance test and more like a tasty sampling of creative visions and wild worlds. The season kicks off with a short, sweet, highly entertaining bang with "Automated Customer Service", a high-action, distinctly stylized survival thriller about a woman in a retirement community served by robots who unexpectedly finds herself fighting for her life against a vaccu-bot gone rogue. From there, the episodes get stranger and more dense, with some deep and dark, some intense tableaus of action, but each is a distinct taste of singular sci-fi storytelling, and while it'll be fun to debate the best and worst of the bunch, I'd say none of them is an all-out miss.
Halston
Available: May 14
Created by: Sharr White
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Dayan, David Pittu, Krysta Rodriguez, Bill Pullman, Rory Culkin
When you're looking for a decadent new drama to sink your teeth into, you can usually count on Ryan Murphy to deliver a stylish, sexed-up, and absolutely over-the-top binge-watch. Halston, the new limited series executive produced by Murphy and created by Sharr White (The Affair) undeniably delivers on those desires, and it also happens to be one of the best Murphy-produced dramas in recent memory. Centered on the legendary designer Roy Halston, the series stars Ewan McGregor in the title role, making not just a meal but a feast of the role, playing up the overlap between Halston's persona and personality and delighting in the ever-changing boundaries between the two. He's alternately hilarious and insufferable - actually, he's often both at the same time, and he's surrounded by an ensemble of performers eager and able to match his energy. And of course, the costumes are a delightful spectacle, as are the side-character and wild plots that wander in and out of Halston's high-fashion legacy.
Who Killed Sara?: Season 2
Available: May 19
Created by: José Ignacio Valenzuela
Cast: Manolo Cardona, Ginés García Millán, Carolina Miranda, Claudia Ramírez, Eugenio Siller, Alejandro Nones, Héctor Jiménez
Netflix's seductive, addictive mystery thriller Who Killed Sara? Is already back for Season 2 this month, after emerging as a surprise mainstay of their Top 10 lists earlier this year. And thanks goodness, because that first season ended on a heck of a cliffhanger. The Mexican drama is part super-sexy soap opera, part mystery-thriller, unfolding its story across multiple time periods that veer through twisty secrets; affairs and unrequited love, family feuds, class warfare, and of course, who killed Sara. Netflix is known as home of the binge-watch, and Who Killed Sara? might just be their most hyper-bingeable show of the year so far, so if you missed the first season, you'll probably burn through it pretty dang fast and find yourself ready for whatever new mysteries and streamy surprises await in Season 2.
Special: Season 2
Available: May 20
Created by: Ryan O'Connell
Cast: Ryan O'Connell, Jessica Hecht, Punam Patel, Marla Mindelle, Augustus Prew, Patrick Fabian
Special is the latest cancelled-to-soon gem from the Netflix library, and it's super sad that Season 2 will be the last, but there's some good news. At least we get those last eight episodes to spend with Ryan (Ryan O'Connell), Kim (Punam Patel), and the rest of the bunch as they navigate through the highs and lows of love, family and friendship - and what's more, Season 2 bumped up the short format runtime to a standard half-hour comedy season, which means those 8 episodes will be twice as long... which probably means they'll also be twice as heartwarming, hilarious, and sexy.
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous - Season 3
Available: May 21
Developed by: Zack Stentz
Cast: Paul-Mikél Williams, Sean Giambrone, Kausar Mohammed, Jenna Ortega, Ryan Potter, Raini Rodriguez
Netflix has wasted no time doling out their animated branch of the Jurassic Park franchise, and Season 3 is already upon us with 10 new episodes (up from the previous 8-episode run of Season 1 and 2) arriving in May. And what a treat it's been to get so many episodes in such short order, because Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous has proven one of the most entertaining and consistent entries in a franchise notorious for its uneven film sequels. Full disclosure, I'm a total sucker for the entire Jurassic franchise, even the low points, but Camp Cretaceous has fully embraced the freedom that comes with the animated (and episodic) format, exploring the world of the Jurassic franchise with a playful attitude while delivering an engrossing, endlessly charming story of the unlikely friendship between the kids trapped on a dino-infested island. And of course, great rawr-ing dinosaur action.
High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America
Available: May 26
Hosted by: Stephen Satterfield
If you're a big fan of food, cooking, and travel TV, you probably already know that Netflix has some of the best and most entertaining options on the air right now. From family-friendly fare like Waffles + Mochi to peak Feel-Good shows like The Chef Show and hilarious cooking competitions like Nailed It!, Netflix is a go-to for cooking shows. But they've also recently excelled at the more insightful and educational fare that combines the core appeal of cooking with a documentarian approach to investigating the cultural origins of food in shows like Ugly Delicious and Salt Fat Acid Heat. The latest standout to hit that mark is High on the Hog: How African American Cusine Transformed America and the topic is.... well, it's all there in the title. Hosted Hosten by food writer and trained chef Stephen Satterfield, the four-episode limited series offers a deep dive into the history of African American food, from its roots in African culture to how it transformed during slavery and how it affects our world today.
Lucifer: Season 5 - Part 2
Available: May 28
Showrunners: Joe Henderson, Ildy Modrovich
Cast: Tom Ellis, Lauren German, Kevin Alejandro, D. B. Woodside, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Scarlett Estevez, Rachael Harris, Aimee Garcia
The show that just won't die returns for the second half of its fifth season, with fans already buzzing about what's known about the episodes, including the long-awaited musical episode that may or may not include a singing Dennis Haysbert as the one and only God. Whether or not he sings, Haysbert will be a prominent part of the show's return, which will also include the ongoing war between our heroic devil Lucifer (Tom Ellis) and his twin brother Michael (Ellis, and man, he really makes the double casting work). Also, when last we saw Lucifer and his beloved Detective (Lauren German), things were in a good place for them romantically — which means there's no way that showrunners Joe Henderson and Ildy Modrovich won't find some way to fuck with our heartstrings by season's end. Whatever gets packed into these episodes will end up playing some role in Season 6, which is said to be the show's last — but then again, we've heard that before (and been happy to be proven wrong about it). - Liz Shannon Miller