Prime Video's Captive's War Adaptation Will Make The Expanse's Villains Look Small

Published Aug 26, 2026, 3:15 PM EDT Memory Ngulube joined Screen Rant in April 2024 as part of the Movies and TV team. Since then, she has written for the Perennials and Streaming team, covering a wide range of topics from new releases to old movies and TV shows. Memory is currently a Classic TV writer. Before joining Screen Rant, Memory was a freelance copywriter who specialized in email marketing and social media management. While she enjoyed her job, her true passion was always movies and TV. When she isn’t writing for Screen Rant, Memory can be found reading, baking (which is one of her passions), or watching her favorite K-drama. The Expanse remains one of sci-fi TV's defining achievements, with its political intrigue, alien technology, powerful villains, and space adventures making it a top-tier genre series. Yet, Prime Video's next major space opera project has the potential to make even The Expanse's most intimidating villains seem comparatively small. With the success of The Expanse, Prime Video investing in another great space opera adaptation of a James S. A. Corey series is a no-brainer, particularly because of the upcoming live-action show’s potential to even surpass its predecessor. If that's not sweet enough, the new Corey show is also from the creators of The Expanse. The Captive's War books prove that Corey’s The Expanse series wasn’t a one-hit wonder. Currently, The Captive's War consists of The Mercy of Gods, published in 2024, and The Faith of Beasts, released in April 2026, with a third novel still forthcoming. The universe is also expanded by the novella Livesuit, which was published between the two main novels. Aside from being a well-written and engrossing story, The Captive’s War is so fascinating due to the sheer scale of the threat facing humanity. The story begins with the Carryx, a terrifying alien empire that conquers species and forces them into an endless struggle to prove their usefulness. While the Carryx are depicted as the primary antagonists, The Captive’s War includes other villains that would make even The Expanse's Marco Inaros run and hide. Captive's War's Swarm Will Be Way Bigger Than The Expanse's Villains The Expanse villains are nothing to sneeze at. Throughout the show’s six seasons, antagonists of varying strength and evil have not only terrified the crew of the Rocinante, but audiences as well with their diabolical plans. Early in the Prime Video series, one of the biggest threats comes from Protogen, the corporation secretly experimenting with the protomolecule, with Jules-Pierre Mao and his organization willing to sacrifice enormous numbers of people to understand and weaponize it. The sci-fi series continued upping its antagonist game with the introduction of the Free Navy and Marcos Inaros. However, the villains in the Prime Video series don’t hold a candle to the Swarm in The Captive’s War​​​​​​. The Swarm is one of the story's strangest and most important alien entities, as it isn't a traditional alien species like the Carryx. Instead, it is a network of nano machines created by the mysterious enemy of the Carryx, essentially functioning as a biological spy and infiltration weapon. Basically, the Swarm infiltrates other species by entering their bodies, integrating with the host's consciousness, and using the person's body, memories, and personality. What makes the Swarm more terrifying than the villains in The Expanse is that it's difficult to determine where the original person ends and the Swarm begins. The Expanse antagonists are more straightforward, with their motivations usually laid out for all to see. The Swarm, however, isn’t so clear-cut. Initially, it seems like it is merely a spy, but as the story goes on, it becomes even more terrifying. Captive's War's Multi-Species World Will Be A Challenge To Adapt In Live-Action The Captive’s War's greatest strength is that it is set in a galaxy populated by different alien species. That strength, however, could be its downfall in the novels’ live-action adaptation TV show. Unlike The Expanse, which could build much of its world around humans and make the occasional alien technology feel extraordinary, James S. A. Corey's new science-fiction story is much harder to bring to life. The Captive’s War's broader collection of alien life includes the Carryx, enormous, insectoid-like beings whose very presence is petrifying. While rak-hund, phylarchs of Astrdeim, sinen, soft lothark, and not-turtle are explored in depth, Corey’s new space opera also includes fascinating species like aunjel, colei, and temperantiae. Eventually, the series will also have to introduce the deathless enemy, another powerful species that the show needs to get right. All of these species have a part to play in the story, and thus the Prime Video show can’t just simply ignore them. Making sure these characters translate well to the small screen will not be easy. After all, they can’t just look like actors wearing costumes. This brings another challenge for the upcoming series, as making the variety of alien species look realistic will not be cheap. Prime Video will need to invest significant resources to ensure the world the series takes place in looks believable. If the live-action series nails these factors, then Captive's War may well be on the road to being bigger and possibly even better than The Expanse.