6 Greatest Sci-Fi Shows on Prime Video That Are 10/10, No Notes

Image via Prime Video Published Aug 1, 2026, 6:52 AM EDT Sign in to your Collider account Science fiction has always been the perfect genre to question the world we live in. Stories of distant planets, futuristic technology, and time travel have proven to be the perfect mirror of human fears and ambitions. Not only does the genre explore possible futures, but it also reflects on the present, and that is what makes it so impactful. Over the years, Prime Video has become home to some of the most ambitious and thought-provoking sci-fi storytelling that forces viewers to really think about the consequences of technology and progress. Here is a list of the greatest sci-fi shows on the platform that hit the perfect 10/10 mark. 'The Expanse' (2015–2022) Image via SYFY The Expanse has to be one of the most criminally underrated shows on Prime Video. At a time when sci-fi shows were focused on dramatic space wars and heroes who saved the galaxy in seconds, The Expanse told the story of a believable future. The show, based on the novels by James S. A. Corey, is a six-season saga that feels as lived-in and authentic as ever. The story follows a diverse group of characters, including United Nations Security Council member Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo), a detective Josephus Miller (Thomas Jane), along with ship officer James Holden (Steven Strait) and his crew, as they navigate the balance between Earth, Mars, and the Belt. The Expanse's commitment to realism is what makes it stand out. The show uses real physics to create a world where ships flip and burn for deceleration, a single bullet can rupture a hull, and the characters live with the constant threat of vacuum. Beyond science, though, the show's politics and human drama mirror social divides in the real world, which gives the story depth. The Expanse never underestimates its audience and trusts them to follow complex storylines and layered characters without ever overexplaining. Sure, the show is set in a high-tech future, but the narrative is still grounded in human elements of ambition, corruption, and compassion, which is what makes it stand out from the crowd. This one is a must-watch even if you aren’t a fan of the genre. 'Timeless' (2016–2018) Image via NBC Timeless was a total surprise. The show positioned itself as a straightforward time-travel adventure. However, when you start watching, you realize that it's far more than just that. The show, created by Shawn Ryan and Eric Kripke, follows history professor Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer), soldier Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter), and engineer Rufus Carlin (Malcolm Barrett) as they chase a rogue ex-NSA agent, Garcia Flynn (Goran Višnjić), through time to stop him from rewriting history. Each episode takes you to a different moment in America's past, from the Hindenburg disaster to the Salem Witch Trials, as the crew rushes to save the timeline and uncover the truth behind the mysterious organization Rittenhouse. Now, all of this might sound like too much, but Timeless is a masterclass in execution with how the narrative flows naturally. The show is a lesson in history and a high-stakes race against time that only keeps you wanting more. Spencer and Barrett, in particular, deliver Timeless's most powerful performances and turn its weekly "mission of the week" format into something that feels much more personal. The science in Timeless doesn't always check out, but once you look past that, you start to understand that the show is more about the human experience and less about the technicalities. 'Continuum' (2012–2015) Image via Showcase Continuum is a Canadian sci-fi sleeper hit that is still better than most of its American contemporaries. The show, created by Simon Barry, is set between 2012 and 2077 and follows Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols), a cop from the future who is pulled back in time with a band of condemned "terrorists" called Liber8. When Kiera is stranded in modern-day Vancouver, she starts to realize that her world, where democracy has collapsed and mega-corporations run everything, was never the utopia she thought it was. Continuum is way more than a time-travel procedural because the show places a lot of emphasis on grey areas. There are no purely evil characters here because every side believes that they are doing the right thing. Sure, Liber8's tactics are brutal, but their cause is completely valid, and even Kiera realizes that. At the same time, Kiera wants to do the right thing, but you can't blame her for being loyal to the oppressors in the future. That kind of uncertainty gives the show its edge. The storytelling in Continuum is airtight, and the show's use of functional visual effects like holographic interfaces and cybernetic implants feels practical rather than flashy. Continuum features grounded sci-fi to make the future feel all the more convincing, and that is the genius of the show. Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one. 🏜️Paul Atreides 🖖Capt. Kirk ✊Princess Leia 🔦Ellen Ripley 🔥Max Rockatansky FIND YOUR HERO → 01 How do you lead when the stakes couldn't be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you. AI absorb everything — every variable, every pattern — and move only when I know the path forward. BI read the room, make the call, and own the consequences. Hesitation costs more than mistakes. CI rally people. A cause needs a voice, and I refuse to let fear be louder than conviction. DI assess the threat, establish what needs doing, and get it done without waiting for permission. EI don't lead. I act. Others can follow or not — I'm already moving. NEXT QUESTION → 02 What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails. APrescience — the ability to see further ahead than anyone else and plan accordingly. BImprovisation — I'm at my best when the plan falls apart and I have to invent a new one. CConviction — I know what I'm fighting for, and that certainty doesn't waver under fire. DComposure — I stay functional when everyone around me is falling apart. Panic is a luxury. EEndurance — I outlast things. I take the hit and keep moving long after others have stopped. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What is the thing you'd sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass. AThe survival and dignity of my people — even if I have to become something frightening to ensure it. BThe safety of my crew — every single one of them. No one gets left behind. CFreedom — for my people, for every world still crushed under the weight of an empire. DThe truth — what actually happened, what's actually out there, whether anyone believes me or not. EThe one person — or the one memory — that still makes any of this worth surviving for. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are. AWith intensity and distance — I care deeply, but the weight I carry makes closeness complicated. BWith warmth and irreverence — I take the mission seriously, not myself. CWith directness and trust — I say what I mean, and I expect the people I work with to rise to it. DWith professional care but clear limits — I'll protect you, but I won't pretend we're family. EWith wariness that slowly becomes loyalty — I don't trust easily, but when I do, it holds. NEXT QUESTION → 05 You're facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you're the only one who sees it defines everything. APrepare in silence. If they won't listen, I'll be ready when they finally have to. BKeep pushing until someone listens — and if no one does, handle it myself. CBuild the case, find the allies, and make the threat impossible to ignore. DDocument everything. The truth matters even if no one believes it yet. EStop trying to convince anyone. Survive it. That's the only argument that counts. NEXT QUESTION → 06 What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they'd pay it again. AMy innocence — I've seen what I'm capable of, and I can't unsee it. BPeople I loved — the command chair has a view, but it's a lonely one. CA normal life — I gave up everything ordinary the moment I chose the cause. DMy sense of safety — I know exactly what's out there now, and I can't pretend otherwise. EAlmost everything — and I'm still not sure what I'm carrying it all for. But I keep going. NEXT QUESTION → 07 How do you feel about the rules of the world you're in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What's yours? AI understand them deeply — and I know exactly which ones must be broken, and why. BI respect the spirit of them and bend the letter when the situation demands it. CThe system is the problem. I'm not here to work within it — I'm here to dismantle it. DI follow protocol until protocol stops being useful. Then I make the call myself. EThe rules collapsed a long time ago. What's left is instinct, and mine are reliable. NEXT QUESTION → 08 When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you. ADestiny — or something that feels so much like it that the difference no longer matters. BThe people on my ship — their faces, their trust, the fact that they're counting on me. CThe belief that what we're fighting for is worth every sacrifice, including this one. DSheer refusal to let it win — whatever it is. I don't stop. That's just who I am. EI'm not sure anymore. But the road is still there, and I'm still on it. REVEAL MY HERO → Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible. Paul AtreidesYou carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you're capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become. You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you. You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn't ask for but can't escape. Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway. That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won't, is exactly you. Captain KirkYou lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you've always believed there's a third option nobody else has thought of yet. You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously. Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you've earned it. Kirk's genius isn't tactical — it's human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction. That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours. Princess LeiaYou are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you're fearless, but because giving up simply isn't something you're capable of. You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable. You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you've never looked back. Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion. That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you. Ellen RipleyYou are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone's hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters. You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself. Ripley's heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn't have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan. You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn't there. When it counts, you don't flinch. That's everything. Max RockatanskyYou have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril. You don't ask for help, don't need validation, and don't wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply. Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it's earned in silence and tested in action, not in words. Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting. That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 'Upload' (2020–2025) Image via Prime Video Upload is a sci-fi comedy that does everything right. The show takes a high-concept idea and turns it into something oddly heartfelt yet hilarious at the same time. The story, set in the year 2033, imagines a world where people can upload their consciousness into a digital afterlife, as long as they can afford the data plan, of course. The show follows Nathan Brown (Robbie Amell), a young programmer who dies unexpectedly, only to find himself uploaded into the virtual heaven Lakeview. However, things take a turn when he starts to suspect that his death wasn't an accident. Upload is extremely clever in how it makes fun of the very idea of the digital age, with Nathan realizing that his new life comes with its own set of paywalls, glitches, and an unforgiving algorithm. Now, all of this could have easily wandered off into parody territory, but the sharp writing in Upload never lets that happen. Nathan's chemistry with Nora (Andy Allo), a living customer service rep, is the heart of the show. Even when you know their relationship is doomed, you can't stop rooting for them. Through this rollercoaster ride of a narrative, Upload strikes the perfect balance between humor, romance, and what it truly means to be human. The show starts as a comedy about digital ghosts, but leaves you surprisingly moved by the end. 'Outer Range' (2022–2024) Image via Prime Video Who would have thought a sci-fi neo-Western would become one of Prime Video's greatest offerings? Outer Range might feel too slow-paced for some, but you can't deny that the show is as original as it gets. The story follows Josh Brolin as Royal Abbott, a Wyoming rancher who discovers a mysterious black void in his pasture. The stakes rise when a drifter named Autumn (Imogen Poots) wanders onto his land and sets off a chain of events that threaten reality itself. It's interesting how Outer Range tells a story about land and legacy while also standing as a cosmic mystery about faith, time, and destiny. These two genres shouldn't come together so effortlessly, but the brilliance of Outer Range lies in exactly that. Don't be fooled, though, because the show doesn't meet you halfway. You either pay full attention to the narrative or watch something else because Outer Range demands its audience fully engage with the characters and storylines. It's not every day that you see a drama that takes bold risks with its writing without falling flat, and the fact that Outer Range was canceled after just two seasons is a tragedy. 'The Boys' (2019–2026) The Boys is undoubtedly one of the greatest superhero shows of all time because of how it turns the genre on its head. Think of it as the antidote to your average superhero show that gets boring and predictable after the first few episodes. No shade to Marvel! The story is set in a world where superheroes or "Supes" are real, but they are controlled by a corrupt billion-dollar corporation called Vought International. Vought's superhero team is led by the terrifyingly manic Homelander (Antony Starr), who delivers the performance of a lifetime. You then have the Boys, a group of vigilantes led by Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), who want to bring the Supes down. The Boys is a biting satire that critiques celebrity culture and corporate greed. Not just that, the show also tackles bolder themes such as fascism, religious fanaticism, and racism. Every season shows just how easily we buy into manufactured ideas of morality. The great thing about The Boys is its moral ambiguity. No one in the show is purely good or bad, and every character is fighting for something they think is real. For a genre that's built on idealism, The Boys strips away the fantasy and shows you the rot within. The Boys Release Date 2019 - 2026-00-00 Showrunner Eric Kripke Directors Erin Moriarty, Karen Fukuhara, Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Eric Kripke Writers Eric Kripke Franchise(s) The Boys Main Genre Action Seasons 5 Creator(s) Eric Kripke Story By Garth Ennis Streaming Service(s) Amazon Prime Video Producers Eric Kripke, Neal H. Moritz, Jason Netter, Gabriel Garcia, Anslem Richardson, Karl Urban, Hartley Gorenstein, Antony Starr Executive Producer(s) Eric Kripke, Neal H. Moritz, Seth Rogen, Pavun Shetty, James Weaver, Ori Marmur, Evan Goldberg, Philip Sgriccia, Nick Barrucci, Ken F. Levin, Jason Netter, Gabriel García Márquez, Garth Ennis, Michaela Starr, Darick Robertson, Craig Rosenberg, Paul Grellong, David Reed, Rebecca Sonnenshine, Jessica Chou, Hartley Gorenstein, Dan Trachtenberg, Meredith Glynn, Judalina Neira, Gabriel Garcia