War Of The Worlds Meets Silo In Apple TV's 3-Part Sci-Fi Series

Published Sep 7, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020. While one of Apple TV’s most ambitious sci-fi shows couldn’t quite pull off a flawless blend of Silo and War of the Worlds, the show did prove that the streaming service’s ambitions know no bounds in the genre. Apple TV’s upcoming Brandon Sanderson adaptation, The Stormlight Archive, will see the streaming service finally enter the epic fantasy game years after Netflix, HBO, and Prime Video all offered viewers impressive contributions to the genre. Although Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings prequel, The Rings of Power, is one of the most expensive TV shows ever made, Netflix’s The Witcher is almost as vast and epic in its scope, as is HBO’s Game of Thrones franchise. Apple TV has not yet offered viewers a fantasy show that shares this sense of scale and ambition, but this is due at least in part to the streaming service’s focus on sci-fi, instead. When Apple TV’s Asimov adaptation Foundation began back in 2021, critics were left befuddled by the sheer complexity of its world building. The knotty, convoluted lore of season 1 earned the show a solid 78% Rotten Tomatoes rating from reviewers, but this shot up to a flawless 100% for seasons 2 and 3 after the show got its initial information overload out of the way. Similarly, the big-budget series Invasion proved Apple TV was unapologetically doubling down on ambitious sci-fi. Invasion Is One of Apple TV’s Most Ambitious Sci-fi Shows Unfolding in real time like 24 or the HBO hospital drama The Pitt, Invasion depicts an alien invasion of earth from the eyes of five disconnected characters from across the world. By choosing ordinary characters to follow, instead of political or military leaders, Invasion gets down into the intimate nitty-gritty of its realistic extraterrestrial attack. This isn’t unheard of, with both 2010’s Monsters and Steven Spielberg’s 2005 version of War of the Worlds attempting something similar. However, it also wasn’t an unambiguous success for the show. Although Netflix’s 3 Body Problem also approached alien contact with humanity from five different perspectives a few years later, Invasion’s slow pace frustrated many reviewers when the show was first released. More than one critic sardonically noted that the show could have been titled "Evasion" thanks to its patient, arguably excessively slow pacing. Invasion’s Critical Struggles Highlight Apple TV’s Improvement Although Invasion’s initial reviews were highly critical, some critics noted that the show’s slow pacing meant its eventual alien unveiling was more impactful, while others noted that its sophomore season was a marked improvement on its debut outing. Certainly, the series is a lot better than 2025’s comically terrible War of the Worlds remake, and the late, great Sam Neill gives a typically superb performance early on. However, if there is one thing that the show can be credited with, it is displaying Apple TV’s eagerness to expand its offerings in the sci-fi genre. In the years since Invasion debuted, the streaming service has offered viewers the multiverse thriller Dark Matter, the hugely popular corporate sci-fi satire Severance, the dystopian sci-fi Silo, and two more successful seasons of Foundation. Even the Monsterverse spinoff Monarch: Legacy of Monsters has seen the streaming service offer a stronger take on the giant monster attack genre, while the alternate history sci-fi series For All Mankind and its spinoff Star City prove that Apple TV can do grounded, globe-trotting sci-fi stories, too. Thus, while Invasion isn’t perfect, it was a sign of things to come for Apple TV. Looking back on the show’s three seasons now, the ambition on display in Invasion was proof that the streaming service had big plans, even if the show itself was a little uneven. Although imperfect, Invasion’s unique blend of War of the Worlds and Silo remains an important moment in Apple TV’s evolution. Release Date 2021 - 2025-00-00 Network Apple TV+ Showrunner Simon Kinberg Cast Golshifteh Farahani Aneesha Malik Shioli Kutsuna Mitsuki Yamato Directors Alik Sakharov, Amanda Marsalis, Brad Anderson, Jamie Payne, Mathias Herndl, Sylvain White, Daisy von Scherler Mayer Writers Dan Dietz, Tatiana Suarez-Pico, Aditi Brennan Kapil Creator(s) Simon Kinberg, David Weil