8 Upcoming Sci-Fi Shows, Ranked by Anticipation

Image via Apple TV Published Aug 5, 2026, 5:41 PM EDT Michael Block is a 14 time GLAM Award nominated writer, producer, and host of the podcast Block Talk. Throughout his time in the entertainment industry, he has worked on and off Broadway as a stage manager, written several produced plays, critiqued hundreds of theatrical performances, drag and cabaret shows, and has produced events randing from drag competitoons to variety concerts! On Block Talk, he interviews nightlife personalities, covers the wide world of entertainment through features, ranking episodes, and recaps ALL of Drag Race, as well as Dragula and Survivor. He has interviewed hundreds of RuGirls that span the globe at DragCon NYC, DragCon LA, and DragCon UK. In his free time, he makes one-of-a-kind jewelry and gift baskets with his mom. He is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. Sign in to your Collider account The world of science fiction has provided television with some of the greatest stories. With more freedom and time to explore, sci-fi shows tend to become our favorite addictions as we're eager to see what comes next. Whether rooted in hard science or fantasy, the vast expanse of where the shows can go has allowed them to emerge as chart toppers. In 2026 alone, we've had some incredible shows debut or continue their narrative. From Paradise to Star City, the calendar year has been great for sci-fi. But what about the second half of the year and beyond? We are here to celebrate eight of the most anticipated upcoming sci-fi shows. This list will mix returning favorites with new series. Some spin-offs of beloved franchises. Others are adaptations of iconic novels. To rank this list, anticipation is based on a few factors, including the show itself, the project's history, and the material we've been given thus far. Some of them dropped mind-bending teaser trailers while others are keeping us in the dark. No matter what, they're making us shiver with anticipation. 8 'Stranger Things: Tales from '85' Season 2 Image via Netflix There was truly no way that Netflix could ever give up on Stranger Things after its conclusion last year. In the works before the final season was the animated series Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85. Taking place between the events of the second and third seasons, the series follows Eleven (Brooklyn Davey Norstedt), Mike (Luca Diaz), Dustin (Braxton Quinney), Lucas (Elisha "EJ" Williams), Will (Ben Plessala), and Max (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) as they form a local club known as the Hawkins Investigators Club (H.I.C.) to fight new Upside Down creatures like snow sharks and zombie pumpkins as residual spores from the Upside Down release these mutating underground monsters. Set in Hawkins, Indiana, after the lab was supposedly sealed, but before the events of the Starcourt Mall in season 3, the series introduces a transfer student and science tinkerer named Nikki Baxter (Odessa A'zion), whose mother, Anna (Janeane Garofalo), becomes the kids' substitute science teacher. Designed with vibrant animation to mimic a classic 1980s cartoon adventure, Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85 extends the iconic series through a much different lens. Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85 features creature-of-the-week mysteries with less gore than the live-action flagship series as it adds to the mythology and lore. The series is more sanitized than the original show, but its heart is pure. With its first season dropping this past April, the series is getting its second season within the same calendar year—a rarity in the world of streaming nowadays. Showrunner Eric Robles confirmed the seasons are tightly linked rather than isolated stories. It continues the interconnected story of the Hawkins kids with a brand-new paranormal threat emerging from local silver mines and a mysterious blue flower from the Upside Down. If you love Stranger Things, no matter how the main series ended, Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85 keeps the thrill alive with a little bit more lightness. 7 'Dark Matter' Season 2 Image via Apple TV One of the best sci-fi series in recent memory is Apple TV’s Dark Matter. Created by Blake Crouch and based on his book, the series follows physicist Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton) as he is kidnapped and wakes up in an alternate reality where his life took a different path. Kidnapped by an alternate version of himself who stole his life, Jason must travel through a multiverse of different possible lives to find his way back to his true family. Instead of fighting aliens or external monsters, Jason has to outsmart the most terrifying foe imaginable: his own mind and other versions of himself. A rare example of a show that utilizes the multiverse in a proper manner, the high-concept thriller is grounded by a story about the choices that define our lives. Dark Matter explores profound ideas about identity, regret, and whether our lives are the product of our circumstances or our decisions. Edgerton anchors the series, successfully portraying multiple versions of Jason, using subtle shifts in nuance and body language to separate the family man from his ambitious counterpart. Alongside Jennifer Connelly as Daniela and Jimmi Simpson as Ryan Holder, Dark Matter is a brilliantly acted series. The first season clipped along quickly, and after much anticipation, Dark Matter Season 2 returns at the end of August. The excitement of the second season is that it extends beyond Crouch’s source material. The stakes of the multiverse is heightened as the narrative explores the dangerous consequences of the reality-bridging "Box" technology falling into other hands. The new season will see character arcs expand significantly, with Daniela's growing paranoia pushing her to the limit and Jason's obsession with the Box deepening. Expect big moments also coming from Leighton Vance (Dayo Okeniyi) and Amanda Lucas (Alice Braga). With no blueprint to predict the narrative, Dark Matter is excitingly heading to uncharted territory.​​​​​​​ 6 'Vought Rising' Season 1 Image via Prime Video We may have to wait until 2027 for the official debut of Vought Rising, but the anticipation is through the roof as there is no other The Boys series to look forward to. RIP Gen V. Whether you were disappointed by the finale of the flagship series or not, Vought Rising is set to establish the world as a prequel. Developed by Paul Grellong, the 1950s-set story follows the early, bloody origins of the Vought corporation, the exploits of a prime Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), and the dark maneuvers of Clara Vought (Aya Cash), the future Stormfront, as they navigate a twisted murder mystery. As a group of outgunned, scrappy humans tries to track down and expose the powerful supes, the story navigates how early Nazi science and Compound V were weaponized into public propaganda. With seeds already planted throughout the series, especially during Season 5, the period noir Vought Rising shifts away from modern satire into a paranoid, historical era of consumerism and early Cold War military-industrial complex crossover. It replaces the main show's sprawling anti-supe rebellion with a focused, twisted investigative plot as it explores the primitive V1 version of Compound V, revealing how the system was corrupt from day one. It’s set to trace Soldier Boy’s younger days and the formative struggles that built his later persona, as well as Clara’s early diabolical maneuvering and her complex, dangerous relationship with Soldier Boy. Joining returning stars Ackles and Cash as the supes will be Mason Dye as Bombsight, Will Hochman as Torpedo, and Elizabeth Posey as Private Angel. With die-hard fans hungry for more action, Vought Rising will fill the void left in this dark superhero universe. ​​​​​​​ 5 '3 Body Problem' Season 2 Image via Netflix If there is one sci-fi series that requires your undivided attention, look no further than 3 Body Problem. Based on a brilliant novel series by former computer engineer Liu Cixin, the Netflix thriller follows a tight-knit group of brilliant present-day scientists and a rugged detective confronting an impending alien invasion. Their crisis traces back to a fateful choice made by a young woman in 1960s China that echoes across space and time, causing the laws of physics to unravel. Created by David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo, the story explores existential panic, scientific breakdown, advanced virtual reality technology, and humanity's fragmented response. The ambitious drama is a fast-paced global apocalypse featuring a high-concept mystery, sensational visual spectacle, and an engaging focus on humanity facing an existential threat. 3 Body Problem is masterfully mind-bending unlike anything on screen today. The series tackles cosmic sociology, chaotic stellar mechanics, and a terrifying countdown to an alien arrival 400 years in the future. The show uses a cryptic VR game to bridge the gap between human scientists and the alien San-Ti perspective. Rather than a singular isolated protagonist like the book, 3 Body Problem groups a dynamic team of young scientist friends, the Oxford Five— Dr. Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo), Jack Rooney (John Bradley), Dr. Augustina "Auggie" Salazar (Eiza Gonzalez), Dr. Jin Cheng (Jess Hong), and Dr. Will Downing (Alex Sharp)—whose bonds are tested by impending doom, giving the story more legs to stand on. The second season is set to adapt Liu’s second book in the trilogy, The Dark Forest. Using this story as the blueprint, Season 2 will shift focus to the psychological and strategic nightmare of the cosmic sociological "dark forest" premise, where humanity must independently formulate defense strategies against an approaching alien fleet. New star Claudia Doumit has stated that Season 2 is “worth the wait.” Joining Doumit for Season 2 will be newcomers Ellie de Lange, Alfie Allen, David Yip, and Jordan Sunshine. If 3 Body Problem’s highly acclaimed first season is any indicator, Season 2 will be extraordinary. ​​​​​​​ Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you'd actually make it out of alive. 💊The Matrix 🔥Mad Max 🌧️Blade Runner 🏜️Dune 🚀Star Wars TEST YOUR SURVIVAL → 01 You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one. APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it. BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don't keep you alive. CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who's pulling the strings. DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it. EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can't fix a broken galaxy alone. NEXT QUESTION → 02 In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires. AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don't need resources — you can generate them. BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it. CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity. DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on. EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you're honest about what you're actually afraid of. AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant. BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left. CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you're a problem, you're already out of time. DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn't even know I was playing. EThe Empire tightening its grip until there's nowhere left to run. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you deal with authority you don't trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything. ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it. BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better. CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy. DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can't beat a system you refuse to understand. EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen. NEXT QUESTION → 05 Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn't just tactical — it's physical, psychological, and very much about where you are. AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — cramped, artificial, but with access to everything that matters. BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is honest. CA dense, rain-soaked city where you can disappear into the crowd and nobody asks questions. DMerciless desert — extreme heat, no water, and something enormous living beneath the sand. EThe fringe — backwater planets and busy spaceports where the Empire's attention rarely reaches. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are. AA tight crew of believers who've seen behind the curtain and have nothing left to lose. BOne or two people I'd trust with my life. Any more than that and someone talks. CNobody, ideally. Alliances are liabilities. I work alone unless I have no choice. DA community bound by shared hardship and mutual survival — people who need each other to last. EA ragtag team with wildly different skills and total commitment when it counts. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they're actually made of. AI won't harm the innocent — even the ones who'd report me without hesitation. BI do what I have to to protect the people I've chosen. Everything else is negotiable. CThe line shifts depending on who's asking and what's at stake. DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people's future, even if it'd help now. ESome lines, once crossed, can't be uncrossed. I know which ones they are. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another. AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it. BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving. CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out. DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations. EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else's boot. REVEAL MY WORLD → Your Fate Has Been Calculated You'd Survive In…Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for. The MatrixYou took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You're a systems thinker who can't help but notice the seams in things. You're drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it. You'd find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines' worst nightmare. You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it. The Matrix built an airtight prison. You'd be the one probing the walls for the door. Mad MaxThe wasteland doesn't reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That's you. You don't need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon. You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you're good at all three. You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider. In the wasteland, that distinction is everything. Blade RunnerYou'd survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely. You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer. In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional. You're not a hero. But you're not lost, either. In Blade Runner's world, that distinction is everything. DuneArrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards. Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they're survival tools. You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory. Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You'd learn its logic and earn its respect. In time, you wouldn't just survive Arrakis — you'd begin to reshape it. Star WarsThe galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn't have it any other way. You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion. You'd gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire's grip can be broken. You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn't something you're capable of. In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 4 'Lanterns Season 1 Image via HBO Max Similarly to Marvel, DC seems to be having a tad more success on the small screen, more so than on the big screen. Hoping to continue that trend is the third television series in the DCU, Lanterns. A gritty, grounded detective drama, the upcoming HBO series follows veteran intergalactic cop Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and new recruit John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) as they investigate a dark murder mystery in the American heartland that uncovers a massive cosmic conspiracy, revealing shape-shifting extraterrestrial threats have infiltrated Earth. Styled like a grounded crime thriller rather than a standard action-heavy superhero project, Lanterns embraces a tense, slow-burn mystery approach reminiscent of prestige crime dramas. Developed with heavy creative involvement from acclaimed producers like Damon Lindelof and showrunner Chris Mundy, Lanterns aims to explore distrust, dark local secrets, and ancient horrors through the guise of a recognizable IP. The story will center on the uneasy, complex mentor-mentee relationship as Hal grapples with seeing John as his potential replacement. The narrative moves through multiple timelines, using flashbacks to detail Hal Jordan's history and his complicated relationship with the classic comic book villain Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen). Diehard fans are eager to see the classic sleeper-agent robotic villains, the Manhunters, and the paranoia they'll bring. Rounding out the ensemble will be Laura Linney, Kelly Macdonald, Garrett Dillahunt, Nicole Ari Parker, and Jason Ritter. Nathan Fillion also makes an appearance as fellow Green Lantern Guy Gardner, tying the show into the broader cinematic DC slate. Every time new information seeps out of ComicCon, it gets fans eager for a release. Lanterns was no different. Once the fans recited the Green Lantern oath with Fillion there in person, the hype skyrocketed. ​​​​​​​ 3 'Blade Runner 2099' Season 1 Image via Prime Video Celebrated speculative fiction author Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is expanding once more as the third installment in the Blade Runner franchise is coming to Prime Video. Created by Silka Luisa, Blade Runner 2099 jumps 50 years ahead of the film Blade Runner 2049. Set in a Los Angeles reborn under a replicant era where artificial beings hold dominance and control a fragile society, a human fugitive named Cora (Hunter Schafer), who has spent her life running and changing identities, and a dying replicant named Olwen (Michelle Yeoh) partner as Blade Runners to hunt a dangerous runaway. The mismatched pair tracks down a rogue runaway hiding a secret capable of collapsing their entire post-uprising city. Flipping the script, Blade Runner 2099 retains classic noir roots with an investigative mystery driving the overarching plot. Luisa worked closely with original director Ridley Scott and Blade Runner 2049 writer Michael Green to protect canon while still introducing its own evolution and identity. The creative team introduces a "sunshine noir" aesthetic, retaining the gritty texture of the original dystopia but filtering it through a hot, coastal, and sun-lit atmosphere. Moving from feature films to an eight-episode limited series format gives the narrative more room to unpack complex noir mysteries and philosophical themes. With the trailer just dropping in San Diego, the teaser for the sci-fi world brought more intrigue. In addition to Yeoh and Schafer, Blade Runner 2099 will feature Dimitri Abold, Lewis Gribben, Daniel Rigby, Johnny Harris, Amy Lennox, Sheila Atim, Matthew Needham, Tom Burke, and Maurizio Lombardi. Thanks to Blade Runner 2099, cyberpunk is alive and well!​​​​​​​ 2 'Neuromancer' Season 1 Image via Apple TV Science fiction fans have literally been waiting forever for a live-action adaptation of William Gibson's 1984 novel, Neuromancer. The wait is officially over thanks to Apple TV. Created by Graham Roland and J. D. Dillard, Neuromancer follows Case (Callum Turner), a damaged top-tier hacker given a second chance at life in exchange for his skills, who teams up with Molly (Briana Middleton), a cybernetically enhanced "razor-girl" assassin, as they are pulled into a high-stakes digital heist targeting a powerful corporate dynasty. They are assembled by mysterious operatives on behalf of a powerful artificial intelligence to penetrate the defenses of the ultra-wealthy Tessier-Ashpool corporate dynasty. Set in a bleak, neon-lit near-future dystopia defined by unchecked corporate power, street-level grit, and early explorations of cyberspace, the series tackles themes of societal decay, artificial intelligence, and human control. Neuromancer is the granddaddy pioneer of cyberpunk fiction. A heist thriller set in a digital dystopia, the 10-episode series breaks the decades-long "unfilmable" curse with a high-budget production, with involvement from Gibson himself. With Apple TV at the forefront of sci-fi hits like Severance and Pluribus, the series is in more than capable hands. In addition to Turner and Middleton, the main cast of Neuromancer will feature Emma Laird, Joseph Lee, Clémence Poésy, Peter Sarsgaard, and Mark Strong, with recurring stars Dane DeHaan, Max Irons, and Andre De Shields, among others. Set to release weekly beginning January 22, 2027, the bar is set quite high, so expect a very vocal and opinionated fanbase!​​​​​​​ 1 'VisionQuest' Season 1 Image via Marvel Studios Marvel Cinematic Universe fans have been feeling a bit of whiplash recently. The latest film in the MCU, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, has received critical acclaim. The hype for Avengers: Doomsday is high, even though some wig choices are causing much concern about what’s to come. The year kicked off well with Wonder Man, only for the second season order to be reneged. So, now we’re left to anticipate VisionQuest, the conclusion of the metaphysical trilogy after WandaVision and Agatha All Along. Created by Terry Matalas, VisionQuest follows the "White Vision" (Paul Bettany) as he works to recover his lost memories, emotions, and a true sense of humanity after the events of WandaVision. The series explores deep-seated themes of intergenerational trauma and legacy, centering heavily on the complicated relationship between Vision and his "creator/father" figures. VisionQuest trades massive multiverse battles for an intimate, character-driven story about identity, artificial intelligence, and generational family dynamics as it tackles what it means to be human from an AI's perspective. VisionQuest will feature the highly anticipated return of James Spader as Ultron, appearing inside Vision's mind as part of his internal firewall and memory landscape. The series features several iconic artificial intelligences and robotic characters brought to life or re-contextualized, including James D'Arcy as J.A.R.V.I.S., Orla Brady as F.R.I.D.A.Y., and Emily Hampshire as E.D.I.T.H. For Marvel fans, the biggest addition to the story is the expansion of the Maximoff family as Ruaridh Mollica joins the cast as Thomas Shepherd, aka Speed, the twin brother of Billy Maximoff (Joe Locke). With strong, intelligent science-fiction storytelling from Matalas, VisionQuest will have its own strong identity. Fans are hopeful that further tie-ins with other young heroes and lingering mystical/technological plot threads from across the MCU will set up the future of the franchise.