The Expanse (2015)
The Expanse is a 2015 drama series created by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby. It stars Steven Strait, Dominique Tipper and Wes Chatham.
Two centuries from now, humanity has spread across the solar system, and the old grudges between Earth, Mars, and the outer Belt sit one incident away from war. A missing woman pulls together an unlikely trio: weary Ceres detective Josephus Miller, idealistic ship's officer James Holden, and steel-nerved UN power broker Chrisjen Avasarala. What starts as a case unspools into a conspiracy that could shatter the system's fragile peace, complicated by alien technology no one understands. Adapted from the James S. A. Corey novels, the show keeps its physics honest and its politics grubby, treating space travel as work rather than magic.
Quick answers
What is The Expanse about?
Two centuries from now, humanity has spread across the solar system, and the old grudges between Earth, Mars, and the outer Belt sit one incident away from war. A missing woman pulls together an unlikely trio: weary Ceres detective Josephus Miller, idealistic ship's officer James Holden, and steel-nerved UN power broker Chrisjen Avasarala. What starts as a case unspools into a conspiracy that could shatter the system's fragile peace, complicated by alien technology no one understands. Adapted from the James S. A. Corey novels, the show keeps its physics honest and its politics grubby, treating space travel as work rather than magic.
When was The Expanse released?
The Expanse was released on 14 December 2015.
How many episodes does The Expanse have?
The Expanse has 62 episodes across 6 seasons.
Who made The Expanse?
The Expanse was created by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby.
Where can I watch The Expanse?
The Expanse is available on Prime Video, AppleTV and Fandango at Home.
Where to watch The Expanse
Stream: Prime Video
Buy: AppleTV, Fandango at Home
Official site
Cast
- Steven Strait as Jim Holden
- Dominique Tipper as Naomi Nagata
- Wes Chatham as Amos Burton
- Shohreh Aghdashloo as Chrisjen Avasarala
- Cas Anvar as Alex Kamal
- Frankie Adams as Bobbie Draper
- Cara Gee as Camina Drummer
- Shawn Doyle as Sadavir Errinwright
- Florence Faivre as Julie Mao
- Thomas Jane as Joe Miller
- Nadine Nicole as Clarissa Mao
- Keon Alexander as Marco Inaros
Similar series
Explore The Expanse guides
The Expanse in our writing
- Evergreen / Cross-media: Seven Science Fiction Worlds Worth Disappearing Into
- Companion guide: Cosmic Horror
- Companion guide: Generation Ships
- Companion guide: Hard Science Fiction: The Complete Guide to Rigorous, Realistic Futures
A few thoughts on The Expanse
The Expanse rewards a taste for lived-in, hard science fiction. Read the Project Hail Mary story for the same rigorous problem-solving under cosmic stakes. The comic Ghost in the Shell shares its blend of detective work and heady tech, while Half-Life 2 drops you into an occupied, politically charged future by hand. For dystopian mood, the album Deltron 3030 scores a similar broken tomorrow.
Hard sci-fi space opera with grubby politics
The Expanse keeps its physics honest and its politics grubby, one incident away from war between Earth, Mars and the Belt. These sprawling space operas share that scale and tension, following fragile alliances, hard choices and the slow slide toward conflict across whole star systems.
Sci-fi conspiracies that unspool from one small case
A missing woman pulls The Expanse's unlikely trio into a conspiracy that could shatter the system's peace. These science-fiction mysteries unspool the same way, starting with one small thread and pulling until something vast, strange and dangerous stands fully exposed.
Detective work in a lived-in science-fiction future
Weary detective Miller works The Expanse's central case like a noir gumshoe in a lived-in future. These stories put investigators to work in speculative worlds, blending hard-boiled detection with cybernetic cities and mysteries that only a future setting could hold.
More sci-fi to play and read next
If The Expanse has you hungry for more lived-in futures, these carry the feeling onto other formats. Play through a galaxy-spanning crew drama or read on into worlds of engineered survival and interstellar rescue, all built on the same grounded, high-stakes wonder.