Have you noticed that there’s a lot of stuff on TV lately?

I don’t mean sitcoms and dramas. I mean stuff. Matter. Material. Substances. Particularly in opening title sequences of TV series, where all manner of effluvia flows, wends and re-forms, though the magic of C.G.I., into shapes and symbols that echo the themes of the program.

In “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” the Tolkien prequel that concerns the forging of the titular enchanted jewelry, gold dust swirls into images of circles, tree branches and other symbols resonant of the saga:

In “The Last of Us,” it’s the fungi responsible for turning humankind into zombies, which spreads across the screen, creating landscapes and images of the central characters:

In “The Wheel of Time,” it’s threads, the medium through which magic is “weaved” in the fantasy series:

In “Foundation,” more dust, or rather the grains of colored sand that are used to create artworks in the culture of its sci-fi empire:

Do you get it? You can hardly not. Whether they work in sand or spores, heavy-handed metaphor is the true material of choice for all these opening titles. The series are different in genres and tone. But all of them seem to have collectively decided that the best way to convey the sense of epic event TV is with an overture of shape-shifting, literal-minded screen-saver art.