Netflix Shows That Will Blow Everyone Away In 2017

What would television be without Netflix? Wait, stop—we can't bear to actually imagine it. Netflix's introduction of show after awesome show in 2016 left TV watchers barely able to catch their breaths. From the '80s love note Stranger Things to the badass superhero series Marvel's Luke Cage, the streaming platform once associated with lazy weekends has become home to some seriously prestige television, and it doesn't look like Netflix is going to slow its show roll in 2017. With a miles-long list of series to binge-watch in the coming months, we've listed the biggest and best to look forward to—shows that will leave your jaw dropped and eyes wide open.

Frontier premiered on Discovery Channel Canada in November 2016 to some seriously solid ratings, and made the move to Netflix mid-January 2017, giving television lovers the perfect excuse to watch all six episodes in a single sitting. This Canadian-American period drama chronicles a band of men battling to reclaim ownership and seize control of the fur trade in 18th-century North America, and there's one familiar face that may very well have fans cheering. Game of Thrones fans rejoice: our beloved Khal Drogo is back on the not-so-big screen! Jason Momoa (who fans will also see as Aquaman in 2017's Justice League) stars as Declan Harp, the half-and-half Irish/Native American outlaw on the path to power. The actor known for his brute and brawn onscreen gets his hands dirty and fists bloody in Frontier, and the rest of the cast follows suit.

Co-starring Hemlock Grove's Landon Liboiron and Downton Abbey's Zoe Boyle, Frontier is a multi-perspective series that weaves through cultural relations and the savagery of America in its adolescence. Not only does the show promise a healthy portion of visceral violence, insane action sequences, and sharp dialogue, but it also presents a historical glimpse into the preindustrial times in North America. We call that a win-win.

Based on the Mark Olshaker and John E. Douglas book Mind Hunter: Inside FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit, this Netflix series rolls time back to 1979 and dives into some of the most petrifying unsolved crimes in history. As FBI Behavioral Science Unit special agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench, respectively, actors Jonathan Groff (Frozen, The Conspirator) and Holt McCallany (Alien 3, Heroes) take on the daunting task of conducting interviews with currently imprisoned criminals. But not just any criminals: Ford and Tench sit eye-to-eye with serial killers.

Mindhunter also stars Anna Torv, a psychologist based on real-life psychiatrist and trauma/abuse victim assessment pioneer Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess, and Cotter Smith as FBI unit chief Shepard. With actress Charlize Theron and incredibly well-respected director David Fincher (who also directed 2014's bone-chilling Gone Girl) in Mindhunter's executive producer seats, brace yourself for a drama that will leave you sleeping with the lights on.

Just when you thought all the forces of evil had been vanquished from the Big Apple, another wave comes crashing in. Not to worry, however—Marvel's The Defenders has your back. Yeah, you heard right: Netflix will bring not one but two original Marvel series to the masses in 2017. Though an official release date has yet to be announced, Marvel's The Defenders will definitely be buzzed about right up until it reaches screens, and likely well beyond. The eight-episode miniseries brings together all of Marvel's best, heroes audiences know and love from their standalone shows: Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones; Mike Colter as Luke Cage; Charlie Cox as Daredevil (a.k.a Matt Murdock); and the guy we just talked about, Finn Jones as Iron Fist.

Joining the superhero-studded ensemble are French actress Élodie Yung as hard-headed mercenary Elektra Natchios, Rosario Dawson as vigilante nurse Claire Temple, and award winner Sigourney Weaver as the sophisticated and sinister villain, Alexandra. Jessica Henwick will also reprise her role as Colleen in The Defenders. The group takes on all the bad guys in mid-2017.

Let's take it back to 2001, when the original Wet Hot American Summer film first hit cinemas. Despite being a box-office bust, the satirical comedy with a talented cast (Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Ian Black, Bradley Cooper, and Amy Poehler, just to name a few) gained a massive cult following. Fast forward nearly a decade and a half, and fans still wanted more of the WHAS story. Netflix released an eight-episode prequel series in the summer (how fitting) of 2015, which was ridiculous in the best way possible: all the actors reprised their roles, only to play even younger versions of their beloved characters.

Riding off that wave of funny comes Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later, in which the cast collaborates once again, this time at a more age-appropriate level. The sequel series is set in 1991 and, according to the show's writer Michael Showalter, is inspired by some classic '80s comedies. We can't wait for summer.

We all know how captivated audiences were in the summer of 2015 when Making a Murderer made its Netflix debut, subsequently taking the TV-watching world by storm with its winding tale of drama, behind-the-scenes footage, and shocking secrets. It seems history will repeat itself with Dark, a family drama that tracks the trauma and devastation that rock a small German town following the mysterious disappearance of two children. While it's a work of fiction, it seems the show is guaranteed to incite goosebumps and grim realizations in its audience throughout its 10-episode first season. Dark will also make history outside of its chilling, supernatural story: it's Netflix's very first German drama series. Considering what we know so far, we think Netflix made a fantastic choice.

Britt Robertson (Tomorrowland, The First Time) stars as the Girl Boss herself, Sophia Amoruso, in this April 2017 Netflix release. Based off Amoruso's acclaimed autobiography, Girlboss is centered around the clothing brand entrepreneur's rise to success. Starting off humbly selling vintage threads on eBay, Amoruso shot into international stardom after starting up the wildly popular and wickedly trendy fashion-brand-turned-empire Nasty Gal. The comedy series has Pitch Perfect and 30 Rock writer Kay Cannon as its creator and lead executive producer, as well as popular actress Charlize Theron and How to Be Single director Christian Ditter taking on additional producer roles. Joining Robertson in the lead role is Johnny Simmons as Shane, Ellie Reed as Annie, and Dean Norris as Jay. Netflix fanatics can anticipate 13 episodes of Girlboss upon its release.

2014 saw the indie film Dear White People bring racial tensions in a bright-white community to the surface, and handled it with a ton of smarts and satire. Piggybacking off the Justin Simien-directed original comes the television adaptation of the same name, taken under Lionsgate Television's wing. The show is more or less like its movie source material: a group of Ivy League students of color navigate their nearly all-white Winchester University campus to discover not only is the lack of diversity shocking, but so is the number of misinformed or just plain biased students. The Dear White People series offers more freshness, heaps more satire, tons of laughs, and a refreshingly honest look into the imbalances and issues of our modern society. It's set to premiere later in the year, and brings back most of the film's cast, including Brandon P. Bell, Logan Browning, and Antoinette Robertson.

From the director who brought you Fifty Shades of Grey, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Gypsy weaves show writer Lisa Rubin's wicked tale of a therapist entangled in some controversial and scandalous relationships—ones that at best could cost her her reputation and at worse, her life. English actress Naomi Watts, whom audiences fell in love with in films like 21 Grams and Mulholland Drive, stars as twisted shrink Jean Holloway, with Billy Crudup by her side as her husband Michael. As with many of the series coming to Netflix in 2017, Gyspy will have a short first season, offering only ten episodes. Knowing the precarious premise, we're certain fans will soon be begging for more.