Escaping through fiction can be a form of healthy coping during uncertain times. If you need a reprieve from reality (truly, who doesn’t?) these new sci-fi and fantasy shows and movies arriving on Netflix in May 2020 offer a chance to step away from real life temporarily and get lost in lands of magic and interstellar adventures.
If you need even more streaming ideas, check out our recommendations for feel-good fantasy on Netflix, sci-fi movies on Netflix, and the best sci-fi TV shows on Netflix.
Back to the Future and Back to the Future Part II
Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.
If you need an adventure with some humor, this classic series follows the heavy time travel escapades of Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd).
Arriving May 1st
Underworld, Underworld: Evolution, and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Netflix just added the first three movies in the six-title Underworld series to its catalog. This critically-panned but commercially-successful franchise follows the brutal battle between the vampires and the Lycans.
Vampire Death Dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is determined to seek revenge through assassinating Lycans — but her enemies have other plans.
Arriving May 1st
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Song of the Sea
This gorgeous, Academy Award-nominated 2014 animated adventure follows Irish siblings Ben and Saoirse, the lighthouse keeper's children. After the mysterious death of their mother, strange things begin to happen to young Saoirse.
Their grandparents take the children away from the sea, to try and give them a normal life — but distance can't sever the magical draw between Saoirse, her brother, and the water.
Arriving May 1st
Avatar: The Last Airbender
All three seasons of this terrific fantasy TV show will hit Netflix mid-month.
The critically-acclaimed series is set in a world where ‘benders’ are capable of manipulating the four elements. 12-year-old Aang is the legendary Avatar, who can control all elements, and is determined to bring peace to the world and end the conflict with the Fire Nation.
Arriving May 15th
She-Ra and the Princess of Power (Season 5)
This is the fifth and final season in the She-Ra animated series from Lumberjanes graphic novelist Noelle Stevenson. A bold, beautiful reimagining of the 1980 sword and sworcery character, this saga will appeal to young viewers and adults alike.
Arriving May 15
District 9
This 2009 alternate history alien invasion movie was written by Neill Blomkamp, who later went on to direct Chappie.
In 1982, a spaceship appears above Johannesburg, South Africa, carrying sick aliens. The extraterrestrials are quarantined in camp District 9. Over time, humans come to refer to the alien arrivals with the slur 'prawns.'
Decades later, the government makes the controversial decision to relocate the aliens. During the move, two aliens make a desperate attempt to return home, a decision which brings them into the path of Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), with disturbing results.
RELATED: Alien Abduction Movies, Ranked from Most to Least Horrifying
The Flash (Season 6)
The sixth season of the CW series The Flash, which was cut short by two episodes due to the coronavirus pandemic, arrives on Netflix this May. The fun show ties into the wider DC/CW Arrowverse series, and stars Grant Gustin as the titular speedster.
Arrives on Netflix May 20
Space Force
Although not quite science fiction, Space Force will certainly appeal to fans of space travel stories.
This Netflix Original stars Steve Carrell as Mark R. Naird, a decorated Air Force general who is less than thrilled to be heading up the new, moronically-named, Space Force military branch.
RELATED: 13 Thrilling Space Movies
The show's co-creator Greg Daniels says the series contrasts the wonder of space travel with the pettiness and greed of present-day politics: "It feels like there’s now a scramble to colonize space. The contrast between that and the super hopeful early days of NASA, when it was just such an achievement for all of mankind to get a person on the moon, is a good subject for satire.”
The star-studded show will feature John Malkovich, Jane Lynch, Ben Schwartz, Lisa Kudrow, and Carrell himself.
Arriving May 29
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Featured still from "Avatar: The Last Airbender" via Nickelodeon Animation Studios.