What are the biggest TV shows and web series coming to streaming in November 2023? The overtly gory animated series Invincible returns for a second run, as our titular teenage superhero struggles to rebuild his new life out of fear that he might end up evil, like his father Omni-Man. Bringing back Oscar-nominee Steven Yeun as the lead voice actor, the Robert Kirkman series premieres November 3 on Amazon Prime Video. Much later in the month, Netflix has got a reality show line-up — Squid Game: The Challenge, in which 456 real-life individuals participate in a battle royale-esque game show to win a life-changing reward. It drops November 22.
The highly anticipated Takeshi’s Castle reboot also arrives in India this month, with the popular content creator and actor Bhuvan Bam doing comedic voiceover for the show, re-enacting one of his YouTube characters Titu Mama. The original version of the show was released in Japan, in April, and finally makes its overseas debut with commentary in respective languages. It’s out now on Amazon Prime Video. Then there’s The Railway Men, in which a group of brave railway workers put their lives on the line to save the unfortunate souls affected by the 1984 Bhopal disaster. Marking YRF’s debut into the streaming space, the limited series debuts November 18 on Netflix.
The Marvels to The Killer: The Biggest Movies Releasing in November
Other notable releases in November include the sixth and final season of the British monarch drama The Crown, charting Princess Diana’s (Elizabeth Debicki) final days as she deals with the obsessive press tailing after her and her then-lover Dodi Fayed. The season has been divided into two parts — the first of them releasing November 16 on Netflix. You can learn more about the aforementioned TV shows and more below, and also feel free to discover the complete list of upcoming web series at our entertainment hub. With that, here’s our TV guide to November 2023, covering releases on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+ Hotstar, and Netflix.
Takeshi’s Castle India
When: November 2
Where: Amazon Prime Video
Childhood nostalgia is about to come rushing in like waterworks this month, as the popular Japanese game show Takeshi’s Castle returns with the resurrected Castle Lord Takeshi Kitano, setting up challenging obstacles for its numerous contestants. The format remains the same, with participants being forced into a set of fun, physical contests such as balancing on surfboards, swinging across muddy pits, parkouring across giant rolling pins, and more. Some of these are designed to eliminate players in a single go, which feels quite unfair for games that are based on luck, but hey, rules are rules. Most of us who grew up watching a rendition on the Pogo TV channel in the 2000s might have gotten used to Jaaved Jaffrey’s (Jaadugar) Hindi commentary, albeit this rebooted version sees internet icon Bhuvan Bam take on the role.
After a month-long delay, all eight episodes of Takeshi’s Castle India are now up for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
All the Light We Cannot See
When: November 2
Where: Netflix
Having fled from German-occupied Paris with a legendary diamond, a blind girl Marie-Laurie (Aria Mia Loberti) and her father Daniel LeBlanc (Mark Ruffalo) are looking to keep it safe from falling into the hands of the Nazis. They soon find refuge with a reclusive uncle Etienne LeBlanc (Hugh Laurie), a World War I veteran who’s blocked himself from the outside world due to lingering PTSD, and spends his days transmitting radio broadcasts to help win the war. It isn’t long until Marie-Laurie takes a penchant for it, deciding to utter words of encouragement to the survivors holed up in their houses awaiting the next bomb drop — something about finding a spark of light in the darkness.
Amidst this, an unlikely teenage German soldier Werner Pfennig (Louis Hofmann), forced into the brutality of war to track down illegal radio broadcasts, is charmed by her voice, instantly echoing her vision of peace and often taking time out of the day to sit alone and seek courage through her words. Of course, being hired by Hitler’s regime to track the radio broadcast down isn’t a task he can avoid, and therefore uses the resources as a means to connect with Marie-Laurie and escape from the Nazi values he never believed in. Hot on the family’s trail is Reinhold von Rumpel (Lars Eidinger), a terminally ill German sergeant eyeing the aforementioned gemstone that is said to make its owner immortal. All The Light We Cannot See is based on the eponymous novel by Anthony Doerr and is directed by Shawn Levy (Free Guy).
All four episodes of All the Light We Cannot See are now streaming on Netflix.
Invincible season 2
When: November 3
Where: Amazon Prime Video
Weeks after the showdown with his berserk father Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons), Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) is trying to get back into the groove by wanting to resume his superhero lifestyle. Chicago is still reeling from the damage and his mother Deborah (Sandra Oh) deals with heavy depression, having realised that the last 20 years of her life with her husband Nolan were a delusion — a relationship the latter forged with the singular goal of taking over planet Earth. Mark is fighting some inner battles as well, wanting to grow past the trauma and ensure he doesn’t turn out to be as vicious and selfless as his father Omni-Man, who even considered disowning him upon feeling betrayed by his son.
While Invincible season 2 focuses on the humane aspects of growth and change, it doesn’t hold back on the gore, throwing our titular hero into dangerous encounters, including multiversal threats. Enter, Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown), a new supervillain born with the ability to access infinite dimensions, who in addition to owning a host of minions to protect him, seeks to absorb the memories of all his alternate versions in an attempt to traverse freely between worlds. It also appears as though Invincible will slowly develop an ego in this chapter, depicted during his brief encounter with the remaining members of the Global Defense Agency. A good chunk of them believe that despite being part-Viltrumite, Mark is a good guy, so I wonder what the conflict is about.
Invincible season 2 debuts November 3 on Amazon Prime Video, with new episodes dropping every Friday. Bear in mind that this eight-episode-long season has been chopped into two halves, with the remaining four episodes coming in early 2024.
Aarya season 3
When: November 3
Where: Disney+ Hotstar
Aarya Sareen’s (Sushmita Sen) drug empire is stronger than ever, bringing unwanted attention from a group of Russian mobsters, who promise her Rs. 1,000 crore within just two weeks of moving her next shipment. Drawing heavily from the Dutch series Penoza, her children become the prime target for enemies, forcing her into a life-threatening battle against law enforcement — wielding guns and katanas — led by Vikas Kumar (Kaala Paani). Adding fuel to it is a new hookah-smoking, bizarre character played by Ila Arun, who plans on topping Aarya’s plans for dominance. Could she be working with the authorities to snitch on her? Regardless, I highly doubt this Aarya season 3 marks the final chapter in the drug empress’ life, considering the original show ran for five seasons, presenting plenty of content to be adapted.
The first four episodes of Aarya season 3 are now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar — no word on when the remaining episodes will be out.
PI Meena
When: November 3
Where: Amazon Prime Video
When Private Investigator Meenakshi Iyer (Tanya Maniktala) was hired to look into a generic hit-and-run case, she never thought it would branch into a suspicious murder case with ties to a viral outbreak across the city. As panic over biological warfare sets in, she links Partho’s death to a mysterious Dr. Andrew (Jisshu Sengupta), who warns her about the place being ill-fated and hints at some larger conspiracy surrounding the events. It’s almost as if the inhabitants are being wiped out from the Kolkata region for some unexplained reasons, all the while she deals with dark memories from her past and her cunning backstabbing accomplice Tridib Malhotra (Vipin Sharma).
All eight episodes of PI Meena are out now on Amazon Prime Video.
The Crown season 6
When: November 16
Where: Netflix
The final chapter in the British royal monarchy drama introduces the blossoming relationship between the oft-misunderstood Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) and Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla), who are constantly tailed by the paparazzi, looking to delve deep into their private life. While she’s off on holiday in the south of France, Queen Elizabeth II (Imelda Staunton), who’s not a fan of the attention, hopes that her daughter-in-law finds peace in whatever she does. If you’ve been keeping up with the series, you’ll know that season 6 will lead to the princess’ death in a Parisian traffic collision and its resulting ramifications across the world.
Christian Schwochow, who directed some of the most crucial episodes in The Crown season 6, confirmed that Princess Diana’s death has been depicted “very respectfully” in the show, adding that a lot of the shot footage from the car crash won’t make it to the final cut. In the immediate aftermath of that, a young Prince William (Rufus Kampa) struggles to adjust to life at Eton College, whereas the Queen reflects on the future of her monarchy while holding back her tears and serving as mother to the nation of England. As expected, the entire cast lineup from The Crown season 5 reprise their roles, with Dominic West as the saddened ex-husband to Diana, Prince Charles, and Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret. (The Crown switches its cast every two seasons to account for ageing throughout the years).
The 10-episode-long The Crown season 6 has been divided into two parts, with the first chapter containing four episodes dropping November 16 on Netflix. The remaining six episodes will be out next month on the 14th.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
When: November 17
Where: Netflix
Twenty-three-year-old bass player Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) has never had trouble getting girlfriends, seamlessly switching between them for lack of care for their feelings. That is until he falls for the new girl in town, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a rebellious delivery girl with bright pink hair who skates into his heart at a party. Crushing on her isn’t complicated, but actually dating her comes at the huge cost of having to defeat her seven evil exes in distinct standoffs set across video-game arcade fighting arenas to a Bollywood-inspired musical faceoff. The 2010 live-action film, which was based on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel series, is a cult classic and as such, the animated Netflix adaptation brings back the same cast of actors to do the voices.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off stars Satya Bhabha as Ramona’s ex-boyfriend #1 Matthew Patel, Hollywood actor Lucas Lee (Chris Evans), the powerful vegan Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh), the specialised ninja Roxy (Mae Whitman), and more. The anime is also loaded with some slice-of-life elements, as Scott switches between jobs, lives off his bored roommate Wallace (Kieran Culkin), and shields himself from his sister Stacey’s (Anna Kendrick) disapproving comments. Meanwhile, Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) copes with being Scott’s discarded choice and plans her secret revenge on Ramona, the homewrecker — for lack of a better term. Japanese animation studio Science Saru, best known for Devilman Crybaby, helms this series.
All eight episodes of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off drop November 17 on Netflix.
Watch the Trailer for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Out November 17 on Netflix
Japanese studio Science Saru is animating the Scott Pilgrim anime
Photo Credit: Netflix
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
When: November 17
Where: Apple TV+
Following the kaiju battle between Godzilla and the Titans that levelled San Franciso, humans have gotten conditioned to the idea of monsters living amongst them. Being a MonsterVerse entry, the plot largely centres around a group of humans — in this case, a Japanese school teacher Cate Randa (Anna Sawai), who uncovers a hard drive containing long-buried secrets about a secret society called the Monarch. Turns out, her missing family is somehow connected to this organisation, which dates back to half a century and is somehow involved in the dawn of the monsters. Kurt Russell (The Thing) plays the generic all-knowing army officer Lee Shaw, who’s somehow got the answers to all questions in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
Judging by the trailer, it seems like Monarch was responsible for genetically creating the kaijus, as evidenced by a group of researchers stumbling into a room filled with giant, glowing lizard eggs. But what’s interesting is that the series is heavily expanding upon them by introducing never-seen-before species like giant arachnids and wild mutations like a worm with two mouths screeching loudly. Heading down the rabbit hole with Cate are Kiersey Clemons (The Flash) as the brilliant tech expert May and Ren Watanabe as the curious Kentaro.
The first two episodes of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters drop November 17 on Apple TV+, after which it will follow a weekly release schedule until January 12.
The Railway Men
When: November 18
Where: Netflix
India’s leading film production company YRF is foraying into web series with The Railway Men, recounting the tale of the brave workers who risked their lives to save countless survivors who fell victim to the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. The four-part-long series follows four such individuals played by Madhavan (Rocketry: The Nambi Effect), Kay Kay Menon (Farzi), Divyendu Sharma (Mirzapur), and Babil Khan (Qala), who tried to get as many breathing victims as possible out of the state. While the inner workings of the Union Carbide India pesticide plant and the sequence of events that led to the disaster will be shown, for now, it’s unclear whether the show will touch upon the harrowing aftermath that saw countless affected citizens rallying together for justice.
All episodes of The Railway Men drop November 18 on Netflix.
Squid Game: The Challenge
When: November 22
Where: Netflix
Drawing direct inspiration from the South Korean sensation Squid Game, Netflix is pitting 456 contestants against each other, as they engage in a flurry of new and familiar games like Red Light, Green Light, Sugar Honeycombs, and more to win a reward of $4.56 million (about Rs. 37 crore). That said, the stakes in this reality series don’t put your life in danger, instead relying on alternative ways to punish players — shooting players with paintball instead of bullets, for instance. Filmed in the UK, the sets were rebuilt to mimic the same tension-filled environment as the actual show, including bunkbeds for sleeping and the giant glass piggybank suspended up above with cash money filled in, enabling players to work together and even betray others to further their goals.
All 10 episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge will be out November 22 on Netflix.
