Pictured: 3 Body Problem, Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales, Gears of War, Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix
Sci-fi is seeing a bit of a resurgence in recent years with a slew of new shows and movies in the genre. Netflix, not to be outdone, has its own slate of upcoming sci-fi titles, including a handful of new series. Below, we’ll walk you through all the new sci-fi shows we currently know about.
Want to see what Netflix has in store for you on the movie side when it comes to sci-fi? We’ve got you covered with our preview of titles, including Rebel Moon, Bioshock, and Spaceman.
There are a couple of returning shows that won’t be listed below. Those are Arcane (returning for a season 2) and Power Rangers (returning for season 30 in fall 2023).
3 Body Problem
Coming to Netflix: January 1st, 2024 (date subject to change)
Picture: Netflix
It’s hard to understate how excited we are for perhaps Netflix’s soon-to-be flagship sci-fi series that comes from the creators of Game of Thrones.
Based on the beloved Chinese book series, the new show’s humanity faces a grave threat from beyond. Thanks to the efforts of a woman in 1960s China, a group of scientists today have a chance of averting said threat.
The cast for the series includes Jovan Adepo, John Bradley, Liam Cunningham, Eiza González, Jess Hong, Marlo Kelly, Alex Sharp, Sea Shimooka, Zine Tseng, Saamer Usmani, Benedict Wong, and Jonathan Pryce.
Bodies
Coming to Netflix in 2023
Picture: DC Comics
Coming to Netflix from Moonage Pictures is this new British adaptation of the eight-issue miniseries from Vertigo and DC.
The plot of the new show that comes from Paul Tomalin revolves around four detectives in four different time periods in London who find themselves investigating the same murder.
Stephen Graham, Derek Riddell, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, and Kyle Soller star.
Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix
Coming to Netflix: October 19th, 2023
Picture: Netflix
From visionary Adi Shanker (behind Netflix’s Castlevania series and Dredd) this is what you might call an animated mash-up between several Ubisoft properties bought together in a slick cyberpunk package.
Here’s what you can expect from the series:
“The series is set in an alternative 1992 in the country formerly known as the USA. Now called Eden, it is a technocracy ruled by propaganda and corruption. Super-soldier Dolph Laserhawk has just been betrayed by the love of his life and locked up in Eden’s top security prison Supermaxx. He must now lead a team of rebel outcasts on risky undercover missions in order to survive.”
El Eternauta
Picture: Netflix
From Argentina comes an ambitious new project that adapts the graphic novel by Héctor Germán Oesterheld that was illustrated by Francisco Solano López.
The series will follow Juan Salvo (played by Ricardo Darín), who is working with a group of survivors battling an alien threat during heavy snowfall.
Gears of War
Picture: Xbox Studios
Not only are we getting a movie set in the world of Gears of War, but we’re also getting an adult-animated series too.
Much more is currently known about the movie adaptation, so keep it locked on What’s on Netflix for more when we get it.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Picture: PlayStation Studios / Guerilla Games
Another of Netflix’s upcoming video game adaptations that also crosses into the sci-fi realm is Horizon Zero Dawn which is getting an adaptation via Steve Blackman and Michelle Lovretta.
The game (and the series) is set in a post-apocalyptic world where robotic dinosaurs and tribes battle it out.
Hummingbird Salamander
Michael Sugar is reportedly developing this sci-fi novel from Jeff VanderMeer that was first announced five years ago in 2018, with the book not released until 2020. It’s unclear where the show is in development as of 2023.
The story is about a security consultant receiving an envelope with a key to a storage unit that holds a taxidermied hummingbird and clues leading her to a taxidermied salamander.
Mech Cadets
Coming to Netflix: August 10th, 2023
Picture: Netflix
Just around the corner is the new animated sci-fi series based on the Greg Pak comic Mech Cadets. The new series comes from Boom! Studios and Japanese animation studio Polygon Pictures.
The series is about a new recruit to the coveted mech cadets force that battles alien invaders with cutting-edge Robo Mechs.
Ming-Na Wen, Aparna Brielle, Daniel Dae Kim, Debra Wilson, and Victoria Grace lend their voices to the series.
Orbital
Steve Blackman (the showrunner behind The Umbrella Academy for Netflix and the aforementioned Horizon: Zero Dawn) is also currently developing a new project for Netflix in the form of a sci-fi thriller series called Orbital.
Very little is known about the series thus far beyond it being a “thriller event series set on the International Space Station.”
David & Keith Lynch will write on the project.
Parasyte: The Grey
Cast for Netflix’s Parasyte: The Grey
From South Korea, this new horror-sci-fi series is hotly anticipated from the region and is set to star Koo Kyo-hwan, So-nee Jeon, and Jung Hyun Lee.
Based on the manga series, the show is about a group of humans who wage war against the rising evil of unidentified parasitic life forms that live off of human hosts.
Climax Studio is behind the show; if you loved Hellbound, this will be right up your street.
Pluto
Coming to Netflix: October 26th
Picture: Netflix
One of the many sci-fi/fantasy anime projects in the works is Pluto which will drop towards the end of October 2023. The series adapts the beloved manga and is about seven advanced robots and their human allies being picked off individually by an unknown entity.
For more on the upcoming anime series Pluto, check out our preview for the anime series.
Recursion
Picture: Recursion Book Cover
This book adaptation at Netflix was first announced in 2018, but we’ve had no word on its development ever since. Shonda Rhimes and Matt Reeves were the two big creatives behind the show, with Betsy Beers also on board.
The series, which would spawn a big universe per the original trade reports, is about “A brilliant female scientist invents a powerful technology that allows people not just to reactivate their most visceral memories but to reinvent them entirely.”
Stranger Things (Season 5) and Spin-offs
End of Stranger Things Season 4 – Picture: Netflix
Stranger Things is not only Netflix’s biggest sci-fi franchise; it’s one of the biggest shows on Netflix still.
Although the flagship Stranger Things series is set to end with the fifth and final installment, we’ll see the universe as a whole expand in the coming years with a new live-action title, anime title, animated series, a stage show, and video games all set to release.
Supacell
Picture: Netflix
On the superhero side of the sci-fi genre, Supacell is perhaps one of our most anticipated projects. The completely original series from Rapman is set in London and follows what happens when five ordinary people that unexpectedly develop superpowers.
The cast for the new series includes Eddie Marsan, Tasin Cole, Nadine Mills, Eric Kofi Abrefa, and Calvin Demba.
The Boroughs
Matt and Ross Duffer; Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews
The Duffer Brothers, best known for their series Stranger Things, will be dipping back into sci-fi with the help of Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews for a series called The Boroughs which was announced in April 2023.
Here’s the premise of the series:
“In a seemingly picturesque retirement community in the New Mexico desert, a group of unlikely heroes must band together to stop an otherworldly threat from stealing the one thing they don’t have… time.”
Read more on The Boroughs in our full preview here.
The Moon Represents My Heart
The Moon Represents My Heart book cover – Picture: pimwangtechawat.net
First announced by The Hollywood Reporter in 2022, 21 Laps Entertainment and Shawn Levy (executive producer on Stranger Things) will be adapting this new novel from Pim Wangtechawat into a limited series. Actress Gemma Chan (The Eternals) is set to star and executive produce.
The book launched in early 2023 and per the author’s site, here’s what you can expect:
“The Wang family are hiding a secret – they all have the ability to time travel. When parents Joshua and Lily depart for the past and never return, their children Tommy and Eva are forced to deal with their grief alone. Eva might be trying to find her place in the present, but Tommy is pulled further and further into a past that he hopes holds the truth. When he falls in love with a woman from a different era, his inability to confront his own history has severe ramifications for the people who can truly bring him happiness.”
What new sci-fi series are you looking forward to checking out on Netflix in the future? Let us know in the comments down below.
Netflix Synopsis: "Amid the stark discord of twin cities Piltover and Zaun, two sisters fight on rival sides of a war between magic technologies and clashing convictions."
