If You Loved The Expanse, Watch These Sci-Fi Shows Next (Recent Picks)

If you love The Expanse, you probably love it for a specific mix: grounded sci-fi, complicated factions, believable politics, characters who feel like real people, and that constant sense that history is being made one messy decision at a time.

The good news: the last few years have been quietly stacked with shows that scratch the same itch, some in space, some on Earth, some in a future that feels uncomfortably plausible.

Here are my best sci fi shows like The Expanse (recent picks), with a quick “why you’ll like it” note for each.

1) For All Mankind (Apple TV+)

If you liked The Expanse for its “near-future realism” and political tension, this is the closest modern cousin. It’s an alternate history space race that gradually turns into a sprawling, multi-generation sci-fi saga with huge implications for technology, ideology, and power.

Why it hits the same vibe:

• Serious tone, big stakes, and “systems” storytelling (governments, agencies, pressure from above)
• Strong ensemble cast dynamics
• The science/engineering angle feels grounded and tactile

2) Silo (Apple TV+)

Not a space opera, but absolutely an Expanse-style “how society functions under stress” thriller. It’s about people living in a massive underground silo with strict rules and a mystery that slowly peels back layers of truth. If you love factions, secrets, and competent characters trying to solve big problems, this one is a binge trap.

Why it works for Expanse fans:

• Slow-burn mystery with real political consequences
• Great worldbuilding with rules, culture, hierarchy, enforcement
• Constant tension between “what people believe” and “what’s real”

3) Foundation (Apple TV+)

If you want the scope of The Expanse turned up to “galactic civilization,” this is a big swing: crumbling empires, long arcs, massive power struggles, and science-fiction-as-history. It’s less “hard sci-fi realism” and more “epic space politics,” but the scale is extremely satisfying.

Why it’s a good match:

• Political maneuvering on a huge canvas
• Power blocs with competing motives (and brutal consequences)
• A long-view approach to civilization, culture, and collapse

4) Andor (Disney+)

Yes, it’s Star Wars. No, it doesn’t feel like most Star Wars. This is a grounded political thriller about authoritarian systems, resistance movements, propaganda, and the cost of revolution told with serious writing and incredible tension.

Why Expanse fans tend to love it:

• Real politics, real oppression, real trade-offs
• Layered factions and competing agendas
• “People inside systems” storytelling (bureaucracy, surveillance, compromises)

5) 3 Body Problem (Netflix)

This one is more cosmic and mind-bending, but if you liked The Expanse for big ideas meeting human institutions, it fits. The premise spirals into existential sci-fi, with science, governments, and global consequences colliding fast.

Why it belongs on this list:

• Global scale and escalating stakes
• “Science changes everything” energy
• A steady sense that humanity is being tested

The book series is excellent as well, check out my review of the series here.

6) Severance (Apple TV+)

This is sci-fi as workplace horror, but the reason it clicks for The Expanse fans is the same core theme: systems shape people. It’s tense, weirdly funny, and constantly escalating as you realize just how deep the control runs.

Why it scratches the Expanse itch:

• Conspiracy that’s rooted in power and policy, not magic
• Characters trying to reclaim agency inside a machine
• Slow reveals that recontextualize everything

7) Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+)

If you like the “crew on a ship” part of The Expanse (the camaraderie, the moral dilemmas, the feeling of venturing into the unknown) this is the modern Star Trek entry that really lands. It’s more optimistic than The Expanse, but it’s smart, character-driven, and consistently entertaining.

Why it’s a solid follow-up:

• Strong ensemble cast chemistry
• High-concept episodes with actual themes
• Great “onboard life” energy without endless cynicism

8) Scavengers Reign (HBO Max)

If you ever watched The Expanse and loved the moments where space felt alien, huge, and indifferent this show is that feeling distilled. It’s survival sci-fi on a truly strange world, with jaw-dropping imagination and a tone that stays serious.

Why it’s worth your time:

• Unforgettable alien ecology and “living world” design
• Survival storytelling without cheap heroics
• A mood that’s equal parts wonder and dread

9) Fallout (Prime Video)

Not space, but it nails something The Expanse does incredibly well: believable factions with clashing values, messy politics, and a world that feels lived-in. It’s darker and often funnier, but the setting is detailed, the conflicts are meaningful, and the vibe is “civilization rebuilt wrong.”

Why Expanse fans may click with it:

• Competing factions and ideological warfare
• Strong worldbuilding and rules
• Characters forced into hard choices

10) Constellation (Apple TV+)

A more intimate pick: astronaut crisis meets reality-bending mystery. It’s not a sprawling political epic, but it has that Expanse-adjacent tone of “space is dangerous” and “something is not right,” with a tighter, thriller-like structure.

Why it’s a good recent pick:

• Space incident realism up front
• Mystery that stays tense and psychological
• Great for viewers who like sci-fi that feels unsettling

If you want the closest Expanse energy first

If you’re trying to replace The Expanse specifically, start here in this order:

1. For All Mankind
2. Silo
3. Andor
4. Foundation

That lineup keeps the serious tone, the politics, the factions, and the “choices have consequences” feeling that makes The Expanse so addictive.