Pictures: Netflix / Getty Images
2025 might go down as the most important and transformational year in Netflix history. It was the year we finally said a tearful, theory-laden goodbye to Hawkins with the colossal finale of Stranger Things, welcomed the WWE into our weekly routines, and navigated a bold—and often debated—new user interface. But while the content slate kept us glued to our screens, the business machinations behind the scenes were rewriting the future of entertainment.
The headlines were dominated by a historic merger that saw the Bugs Bunny shield join the Red N, but the smaller stories were just as important. From the surprising dominance of KPOP Demon Hunters to the stumbling blocks in the gaming division, Netflix took massive swings this year. As we look ahead, the question isn’t just what we’ll be watching in 2026, but how the very nature of Netflix is changing. Here is our 2025 Year in Review.
Netflix Buys Warner Bros.
The Story: After a back-and-forth bidding war involving multiple parties, Netflix ultimately emerged victorious in its bid to acquire Warner Bros. and select assets. These include HBO, HBO Max, and the film and television studio, but notably exclude the linear networks. Netflix’s co-CEO initially downplayed the idea, but after taking a closer look, the company decided to go all in. The battle is not entirely over; however, much of the remaining tension centres on David Ellison going hostile and appealing directly to shareholders. Expect plenty more developments throughout 2026, with the deal currently slated to close in 2027.
Our Take: There isn’t a bigger story than this. It represents a seismic shift for both Hollywood and Netflix. For Netflix, it’s also a significant risk. Up to now, its acquisitions have been relatively small, and it’s fair to argue that most have not been fully utilised. Scanline VFX aside, Millarworld has largely stalled, while the Roald Dahl Company has faced controversy early on, with adaptations yet to truly land.
Warner Bros.’ assets are priceless in many respects. A library spanning a century of film and television is widely regarded as one of the strongest in the world. Taking those assets off the table and placing them in a rival’s hands gives Netflix a clear advantage, so it’s no surprise the company wanted a shot. It’s still remarkable that it actually succeeded.
The theatrical question matters most to Film Twitter, particularly around the release window, which Ted Sarandos has said will “evolve.” In reality, that evolution has already been happening across the industry, with windows now far shorter than they were pre-pandemic. What the final model looks like is anyone’s guess, but it seems unlikely Netflix will funnel all Warner Bros. films straight to Netflix or HBO Max. A more plausible outcome is two parallel film divisions, one focused on major theatrical releases and another on streaming-first titles. That middle-ground approach won’t satisfy everyone, but it would give Netflix better access to talent and projects it previously had to license at a premium.
The biggest collision point is HBO Max. The two services compete directly and share a substantial overlap in subscribers. While scrapping it immediately would make little sense, it’s easy to imagine a longer-term outcome similar to Hulu and Disney+, where the platforms gradually converge, becoming increasingly intertwined and harder to distinguish from one another.
KPop Demon Hunters: Netflix Movies FINALLY Break Through
Picture: Netflix
The Story: “Netflix movies don’t have any cultural impact.” That theory has circulated for years, but in 2025 Netflix finally broke through with two films that entered the zeitgeist. One did so at a stratospheric level, KPOP Demon Hunters, while Happy Gilmore 2 also made an impression, particularly in the US. These became the first Netflix films to appear on Google’s end-of-year list of most-searched movies, something the platform has long achieved on the TV side. KPOP Demon Hunters also received a limited theatrical release and continues to dominate the Top 10s, 28 weeks on.
Our Take: For a long time, Netflix’s movie division has been an easy target and often the butt of jokes. KPOP Demon Hunters, in particular, puts the idea that Netflix movies lack cultural relevance firmly to bed. Yes, it took nearly 1,000 releases to get here, but its performance in the Top 10s is extraordinary, even dethroning Red Notice from the top spot. It’s hard to imagine that achievement being matched anytime soon, if ever.
The Year of Stranger Things
Picture: Netflix
The Story: Netflix went all out on the final season of Stranger Things like never before, with an almost year-long marketing ramp-up unlike anything the platform has attempted for a single series.
Our Take: The numbers speak for themselves for Stranger Things, but the bigger issue is the hole it leaves in Netflix’s lineup. Yes, spin-offs are in development, but realistically, only animated projects are likely to fill the gap in the near term. A new live-action entry could still be years away. So what becomes the next Stranger Things for Netflix? Narnia? One Piece? Wednesday? It’s hard to say.
It’s also worth noting that the fan reaction to Volume 2 and the finale has been unlike anything seen before for a Netflix title. The level of fan theorising has been extreme, and backlash from certain corners of the fandom has been intense. That energy even spilled into viral theories claiming Netflix was hiding entire episodes or major sections from viewers, a strange phenomenon, but one only possible with a property that commands this level of attention.
Netflix’s Big UI Refresh
Picture: Netflix
The Story: After extensive testing throughout 2024, Netflix rolled out its bold new UI overhaul earlier this year, deploying it worldwide across connected TV devices. The update introduces fundamental changes to the menu system and to how Netflix looks and feels on these platforms. Smaller additions, including AI-powered search and a TikTok-style feed for mobile, were announced alongside broader refreshes to the mobile UI.
Our Take: I’m still mixed on the new UI, as many others were when they received the update. So far, there’s no clear evidence that it has led to reduced viewership or increased cancellations, which suggests the underlying metrics are strong enough for Netflix to stay the course. That said, there are plenty of valid criticisms, from how the interface functions to how certain elements are surfaced, along with the questionable usefulness of My Netflix. That’s before getting into several genuinely useful features that were removed entirely. The removal of Netflix Original branding is also a strange choice.
The AI-powered search doesn’t appear to have been fully rolled out yet, or it’s so subtle that it’s barely noticeable. The same goes for the promised TikTok-style feed on mobile, which, at least on my devices, has yet to materialise.
There have been genuine improvements, particularly in how collections work and how live events look and feel. It’s not all bad, but it very much feels like a work in progress.
The Start of WWE
Picture Credit: Netflix
The Story: Beginning in early 2025, Netflix became the global home of RAW and select premium events, as well as the international home for many of WWE’s other divisions. Viewership for RAW remained consistent throughout the year, and most early technical issues were ironed out fairly quickly. At this point, WWE programming has simply become part of Netflix’s regular lineup.
Our Take: Netflix has to move into sports, there’s no getting around it. If you want to be a modern streamer, offering year-round sporting events is effectively a requirement, and WWE on Netflix has largely delivered. There’s still a valid debate over whether WWE is growing because of Netflix or whether it’s simply the same audience watching in a different place. Even so, it’s been a solid partnership so far, despite some occasionally cringeworthy crossover marketing between WWE and Netflix properties.
The Year of Stunts
The Story: Netflix closed out 2024 with two massive live events, the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match and the NFL Christmas games. Many dismissed these as stunts, a label that stuck through 2025, as Stranger Things and KPop Demon Hunters received theatrical, or in the latter case, multiple, stunt-style showings. The boxing events continued with mixed results, with the most recent Jake Paul bout falling short of viewership expectations. Most other stunts throughout the year took the form of live events.
Our Take: If Netflix excels at one thing, it’s creating buzz. Its stunts throughout the year, particularly the theatrical ones, have largely been effective. Expect more of them, especially given Netflix’s tendency to acquire properties and fully embrace them across multiple formats.
Where are all the new long-running scripted drama series?
The Story: With some of Netflix’s biggest hits coming to an end this year, or possibly next, including Stranger Things, Outer Banks, and The Witcher, we expected a new crop of long-running shows to rise through the ranks in 2025. Nine English-language series that debuted this year received renewals, but beyond that, there was an overreliance on limited series and too few new shows positioned to launch major franchises.
Our Take: Titles like Virgin River, Wednesday, One Piece, and The Night Agent will carry the torch, but 2025 has not delivered many newly launched series that were renewed and look capable of running for many seasons. The major renewals this year were Ransom Canyon, Forever, Bet, Dept. Q, Untamed, Running Point, The Four Seasons, Bad Thoughts, and Leanne. Nearly half of those are comedies, and one was originally intended as a limited series before its success led to a renewal. Are any of these likely to become global hits that last a decade or more? I doubt it.
Netflix Games Does A Major Revamp
The Story: A major upheaval for Netflix Games, years after its debut. We saw acquired studios shuttered, executive turnover, games removed, development cancelled, and a monumental change in direction beginning in late 2025.
Our Take: Since Netflix Games launched, there has been a scattergun approach to figuring out what works. That led to a kind of golden age, similar to what we’ve seen when Netflix dives headfirst into new genres, as with Netflix Animation, marked by massive investment across the board. When the numbers failed to justify that scale, it triggered significant and often painful change.
The shift toward party games on TV, alongside kids’ and popular titles on mobile, feels like the right direction, but whether the engagement will follow remains an open question.
It’s also worth acknowledging that many of you reading this are probably still thinking, “Wait, Netflix has games?”
Netflix House
Picture Credit: Netflix
The Story: Over the years, Netflix has experimented with many in-person events, but those experiments evolved into a real-world, permanent (?) location, with Philadelphia launching first, Dallas next, and Las Vegas to follow. The concept is a space featuring Netflix shows and movies throughout, with various bookable activities and a lunch hall collaborating with Netflix Bites. Of course, many of Netflix’s competitors have real-life locations, with Warner Bros and Sony offering studio tours and Universal and Disney offering theme parks.
Our Take: I’m yet to get the concept of Netflix House, though I haven’t been (yet! it’s on my 2026 list of things to do), and shall reserve most judgment until I go there and get a feel for it. Early reviews have been strong, but whether these stay forever and have long-term appeal is another story. I can’t see people traveling far for these attractions, and I wish they had been built alongside Netflix’s studios in New Jersey and New Mexico so that you can get close to real-life sets, but I digress.
Some Early 2026 Predictions
The Podcast Viewership Boom Won’t Be There
The Story: Bubbling away throughout 2025 has been Netflix’s push into video podcasts, a strategy now confirmed through three major deals with iHeartRadio, Barstool Sports, and The Ringer. A slate of shows is set to debut in the United States in early 2026. On paper, the idea is straightforward: bring some of the biggest podcast brands to Netflix and encourage audiences to shift away from platforms like Spotify and YouTube.
Our Take: In theory, video podcasts are inexpensive to produce and capable of generating large amounts of watch time at relatively low cost. In practice, there’s little in the available data to get overly excited about. Many of these podcasts already struggle to pull meaningful viewership on YouTube, which raises questions about how much upside exists on Netflix. Some audience will inevitably follow, but Netflix has a long track record of failing to make weekly talk shows or similar formats stick, and it’s unclear why this attempt will be different.
There’s also a structural issue. Spotify and YouTube are designed for timely, frequently updated content like podcasts, while Netflix simply isn’t. The recent UI overhaul has made live content more visible. Still, unless there’s another radical shift in how these shows are presented or surfaced, it’s difficult to see video podcasts becoming Netflix’s next breakout category.
Sony Pictures First Window Deal Comes Up For Renewal
The Story: One of the biggest first-window deals Netflix has had with a studio in recent years in the US is with Sony Pictures, which is up for renewal this year.
Our Take: Will Netflix renew it? I could be swayed either way, but given it’ll be soon (maybe), I’m getting Warner Bros. and Universal movies, so I lean toward Netflix not renewing this deal, despite the fact that Spider-Man will be very appealing.
Biggest Hits of 2026?
We’ll be doing a complete fantasy draft of Netflix series and movies following Next on Netflix. Still, I think Narnia is going to be a monster, and I also think The Boroughs, executive produced by the Duffer Brothers, will also be a big success.
That’s the biggest stories of 2025 and some predictions for 2026 – what was your biggest story of 2025? Let us know in the comments.
