Apple TV’s “For All Mankind” could also be ending with season 6 (for motive), however the present’s universe is simply getting began. The unique sequence takes place in an alternate timeline the place the Soviet Union gained the house race by reaching the Earth’s moon earlier than the U.S. This creates a ripple impact whereby the 2 superpowers by no means stop competing in issues of science and know-how, giving rise to a much better timeline the place humanity reaches the cosmos.
This finally results in humanity colonizing Mars, with “For All Mankind” season 5 promising to take the present even deeper into anime territory in that respect. However “Star Metropolis” guarantees to take us again to the start and reveal a unique aspect of the house race. Certainly, the upcoming spin-off sequence will retell the story of the Moon touchdown from the angle of the Soviet Union. And quite than being a hopeful story in regards to the indomitable human spirit like its predecessor, it seems to be like a reverse model of “The Individuals.”
That is proper: I imply the FX interval spy TV drama starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as two KRB officers who pose as a married American couple within the Nineteen Eighties, juggling their roles as dad and mom to their U.S.-born youngsters and their duties as Soviet brokers.
The “Star Metropolis” trailer (see above) does, in reality, make the present really feel extra like a correct spy thriller exploring the risks and prices of working underneath the Soviet regime than a narrative about the unbelievable achievement of reaching the moon. Nevertheless, this additionally makes the spin-off come throughout as greater than an excuse to revisit this specific universe. Most notably, it takes place within the Nineteen Sixties and early ’70s, which suggests we’ll get to see how, precisely, reaching the moon first impacted the Soviet Union.
Star Metropolis seems to be extra like The Individuals than For All Mankind
As co-showrunner Matt Wolpert informed io9, “Star Metropolis” shouldn’t be going to observe the identical format as “For All Mankind” — that means, it will not leap forward in time from season to season. “It lives within the Nineteen Seventies. Chilly Struggle, spy thriller behind the Iron Curtain. And it is simply that period,” Wolpert defined.
Certainly, as co-showrunner Ben Nedivi famous, “We’re finished with the last decade time jumps and the make-up and the prosthetics.” As a substitute, the purpose was to make “Star Metropolis” really feel like its personal factor. “For us, this present shouldn’t be solely its personal present; it is its personal style. It is a completely totally different look, really feel,” Nedivi added.
This can be a terrific concept, and it makes good sense. Within the timeline of “For All Mankind,” tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union lower considerably through the years, and the 2 grow to be shut allies collaborating on the Martian colony in seasons 4 and 5. This, in flip, means there could be little motive to have the timeline of “Star Metropolis” overlap with these seasons. In lieu of that, the purpose is to maintain the present contained and ship an “Individuals”-like spy sequence set fully in the course of the peak of the Chilly Struggle. As such, “Star Metropolis” ought to make for a a lot totally different viewing expertise than “For All Mankind” and increase the franchise in an natural manner.
On prime of all that, it seems “Star Metropolis” will embrace few (if any) main characters from its mother or father sequence. Heck, that alone might make this present value trying out, even when you’ve but to look at a second of “For All Mankind.”
“For All Mankind” season 5 premieres March 27, 2026, on Apple TV. “Star Metropolis” will observe go well with two months afterward Might 29.
