Weekend Preview: Between ‘Mulan,’ ‘The Boys,’ And Charlie Kaufman, It’s A Well-Rounded TV Weekend

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

Mulan (Disney+ film) — After multiple setbacks, Disney+ is rolling the dice with a $30 premier-access price point for this live-action reboot. There are no musical numbers to be found, nor is there an animated, beloved dragon onboard, but the story is updated for the young-adult-and-above crowd. As our own Mike Ryan writes, the action scenes are impressive enough to climb onboard, since $30 is a bargain compared to what you’d spend for a family at the multiplex.

The Boys: Season 2 (Amazon Prime series) — The first three episodes have launched with weekly installments to follow for showrunner Eric Kripke’s adaptation of the Garth Ennis comic book series. Fortunately for all involved, this sophomore effort is more depraved and also dives deeper into the inner world of the Supes as Billy Butcher marches around, plotting vengeance. Additionally, Homelander actor Antony Starr gave us some insight into why it’s so good to be a bad guy.

Away (Netflix series) — Hilary Swank stars in an epic-scaled, emotional space drama about the personal sacrifices made by humans while attempting to make incredible advancements. Swank plays Emma Green, who’s leading the first mission to Mars while leaving her family behind and enduring complex personal dynamics with her crew.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix film) — Technically, this movie doesn’t arrive until 2:00 AM CDT, but there’s gonna be an actual Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich screenwriter) movie on Netflix. As our own Mike Ryan told Kaufman, “It seems fitting in these times that you’ve come to entertain us.” Starring Toni Collette, Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, and David Thewlis, this film explores regret and longing.

The Killing of Breonna Taylor (Hulu series) — The New York Times investigates the life of Bronna Taylor and her police killing (following a no-knock warrant) on March 13 while the case still unfolds.

Raised By Wolves (HBO Max series) — Ridley Scott’s latest sci-fi project comes to streaming land, and it’s a savage, serialized tale that adopts a nonlinear structure. The show takes place on a mysterious virgin planet (where a colony of humans is divided by religious differences) and revolves around androids raising human children. It’s a little bit disturbing, as one would expect from Scott, but builds up an engrossing mythology.

Bill And Ted Face The Music (VOD) — Decades in the making, the long-anticipated threequel of the greatest damn franchise ever is here. Yes, “greatest” is a subjective term (fight me, Vin Diesel), but is anyone going to argue that the reteaming of Alex Winter (as Bill S. Preston, Esq.) and Keanu Reeves (as Ted “Theodore” Logan) is an unwelcome sight in 2020? Nope. The good news (for them) is that they’re getting the hell out of 2020 to steal music from themselves in the future and save the world. And unlike The New Mutants, they’re on VOD in addition to theaters this weekend.

Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:

Room 104 (Friday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — The fourth season of the Duplass Brothers’ bizarre playground continues with a perpetually insecure man attempting to impress housemates with a foam party, which ends up having an unintended side effect.

Lovecraft Country (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — This 1950s-set dark fantasy series blew away expectations, and this week, Christina’s motives grow ever more puzzling while Leti, Atticus, and Montrose head out on a search for missing pages from the Book of Adam.

Love Fraud (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — This critically acclaimed Sundance Film Festival limited series feels like the lovechild of Dirty John and Tiger King, as one prolific con-man leaves a decades-long trail of destruction, which tracks him down to Wichita, Kansas.

The Vow (Sunday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — The NXIVM organization (known as the “sex cult” partially led by Allison Mack) starts to turn dark with “masters” and slaves” while Sarah struggles with her involvement in the organization.

We Hunt Together (Sunday, Showtime 10:00 p.m.) — A deadly duo (a former child soldier named Baba and Freddie) finds themselves drawn together (to commit murder), and this week, Freddie’s dark history comes to light while Lola and Jackson work to prevent the next murder.

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