Although The Expanse is currently the greatest sci-fi series on streaming, the iconic Prime Video show may not be able to hold onto that title for much longer. The sci-fi genre has experienced a small-screen explosion in recent years, with numerous acclaimed shows becoming big hits with critics and audiences alike. Apple TV’s The Expanse replacement Foundation had a shaky start with a season 1 critical rating of 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, but the ambitious Isaac Asimov adaptation’s worldbuilding paid off when seasons 2 and 3 each earned a perfect 100% from reviewers.

Meanwhile, Apple TV’s multiverse thriller Dark Matter managed to expand its story beyond the original source novel of the same name by Blake Crouch, a feat that it shared with Hulu’s acclaimed six-season adaptation of author Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Speaking of Hulu’s dystopian sci-fi shows, Paradise is swiftly becoming another critically celebrated entry into the sci-fi subgenre for the streaming service, while Severance, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and Silo all prove that Apple TV won’t be beaten by Hulu in the genre.

However, as popular as Foundation, Silo, and the rest of the shows listed above might be, The Expanse remains the gold standard by which all new sci-fi streaming originals are judged. Set in a future where humanity has colonized the solar system’s other planets, The Expanse boasted a complex, morally ambiguous story that garnered the show comparisons with HBO’s Game of Thrones throughout its six-season run. However, Prime Video’s Blade Runner 2099 now threatens to dethrone the series as the greatest sci-fi show of the streaming age.

The Expanse Is The Best Sci-Fi Streaming Original Around (For Now)

The irony of a spinoff of the Blade Runner movies threatening to topple The Expanse’s sci-fi genre dominance won’t be lost on fans of the Prime Video show. After all, The Expanse itself started out as a dark, noir-influenced mystery that owed a tonal and aesthetic debt to Blade Runner. Like director Ridley Scott’s seminal adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, The Expanse was initially a gritty, grim sci-fi mystery.

Based on a novel series by James S.A. Corey, a pseudonym for co-authors Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham, The Expanse followed Thomas Jane’s cynical, embittered detective Josephus as he investigated a conspiracy that threatened the uneasy relationship between the Martian Congressional Republic on Mars and the United Nations of Earth and Luna. As The Expanse continued, the show’s world fittingly expanded, and its tone and style of storytelling shifted as a result.

With more main characters to follow, The Expanse became less of a paranoid futuristic conspiracy thriller and more of an immersive space opera with a sprawling, multifaceted cast. Apple TV’s Silo went on to imitate this approach, gradually opening its story from a paranoid protagonist’s search for the truth to a broader portrait of a future society from various viewpoints.

Of course, the most obvious comparison here is HBO’s Game of Thrones, an adaptation of author George RR. Martin’s sprawling A Song of Ice and Fire saga that grounded the ambitious story by starting with Sean Bean’s Ned Stark and his investigation into the controversial parentage of King Joffrey. Like Game of Thrones, The Expanse got viewers invested in a single main mystery, so that the show could quietly build its huge cast of characters in the background. Like HBO’s Game of Thrones, The Expanse was also a massive mainstream success and a critical darling.

Blade Runner 2099 Has The Potential To Topple The Expanse

The big difference is that The Expanse never dropped the ball with a divisive finale, meaning the Prime Video series is remembered more fondly than its fantasy counterpart. Although Game of Thrones has since spawned the spinoffs House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, while The Expanse has not yet received a follow-up, the near-flawless critical reputation of Prime Video’s cult classic proves it is still the best sci-fi streaming show to date.

However, The Expanse may not be able to hold onto that achievement for long. Starring Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Michelle Yeoh and Euphoria’s breakout star Hunter Schafer, Blade Runner 2099 looks set to be the most visually impressive and inventive sci-fi show in years. The Prime Video series also seems like it will challenge the narrative of the Blade Runner franchise, as Blade Runner 2099 takes place in a future where humanity has lost an existential war against Replicants.

Prime Video’s The Expanse & Blade Runner 2099 Have A Big BTS Connection

via Everett Collection

Both produced by Alcon Entertainment, The Expanse and Blade Runner 2099 have a lot in common behind the scenes. Alcon Television Group’s shared involvement in the two shows means that Blade Runner 2099 could hopefully be just as original and innovative as the earlier Prime Video show.

Its first trailer certainly indicates that the creators have spared no expense when it comes to reinventing the fictional world of Scott’s original movie and 2017’s sequel Blade Runner 2049. Blade Runner 2099 already looks stunning, and the premise of a Blade Runner follow-up where Replicants are the ones calling the shots completely rewrites the ethical dilemma at the core of the franchise.

The original movies asked viewers whether Replicants could be considered sentient beings and what treatment they were owed by their creators. In contrast, Blade Runner 2099 now asks the audience to put themselves in the shoes of the Replicants and decide how much payback they can unleash on humanity before becoming irredeemable themselves.

If Blade Runner Doesn’t Top The Expanse, Apple’s Neuromancer Might

Of course, while the Blade Runner franchise’s return might be exciting, that doesn’t mean that Blade Runner 2099 is guaranteed to be as great as The Expanse. That said, another 2027 sci-fi show could still dethrone the Prime Video series as the best sci-fi show on streaming, judging by its incredible early trailers. An adaptation of author William Gibson’s cyberpunk novel of the same name, Apple TV’s Neuromancer looks like a wild thrill ride.

Since Neuromancer helped influence everything from The Matrix trilogy to the Ghost in the Shell franchise, it should come as no surprise that Apple TV’s long-awaited adaptation looks as visually stunning as it does gritty and brutal. With a stacked cast that can rival Blade Runner 2099’s lineup, this starry series may be the one to beat The Expanse’s historically great streaming success in the months to come.

Release Date

2026 – 2027-00-00

Network

Prime Video

Showrunner

Silka Luisa