Hulu Surprise Drops Full Season of A Major War Drama You’ve Never Even Heard Of

Shows like HBO’s Band of Brothers and FX’s Showgun have dominated the war drama genre on TV, but one recent series you probably haven’t heard of is now easier than ever to stream. The show, dubbed “India’s answer to Game of Thrones,” wasn’t included on Hulu’s August 2025 streaming list, but all eight episodes of its first and only season joined the streaming platform Monday. The Disney-owned streamer has been updating its TV show and movie offerings throughout the month, with new titles arriving daily.

The show in question is The Empire, an Indian period drama that focuses on the rise and fall of the Mughal Empire. Created by Nikkhil Advani and based on Alex Rutherford’s novel series Empire of the Moghul, the show centers around 14-year-old Babur (Kunal Kapoor), who “in the midst of scheming courtiers, ministers and a dead king…steps up to his destiny and leaves an indelible mark on history.” The series tracks his life from an adolescent to his death in India. All eight episodes of The Empire joined Hulu’s streaming service Monday, nearly four years after its original run on Disney+ Hotstar in India.

The Empire has been a mostly overlooked addition in the war drama genre, but with its focus on royal power struggles, outstanding costume and set design, and great cinematography, it drew comparisons to other big-name titles like Game of Thrones.

It wasn’t all good news for The Empire, though. The show faced pushback in India, where viewers called for a boycott of Hotstar upon The Empire’s premiere due to what was viewed as a glorification of King Babur, a controversial real-life historical figure. Critics, meanwhile, tanked the show’s acting and dialogue, as well as the fact that certain characters, plots, and even scenes appeared to be lifted from Game of Thrones and other projects. Vice’s Navin Noronah wrote that the series “has plot threads that are eerily similar to GoT, as well as shot-by-shot copies of several iconic scenes from the HBO show.”

Overall, The Empire secured a 4.7 out of 10 stars on IMDb. The series only ran for a single season, which is now streaming on Hulu in the U.S.

New on Hulu

The Empire is one of several new titles streaming on Hulu this month as the streamer updates its content catalog for August 2025. You can see Hulu’s recent arrivals below.

Foundation Forward: Complete Season 1
Kids Diana Show: Greatest Playtime Adventures: Complete Season 1
MTV Floribama Shore: Complete Seasons 1-2
Survivor: Complete Seasons 23-24
Undercover Boss: Complete Seasons 7 and 11
10 Things I Hate About You
28 Days
A Simple Favor
The Beach
Black Knight
The Brothers McMullen
Click
Coyote Ugly
Date Night (2010)
Devil in a Blue Dress
The Devil Wears Prada
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Did You Hear About The Morgans?
District 9
Equity
Evil Dead (2013)
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Father Of The Bride
Father Of The Bride Part II
Forrest Gump
The Full Monty
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
Ice Age
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
Ice Age: Continental Drift
Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs
Ice Age: The Great Egg-scapade
It’s Complicated
Kick-Ass
Old School
One Hour Photo
The Other Woman
Night Shift (2023)
Practical Magic
Pretty Woman
The Proposal
Raising Arizona
Ready Or Not
Resident Evil: Extinction
Rio
Robots
Scarface (1983)
The Sessions
Simply Irresistible
Stay
Super 8
Take Shelter
Taken
Thank You For Smoking
Thirteen
Under The Tuscan Sun
Weekend At Bernie’s
Win Win