For HBO Max subscribers, summer 2025 includes quite a few exciting releases on the platform.
Prestige drama fans can look forward to The Gilded Age and Task, while superhero fans should make sure to catch up on Peacemaker before the second season premieres.
There are also two significant — albeit very different — movies coming to the platform, one for kids and one for adults.
Check out Watch With Us’ list of the most anticipated HBO Max movies and TV shows of the summer below, ranked in order of how psyched we are about them.
5. ‘My Mom Jayne’ (June 27)Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay is best known for busting bad guys as Captain Olivia Benson. But My Mom Jayne, Hargitay’s first feature film as a director, shows fans a much more personal side of the actress. Hargitay was only 3 years old when her mother, actress Jayne Mansfield, died in a car accident. In this documentary, Hargitay examines the life and legacy of her late mother.
The film was nominated for the Golden Eye, the documentary prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Hargitay has called the moving film “a search for the mother I never knew, an integration of a part of myself I’d never owned, and a reclaiming of my mother’s story and my own truth.”
4. ‘The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie’ (June 27)On a lighter note, if you’re looking for something to watch with the kids, this critically acclaimed Looney Tunes flick is full of all the slapstick humor and zany shenanigans you’d expect from the iconic cartoon characters.
Eschewing the mildly overexposed Bugs Bunny, The Day the Earth Blew Up focuses on Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (both portrayed by veteran voice actor Eric Bauza) as they uncover a secret alien plot to enslave the human race using chewing gum. It’s genuinely funny and holds just the right balance of nostalgia and novelty. Check it out with the little ones. (Or on your own — we certainly won’t judge.) There is no streaming link available for this movie yet, but you can find it on HBO Max on June 27.
3. ‘Task’ (September 1)Mare of Easttown writer-producer Brad Ingelsby returns to HBO with another crime drama, this time starring Mark Ruffalo. Task tells the story of an FBI agent in the working-class suburbs of Philadelphia who puts together a Task Force dedicated to stopping a series of violent robberies. In addition to Ruffalo, the limited series features Tom Pelphrey (Ozark), Alison Oliver (Saltburn) and Fabien Frankel (House of the Dragon).
Fans of Mare can probably expect more thrilling mysteries, character development and gripping intensity from this crime drama. Though not many details have been released about Task yet, its pedigree nearly guarantees a suspenseful mini-series that will propel you from summer into fall.
2. ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 3 (June 22)If you’ve been missing Carrie Coon’s layered performance since season 3 of The White Lotus ended, have no fear — The Gilded Age will be back soon! This historical drama from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes is a fun and juicy soap opera examining New York City’s high society during the titular era. The stacked cast includes several powerhouse performers, including Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon. Coon plays Bertha Russell, a newcomer to the New York scene determined to be accepted despite her “new money” status.
Season 2 ended on a triumphant note for Bertha, with her patronage of the Metropolitan Opera House winning her major society points. But she used her rebellious daughter Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) as a bargaining chip — which, knowing Gladys, means trouble is just around the corner.
1. ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 (August 21)Casual superhero fans eagerly anticipating the July release of James Gunn’s Superman may not realize that Gunn’s DC Universe technically already started in 2022. (Actually, it sort of blends with Gunn’s 2021 film The Suicide Squad, which is semi-canon to the DCU — but let’s not get too deep into the particulars.)
Peacemaker follows antihero Christopher Smith, aka Peacemaker (John Cena), and his work with the covert government agency ARGUS. Alongside a cast of fellow misfits played by Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Chukwudi Iwuji, Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee, all of whom are funny and loveably damaged, Peacemaker attempts to save the world, while also unpacking the traumatic childhood he experienced as the son of a white supremacist (Robert Patrick).
Season 2 of Peacemaker will serve as a direct follow-up to Superman, and the trailer reveals that Green Lantern Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) will reprise their roles from the movie. If it’s anything like season 1, Peacemaker will continue to be funny, violent and surprisingly emotionally adept. It also has one of the best title sequences ever, so check it out.
