Apple TV’s sci-fi TV showFoundationis one of the most exciting additions to the genre to premiere in the 2020s, but it’s far from the only series to watch that chronicles an epic space adventure.Foundationseason 3is right around the corner, set to premiere on July 11th, but in the meantime, it can be difficult to wait for the next installment. However, the space opera genre is full of well-written and far-reaching stories. These qualities makeFoundationso popular, but the series took its cues from earlier shows that paved the way for epics likeFoundation.
Though theFoundationshow is different from Isaac Asimov’s books, these changes are what made it possible to bring the story to life onscreen. Adapting a sci-fi book series for television is complicated, and it’s impossible to please everyone when bringing these narratives to life. Fortunately,Foundationand iconic works likeThe Expanseare able to take the existing plots and characters and shape them to fit into the television landscape with ease.The Expanseis too often overlooked within the sci-fi genre,but it’s a series worth investing in.
The Expanse Is An Incredible Sci-Fi Show With Fascinating Worldbuilding
The Expanse Is An Overlooked Sci-Fi Epic
Thanks to the source material,The Expanseis bursting with well-crafted political alliances, cultural conflicts, and self-motivated characterswho are doing their best to exist in the complex world they’ve been born into. The show primarily follows the political machinations between the governments of Earth and Mars in the distant future.The Expansefocuses on the crew of the spaceship Rocinante as they realize how deep the corruption of these intergalactic governments goes as new technologies come into play. Though the setting is vastly different from our own, the social issues parallel our reality.
The Expansewas nearly gone for good following its cancellation after season 3, but the series was picked back up by Amazon Prime and ran until season 6. This gaveThe Expansethe chance to grow and evolve throughout its run, earning the moniker of space opera thanks to the intricacies of the plot. Though there are a lot of characters, governments, and new social contexts to keep track of when diving intoThe Expanse, the show successfully makes the audience care deeply about all of these factors from the beginning.
Like Foundation, The Expanse Also Makes Clever Changes To The Source Material
The Expanse Takes Liberties With The Original Text
Written by James S.A. Corey, AKA Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck,The Expansenovels span nine installmentsand many additional novellas and short stories that flesh out the story’s world. Any series with that many books and characters is always tough to adapt for the screen because there’s so much lore to explain that must be balanced by character development and action. WhileThe Expansedidn’t get to bring every book in the series to life, it was able to omit some aspects of the text to benefit the story’s momentum, andFoundationdoes the same.
TheFoundationnovels aregreat sci-fi books likeThe Expanse. It’s clear when reading the original books that Abraham and Franck were influenced by well-known authors like Asimov. ThoughThe Expansenovels lent themselves to being adapted more than Asimov’s dense material, both shows had to make compromises to appeal to a wide array of audiences. Whileit can be polarizing to make changes to beloved books,it’s often necessary, and both series were able to maintain the heart of the narratives while ensuring that the story moved quickly.
The Expanse’s More Limited Budget Didn’t Stop It From Being A Sci-Fi Epic
Even With Fewer Resources, The Expanse Doesn’t Struggle To Be Engaging
The Expanseis a far-reaching series, but its budget wasn’t always the biggest. However,it was able to be visually appealing and incorporated cohesive design by being creativewith the sets and practical effects.
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A lower-budget sci-fi series can lean into the more kitschy and scrappy elements of its world, which can be charming. However,The Expansestrikes the perfect balance by carefully choosing when to incorporate the big, more expensive locations and moments and using these scenes as a reminder of just how big the story is.
Money and resources can’t replace a strong story, and that’s whatThe Expanserelies on.
Additionally, money and resources can’t replace a strong story, and that’s whatThe Expanserelies on in the moments when the series has to make do with less explosive effects or action sequences.Foundationand most Apple TV+ shows benefit from the resources and budgets available to them thanks to the streamer. WhileThe Expansedid move to Amazon Prime, another big-name streamer, for its last three seasons, it still was never quite popular enough to warrant the high budgets of other series. However, this makes it even more impressive that it made the impact it did.
