Prime Video’s upcoming Captive’s War TV series could be a game-changer for sci-fi TV, which is undergoing massive changes. Until relatively recently, when the high-budget epic fantasy Game of Thrones broke the rules for streaming TV, sci-fi has usually been the genre at the cutting edge of technology, visual effects, and even social commentary. The best sci-fi TV shows of all time tend to present a vision of the future that may be exciting or dystopian, but always offers a new idea, with some TV shows becoming unforgettable classics.

Apple TV has been praised for excellent sci-fi and giving a chance to ambitious source material that some may have deemed “unadaptable,” like Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels. However, Prime Video is quickly catching up, with many of the best sci-fi TV shows streaming on Prime Video being near-perfect. Fallout defied expectations for its adaptation of the video game series of the same name. The Boys has pushed boundaries with biting satire of today’s America, and The Expanse remains a sci-fi masterpiece for its realistic storytelling. Now, The Captive’s War could become the streaming platform’s new flagship show.

Sci-Fi TV Has Taken A Massive Leap Forward On Streaming

Taking into account the success of major sci-fi franchises now, it is often hard to believe that sci-fi was once considered a relatively niche genre, with most shows enjoying cult success rather than mainstream acclaim. The most famous and influential sci-fi franchises of all time, like Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who were always well-known, but now, even smaller productions can gain a fanbase on a streaming platform. This, in turn, fuels the demand for more TV shows, resulting in this being a very exciting time for the genre.

There will likely always be a place for a great low-budget sci-fi TV show, but now some of the major series are given enormous budgets that allow the production quality to be extremely high. Stranger Things broke records with its budget, which could reportedly reach $30 million per episode, and Andor was not far behind, spending around $27 million per episode.

This new trend for high budget epics has been both a blessing and a curse for the sci-fi genre. The approach allows key scenes in masterpiece sci-fi novels to be brought to life. However, it can also be limiting, with executives reluctant to allow a show to grow an audience over time, prioritizing immediate success over slow-burn storytelling. Still, while Netflix often cancels sci-fi shows too early, Apple TV has often given them more of a chance, leading to some of the most ambitious sci-fi TV shows to date, while Prime Video appears to be following its example.

Prime Video’s The Expanse is a timeless sci-fi that has been praised by critics, audiences, and even scientists, with astrophysicists praising the show’s commitment to realism. The series is the streaming platform’s best sci-fi show to date, and one of the most ambitious in the genre. As the team behind its success will be adapting The Captive’s War, another story that could previously have been considered unadaptable, this will be a test for the platform, and for the sci-fi genre in general.

Prime Video’s Captive’s War Will Be A Huge Test For What Sci-Fi Can Achieve On Streaming

The Captive’s War is an epic sci-fi trilogy and series of novellas and short stories by James S.A. Corey (the joint pen name for its authors, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, who also wrote The Expanse.) Like many works of great sci-fi, including Star Wars and Foundation, its main theme is the fight for survival, with humanity being conquered by an alien race known as the Carryx. The first book, The Mercy of Gods, centers on Dafyd Alkhor, a captured human research assistant who is trying to maintain his humanity while being subject to alien rule.

The scope of the show has been compared to Star Trek for its ambition and complexity, featuring a wide range of alien races, and with the Carryx Empire resembling Star Trek‘s Terran Empire. However, while The Captive’s War carries a thread of hope, it is much darker than Star Trek, and heavily inspired by The Bible’s Book of Daniel. This heavy source material and extensive worldbuilding are likely to prove a major challenge for what the sci-fi genre can achieve on streaming,

It has been suggested that The Captive’s War must make a major book change in order to succeed, by adapting the second book first, as the initial book in the trilogy is extremely slow burning. The characters are often highly introspective, which is a difficult thing to convey onscreen in a way that will capture the attention of audiences, and the sheer scale of the events presents both large and small-scale obstacles. Representing the world will require an excellent visual effects team, while the smaller scenes cover academia, complex biology, and political twists.

That said, recent sci-fi TV shows that have found success on streaming platforms have proven that even seemingly-impossible premises can be adapted. The best example is Foundation, which covers the rise and fall of empires, exploring the ways in which mathematics can predict these major historical events, while human actions can alter those trajectories. Another series that appeared to be a test of faith for its creators was Dark, which incorporated mind-bending timelines and multiverses. The Captive’s War will be a challenge, but if it is successfully adapted, this could change the game for the sci-fi shows of the future.

The Expanse’s Success Is An Encouraging Sign For Captive’s War

Image courtesy of Everett Collection

As The Expanse‘s original nine-book series was also written by James S. A. Corey, the writers have already proven that they can carry an epic story. With The Faith of Beasts novel now out, this is an even more exciting sign as this gives more source material to work with. One roadblock that the Game of Thrones writers met was surpassing the source material. However, as the Captive’s War books have been released in relatively quick succession, with just two years between publications, this may not pose as much of an issue as it could.

The Captive’s War adaptation is being made by The Expanse‘s creators, with the critically-acclaimed space opera’s showrunner, Naren Shankar, and director, Breck Eisner, both being confirmed to be working on the project. After the success of The Expanse, which has an impressive 95% positive critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it is likely that they may be afforded a high budget and large amount of creative freedom when adapting The Captive’s War, which is an encouraging sign for the show.

The Captive’s War adaptation will make The Expanse look small by featuring humanity as a tiny force against a seemingly all-powerful enemy, while The Expanse presented humanity as much more consequential. That said, The Expanse is a perfect example of the way in which a population can succeed. The show was originally canceled by Syfy before being picked up by Amazon Prime after fan outcry. This response and result should prove that no matter how mind-bending, The Captive’s War TV adaptation should be given room to grow.

Release Date

2015 – 2022-00-00

Network

SyFy, Prime Video

Showrunner

Naren Shankar, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby

Directors

Breck Eisner, Jeff Woolnough, David Grossman, Kenneth Fink, Rob Lieberman, Terry McDonough, Thor Freudenthal, Bill Johnson, David Petrarca, Jennifer Phang, Mikael Salomon, Sarah Harding, Marisol Adler, Anya Adams, Nick Gomez, Simon Cellan Jones

Writers

Georgia Lee, Robin Veith, Hallie Lambert, Matthew Rasmussen, Ty Franck, Naren Shankar, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Daniel Abraham, Dan Nowak

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  Dominique Tipper

  Naomi Nagata