Geektown Awards – Most Anticipated TV Show, Game & Film Of 2023
We bring the 11th Annual Geektown Awards to a close with our final three categories – ‘Most Anticipated TV Show, Game & Film Of 2023’. We wanted to know what you were most looking forward to being entertained by over the next twelve months. Which games would have you saying “just one more turn…” Which films would get you out to the cinema? Which tv shows would have you binging through boxsets until 2am?
Before we get to the winners, I wanted to say thank you, once again, to the thousands of you that voted. We will be back in December 2023 with The 12th Annual Geektown Awards. In the meantime, check out the weekly Geektown Radio podcast, and check the site daily for all your tv, film and gaming news! You can also find also the latest TV premiere dates on the UK Air Dates page. Now, here are the final results.
Most Anticipated Film Of 2023
Nominees: Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom, Blue Beetle, Dune: Part Two, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, John Wick: Chapter 4, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One, Oppenheimer, Scream 6, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Flash, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, The Little Mermaid, The Marvels, The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Bronze: John Wick: Chapter 4
Silver: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
And the Gold goes to …
Winner: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
It is a rare thing these days for the most anticipated film not to be a comicbook movie, but its not every year we see the return of a beloved hero… Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny takes the top spot.
Harrison Ford returns as the legendary hero archaeologist in the fifth instalment of the iconic “Indiana Jones” franchise, alongside John Rhys-Davies (‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’) as Sallah, and new sidekick Phoebe Waller-Bridge (‘Fleabag’) as Helena, his god-daughter. The movie stars Shaunette Renee Wilson (“Black Panther”), Thomas Kretschmann (“Das Boot”), Toby Jones (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”), Boyd Holbrook (“Logan”), Oliver Richters (“Black Widow”), Ethann Isidore (“Mortel”) and Mads Mikkelsen (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”).
We don’t know much more about it than that at this stage, except we know it has Nazis, Indy running from Nazis, and his trusty whip returns! Directed by James Mangold (“Ford v Ferrari,” “Logan”), the film hits cinemas from Friday, 30th June 2023.
Most Anticipated Game Of 2023
Nominees: Alan Wake 2, Company of Heroes 3, Dead Space, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, Final Fantasy 16, Hogwarts Legacy, Homeworld 3, Kerbal Space Program 2, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Park Beyond, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Starfield, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, The Expanse: A Telltale Series, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, The Callisto Protocol
Bronze: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Silver: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
And the Gold goes to …
Winner: Hogwarts Legacy
It should come as no great surprise that the winner is ‘Hogwarts Legacy’. This is actually the third year for this game in the “Most Anticipated” category, having taken silver in 2021 and gold in 2022 (game development takes a while!) Now, finally, on the 10th of February 2023, we’ll get to see if it has been worth the wait.
‘Hogwarts Legacy’ is an immersive, open-world action RPG set in the world first introduced in the Harry Potter books. Now you can take control of the action and be at the centre of your own adventure in the wizarding world. Embark on a journey through familiar and new locations as you explore and discover fantastic beasts, customize your character and craft potions, master spell casting, upgrade talents, and become the wizard you want to be.
Set in Hogwarts in the 1800s, your character is a student who holds the key to an ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart. You have received a late acceptance to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and soon discover that you are no ordinary student: you possess an unusual ability to perceive and master Ancient Magic. Only you can decide if you will protect this secret for the good of all, or yield to the temptation of more sinister magic.
Most Anticipated TV Show Of 2023
Nominees:
- Three-Body Problem – Netflix – The story of humanity’s first contact with an alien civilization inspired by the renowned novel, adapted by David Benioff, D.B. Weiss and Alexander Woo.
- Agatha: Coven of Chaos – Disney+ – Kathryn Hahn reprise her scene-stealing character from ‘WandaVision’ in her own show.
Ahsoka – Disney+ – Rosario Dawson returns to the role of Ahsoka Tano, former Jedi Padawan to Anakin Skywalker, in her own series. - Daryl Dixon – No UK Broadcaster – A spin-off series from ‘The Walking Dead’ featuring Daryl Dixon.
Echo – Disney+ – Alaqua Cox returns as the unforgiving Maya Lopez in Echo’s origin story. - Fallout – Prime Video – The ‘Fallout’ franchise is making the leap from gaming to tv, produced by Westworld’s Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy.
- Interview with the Vampire – No UK Broadcaster – A TV series based on the bestselling Anne Rice novels.
- Ironheart – Disney+ – Dominique Thorne stars as Riri Williams, a genius young inventor who creates the most advanced suit of armour since Iron Man.
- Masters of the Air – Apple TV+ – The third WWII drama from the team behind ‘Band Of Brothers’ and ‘The Pacific’.
Orphan Black: Echoes – No UK Broadcaster – A spin-off series from the original ‘Orphan Black’ starring Krysten Ritter. - Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story – Netflix – Charlotte, meet George. The first encounter of a romance which sparked Bridgerton society as we know it.
- Secret Invasion – Disney+ – A TV series based on the popular comic book event seeing Samuel L. Jackson return as Nick Fury with Ben Mendelsohn as the Skrull Talos.
- Star Wars: Skeleton Crew – Disney+ – A new series starring Jude Law that follows a group of ten years olds who get lost in the Star Wars universe.
- The Last Of Us – Sky Atlantic – TV series based on the popular video game from the creators of ‘Chernobyl’.
- The Mayfair Witches – No UK Broadcaster – Series based on Lives of the Mayfair Witches novels by Anne Rice.
- The Walking Dead: Dead City – No UK Broadcaster – New ‘Walking Dead’ spin-off with Maggie & Negan (previously known as ‘Isle Of The Dead’).
Bronze: Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story – Netflix
Silver: The Walking Dead: Dead City – No UK Broadcaster
And the Gold goes to …
Winner: The Last Of Us – Sky Atlantic
https://youtu.be/pUke5mdoac0
It’s another swing and a miss for the comicbook shows, with not a single Marvel series breaking the top three. In news which would have been unthinkable a number of years ago, the top spot has gone to a video game adaptation with ‘The Last Of Us‘. However, whilst adapting video games to screen has been something of a mixed bag over the years, this one looks to be something very special indeed…
Written and executive produced by Craig Mazin (‘Chernobyl’) and Neil Druckmann (‘The Last of Us’ video game), ‘The Last of Us’ takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal and heartbreaking journey as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
Pedro Pascal (‘The Mandalorian’) and Bella Ramsey (‘Game Of Thrones’) take the lead roles as Joel and Elle. They are joined by Gabriel Luna (‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’) as Tommy, Joel’s younger brother; Merle Dandridge (reprising her role from the games) as Marlene, the head of the Fireflies resistance movement; Nico Parker (‘Dumbo’, ‘The Third Day’) as Sarah, Joel’s daughter; Murray Bartlett (‘The White Lotus’) as Frank, a survivalist living in an isolated town, alongside Bill, played by Nick Offerman (‘Parks and Recreation’); Anna Torv (‘Fringe’, ‘Mindhunter’) as Tess, a hardened survivor and Joel’s smuggler partner; Melanie Lynskey (‘Yellowjackets’) as Kathleen, the leader of a revolutionary movement in Kansas City; Storm Reid (‘Euphoria’) as Riley, an orphaned girl who is growing up in post-apocalyptic Boston; Lamar Johnson (‘Your Honor’) as Henry, who is hiding from a revolutionary movement in Kansas, alongside Keivonn Woodard as Sam (‘Fractal’), his brother; And Graham Greene (‘Goliath’, ‘Longmire’) as Marlon, who lives in the wilderness of Wyoming with his wife Florence, played by Elaine Miles (‘Northern Exposure’).
‘The Last of Us‘ Season 1 premieres Monday, 16th January 2023 at 2am (simulcast with HBO in the USA), with a repeat airing in the evening, on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW.
