The Best Science Fiction Show On Streaming Is Getting A Spinoff – With A Fascinating Premise
"For All Mankind" is one of the best shows of the streaming era, as well as one of the best science-fiction shows of all time. The series takes place in an alternate reality where the Soviet Union lands on the Moon first, which kickstarts an escalating chain of events that puts humanity on a path to the stars. It serves as a grounded bridge between our reality and the sci-fi future of shows like "The Expanse" or "Star Trek." In just four seasons, the show's characters have gone from dealing with the complications of landing a craft on the Moon to the first armed conflict on the Moon, colonizing Mars, and even lassoing an asteroid.
It is a stunning achievement, though not a hugely surprising one considering the show comes from Ronald D. Moore, who already contributed greatly to the genre with his work on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Voyager," and his revolutionary reimagining of "Battlestar Galactica" in 2004. That said, much of the show's appeal lies not with its sci-fi trappings, but its Cold War-era thrills, the spirit of competition (both good and nefarious) between the U.S. and the still-around Soviet Union, and the political intrigue and espionage between agencies.
If you find the story of Sergei Nikulov and Irina Morozova as fascinating as that of Ed Baldwin, we have great news for you. Turns out, Apple TV+ is all in on the space race, at least the one that concerns "For All Mankind." In addition to renewing the show for a fifth season set in the 2010s, the streamer has also announced a brand-new spin-off series titled "Star City," which has a fascinating premise.
Welcome to Roscosmos
"Star City" comes from "For All Mankind" creators Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert, and Ben Nedivi, with the latter two serving as showrunners of the spin-off. Apple TV+ describes the series as a "propulsive paranoid thriller" that takes us back in time to the moment that changed everything — when the Soviet Union put a man on the Moon. This time, we're going to see those events play out not from the perspective of the gobsmacked U.S., but from behind the Iron Curtain. The show promises to tell the story "of the cosmonauts, the engineers, and the intelligence officers embedded among them in the Soviet space program, and the risks they all took to propel humanity forward."
"Our fascination with the Soviet space program has grown with every season of 'For All Mankind,'" Wolpert and Nedivi said in a statement to the press. "The more we learned about this secret city in the forests outside Moscow where the Soviet cosmonauts and engineers worked and lived, the more we wanted to tell this story of the other side of the space race. We could not be more excited to continue building out the alternate history universe of 'For All Mankind.'"
Now, the big question regarding "Star City" is how long the show is meant to last. The wording on the announcement doesn't say this is a mini-series, so what if it keeps going? What if we see every moment in "For All Mankind" play out again, but from the perspective of Roscosmos? Imagine seeing every moment in the show, every great achievement, controversy, and disaster unfold again but from an alternate perspective. It sounds pretty ridiculous and weird ... in other words, exactly the kind of big swing that makes "For All Mankind" great.