Prime Video's New Show From The Expanse's Authors Is Closer To Star Trek Than Battlestar Galactica

The Expanse and Battlestar Galactica are quite often discussed for their similarities, but Amazon's upcoming replacement for the former actually has far more in common with the Star Trek franchise. Although the end of The Expanse season 6 would seem to mean the show is done, I was thrilled to discover the two authors who penned the source material are also behind The Captive's War - another Amazon space opera. I liked The Expanse's various nods to Battlestar, but knowing that Star Trek is a great influence on the authors this time around is very exciting.

Of course, the Star Trek timeline is one of the most expansive in sci-fi history. So, comparing a project to the iconic franchise arguably doesn't explain much about what it'll be about, as there are a lot of Star Trek TV shows and movies. However, the saga boasts many tropes of the genre that it helped to establish and popularize. So The Captive's War sounds like it will have a vast toolbox at its disposal for high-concept sci-fi storytelling.

The Captive's War Is Closer To Star Trek, Whereas The Expanse Was More Like Battlestar Galactica

Amazon's upcoming space opera sounds like it has borrowed things from the Star Trek franchise

Battlestar Galactica tried its best to be a relatively grounded space opera. There weren't any aliens, and most of those opposing the human characters were either other humans or artificial lifeforms called Cylons. Similarly, The Expanse largely stayed away from anything that could be considered too beyond the realm of possibility. Alien storylines started to creep into the story, but only in a passive kind of way. Overall, both shows remained focused on the struggles of humanity. Inversely, The Captive's War strays much further from the path.

Only one novel in the planned Captive's War series has currently been published, and it's called The Mercy of the Gods. The story revolves around a group of humans taken captive by a nefarious alien race known as the Carryx. Because extraterrestrial life isn't an active focus in The Expanse or Battlestar Galactica, the most direct comparison is to Star Trek, which is a franchise so large that there have already been many stories about humans being held captive by aliens. There are sure to be differences too, but it's a great basis for comparison.

The Captive's War's Proximity To Star Trek Ensures It Won't Just Be An Expanse Clone

Amazon won't try to directly replicate the success it had with The Expanse

Because James S.A. Corey is teaming up with Amazon again to create another space opera based on their source material, it sounds like the formula is set up to essentially rehash The Expanse. The show did very well for the platform, so I wouldn't have been surprised if that had turned out to be the case. Thankfully, The Captive's War sounds as though it's going to be a very different kind of space opera to The Expanse and Battlestar Galactica, and the Star Trek influence should inject new life into Corey's signature storytelling techniques.