Last night was Amazon 2025 Upfront, a star-studded showcase for the streamer’s best Prime Video shows.
The event featured EDM from DJ Steve Aoki and appearances by Lizzo, Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista, Travis and Jason Kelce as well as a chorus line of showgirls to announce the renewal of Fallout season 3 alongside Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell and Aaron Moten. Other celebs lighting up the night included Michael B Jordan and Jamie Lee Curtism.
But of course the shows are the real stars, and there were seven announcements in particular that I think are really interesting. From Nic Cage in a noir to hot people in hot pants, here are the Amazon Upfront announcements to be excited about.
1. A first look at Spider-Noir
It’s just an image. But what an image it is. The image above is the first look at Spider-Noir, starring Nicolas Cage as the titular web-slinger. There’s no premiere date as yet so this is the teasiest of teasers, but given its star and the people behind it this is enormously exciting.
Here’s the pitch: “Spider-Noir is a live-action series based on the Marvel comic Spider-Man Noir. The story follows an aging and down-on-his-luck private investigator in 1930s New York, played by Academy Award winner Cage, who is forced to grapple with his past life as the city’s one and only superhero.”
Rather brilliantly, the show will be available in both color and black and white when it debuts. And it’s been developed in collaboration with the Academy Award-winning team behind Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.
2. A premiere date for Reese Witherspoon’s Legally Blonde prequel
Elle, the Legally Blonde prequel series, has got a premiere date: summer 2026, which is slightly later than we’d hoped. The original movie is one of the most-loved movies of the aughts.
It comes from Reese Witherspoon’s company, and of course she was the original Elle in the movie. Lexi Minetree is the star this time around and the show follows Elle during her high school days to show how she became the iconic character we loved in the movie.
3. More Creed is coming
Prime Video has ordered the new series Delphi, the very first live-action extension of the Creed universe. It’ll focus on young boxers at the Delphi gym, and while there’s no premiere date as yet the show has Michael B Jordan as executive producer and it’s being made by Outlier Society, whose Creed III attracted stellar reviews and made tons of money in theaters.
4. Barbershop gets a series
The Barbershop movie franchise is coming to a slightly smaller screen: it’s getting a series, and it’ll feature Jermaine Fowler as Travis ‘Trav’ Porter. Travis wants to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, who was a legendary barber at the iconic Chicago barbershop Calvin’s.
The show is being written and executive produced by Marshall Todd, who also wrote Barbershop.
5. Beast Games is coming back, and then it’s coming back again
The strangely smiling Mr Beast is coming back twice for more faintly disturbing game show action: Beast Games has been renewed for two more seasons where hundreds more contestants will compete for massive cash prizes.
Despite Mr Beast’s unsettling facial expressions and truly terrible reviews – the show is currently sitting at 20% from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes – Beast Games has been a hit with viewers, who’ve awarded it 88% on the RT popcornometer.
Perhaps we should consider it less of a game show and more of a satire on consumerism: as The Age put it, the show is “a mostly unenjoyable and often disagreeable gamification of late-era capitalism” while The Guardian wrote that “It exists solely to show us the worst of the human condition, as obnoxiously as possible.”
6. Oh. What. Fun. Gets. A. Date.
The Michelle Pfeiffer-starring Oh. What. Fun. is coming to screens on December 3, 2025. It’s a star-studded affair that also features Denis Leary, Felicity Jones, Chloë Grace Moretz, Dominic Sessa, Devery Jacobs, Havana Rose Liu, Maude Apatow, Danielle Brooks, with Jason Schwartzman, Eva Longoria, and Joan Chen.
7. American Gladiators is coming back
Sometimes all you need to make life better is to watch beautiful people in peak physical condition knocking lumps out of each other in a safe and respectful way – and if those beautiful people are in spandex, even better.
No doubt inspired by the success of the rebooted UK version of Gladiators, American Gladiators is returning and rebooting with WWE superstar Mike “The Miz” Mizanin hosting. According to Amazon “The featured Gladiators on the upcoming series will range from professional bodybuilders, former D1 Athletes, Pro CrossFit Champions, and Pro Fitness Trainers from around the globe all ecstatic to put their abilities to the test.”
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