9 Near-Perfect Sci-Fi Shows On Hulu

Hulu doesn’t have one brand of sci-fi series — its strength is its variety. Hulu’s range of shows in the genre includes prestige drama, franchise horror, philosophical experimentation, and animated sitcoms. That array of sub-genres is what makes Hulu such a rewarding destination for sci-fi fans. Some of its best genre shows build expansive alien worlds, while others use time travel, artificial intelligence, or futuristic technology to explore deeply human questions. The streamer's willingness to take chances has produced some of the best TV shows of the decade.

Whether you're looking for a self-contained miniseries, a sprawling space opera, or an animated comedy that gets surprisingly existential, Hulu has a sci-fi show worth getting lost in. These nine series stand out for how effectively they execute their ideas. Some are more overlooked than others, but each offers something distinctive that makes them stand up to some of the best sci-fi TV series of all time.

The First

2018

An underrated co-production between Hulu and British television network Channel 4, The First is a thoughtful and character-driven sci-fi drama. The series follows a team of astronauts preparing to become the first humans to travel to Mars, exploring not only the dangers and sacrifices of an ambitious space mission, but also the emotional toll on the people left behind.

Sean Penn leads a terrific ensemble cast as Tom Hagerty, a veteran astronaut navigating the complicated personal costs of space exploration. Created by Beau Willimon (House of Cards), the series takes a grounded, prestige-drama approach to its premise, prioritizing human relationships, grief, ambition, and the psychological pressures of an extraordinary undertaking over futuristic technology or extraterrestrial adventures.

That makes The First a somewhat unconventional pick for a sci-fi binge, since it doesn't actually reach space until the end of its first and ultimately only season. However, viewers who appreciate thoughtful, emotionally complex science fiction will find plenty to love before liftoff.

Paradise

2025-Present

Hulu’s Paradise pilot begins with a town that looks as American as apple pie, complete with idyllic neighborhoods and seemingly ordinary suburban life. Then, the pilot’s final reveal pulls back the curtain, exposing a community built inside a bunker beneath a hollowed-out mountain.

It’s a terrific twist that establishes the setting for this prestige post-apocalyptic thriller without immediately giving away all its secrets. Created by Dan Fogelman (This Is Us), Paradise marks a tonal shift for the writer, trading family melodrama for a tense mystery about power, control, and survival after the end of the world.

Paradise season 2 expands beyond the bunker and asks bigger, more metaphysical questions than ever. The third and final season has a lot to wrap up if Paradise is introducing time-travel elements this late in the game.

Solar Opposites

2020-2025

Solar Opposites is an animated adult sitcom that brings an edgier, more irreverent sensibility to Hulu's sci-fi lineup. This makes sense, as it was developed by Justin Roiland (Rick and Morty) and Mike McMahan (Star Trek: Lower Decks) for Fox before moving to Hulu, where it ran for six seasons.

Solar Opposites follows Korvo, Terry, Jesse, and Yumyulack, a family of aliens who crash-land on Earth and must learn to live among the humans they find baffling. Like 3rd Rock from the Sun, Solar Opposites flips the usual sci-fi formula by bringing extraterrestrials to Earth rather than sending humans into space.

However, its anarchic humor, outrageous alien technology, and gleefully absurd storylines take the premise in much wilder directions. The series became a major success for Hulu, earning praise for its inventive comedy and willingness to push boundaries. Solar Opposites is a perfect binge for Rick and Morty fans.

11.22.63

2016

Though most famous for horror, some of Stephen King’s best stories venture into science fiction. Hulu’s 11.22.63 adapts King’s novel into a gripping time-travel thriller with a deceptively simple premise: a portal transports anyone who enters it to the same moment in the past, giving them a chance to change history.

James Franco stars as Jake Epping, an ordinary man recruited to travel back in time and prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. However, as Jake becomes increasingly attached to his new life in the 1960s, he discovers that the closer he gets to his goal, the more the past actively resists being changed.

Although its time-travel mechanics make 11.22.63 a compelling sci-fi series, the genre elements serve more as a narrative hook than the main attraction. Instead, the miniseries unfolds as an immersive period drama about love, sacrifice, and the consequences of trying to change the past. With just eight episodes, it's an easy binge.

The Orville

2017-2022

Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville began as a comedic homage to Star Trek, but it gradually evolved into one of the most sincere modern tributes to classic science fiction. Set aboard a mid-level exploratory spaceship, the series follows Captain Ed Mercer (MacFarlane) and his crew as they navigate interstellar conflicts and wrestle with ethical dilemmas that extend far beyond the stars.

The first two seasons aired on Fox, with the third moving to Hulu as The Orville: New Horizons. While season 1 occasionally struggles to balance MacFarlane’s trademark humor with the show's more ambitious storytelling, season 2 finds a stronger rhythm, delivering increasingly thoughtful sci-fi adventures alongside the comedy.

By season 3, the series embraces longer episodes and more serious themes, proving it can stand alongside the genre classics that inspired it. For fans who miss Star Trek: The Next Generation’s ethical dilemmas, elaborate alien societies, and hopeful vision of humanity’s future, The Orville offers that same flavor of episodic space exploration, with a healthy dose of irreverent comedy.

Futurama

1999-Present

Futurama is much more than The Simpsons creator Matt Groening's sci-fi comedy. It's a surprisingly heartfelt, intellectually clever, and consistently inventive sitcom that uses the future to poke fun at the present. The series follows Philip J. Fry, a young man accidentally cryogenically frozen for 1,000 years and revived on December 31, 2999.

He finds work at Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery company staffed by lovable misfits who are hardly conventional by 31st-century standards. Between its futuristic technology, alien civilizations, time-travel paradoxes, and razor-sharp satire, Futurama delivers some of television's most imaginative science-fiction comedy.

Yet its emotional storytelling is just as important, with episodes exploring loneliness, family, and loss that can hit surprisingly hard. The show's devoted following has also helped it defy cancellation multiple times, returning after Fox and Comedy Central ended its runs before finding a new home on Hulu for Futurama season 14.

Future Man

2017-2020

Few sci-fi shows embrace the absurd possibilities of time travel quite like Future Man. This outrageous comedy stars Josh Hutcherson as Josh Futterman, a socially awkward janitor whose obsession with a seemingly unbeatable video game unexpectedly makes him humanity's last hope.

When two time-traveling soldiers recruit Josh to help save the future, he finds himself thrown into a chaotic mission that quickly spirals beyond anything he could have imagined. Future Man blends science-fiction adventure with crude humor, outrageous genre parodies, and increasingly ridiculous timelines, turning the familiar premise of changing history into an unpredictable comedic playground.

Future Man season 1 tells a particularly satisfying, self-contained story, while seasons 2 and 3 venture into increasingly bizarre territory, sometimes sacrificing the original's tight structure for sheer lunacy. But that's part of the appeal: Future Man treats time travel like a playground for the most unhinged comedic ideas imaginable, gleefully breaking its own rules whenever a bigger joke is possible.

Alien: Earth

2025-Present

Alien: Earth breathes new life into one of sci-fi's most iconic franchises with a visually daring style and genuinely terrifying horror. Created by Noah Hawley (Fargo), the FX and Hulu series brings the franchise's signature extraterrestrial nightmare to Earth for the first time, exploring what happens when humanity's most dangerous discovery lands on its own doorstep.

When the deep-space research vessel USCSS Maginot crash-lands on the planet, a young hybrid woman named Wendy and a group of tactical soldiers stumble upon a discovery that could threaten the entire world. Blending corporate intrigue, unsettling body horror, and the franchise's trademark creature-driven terror, the series expands the Alien universe while establishing an identity of its own.

Its strong performance for FX and Hulu has helped secure its future, with season 2 in development. For sci-fi fans who want their futuristic world-building served alongside relentless dread and nightmare-inducing creatures, Alien: Earth is essential viewing.

Devs

Few sci-fi shows challenge viewers' understanding of free will and reality as boldly as Devs. Created by Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Civil War), this eight-episode FX miniseries follows a software engineer investigating a mysterious division at her tech company after her boyfriend's sudden death.

What begins as a technological thriller gradually becomes a mind-bending exploration of determinism, consciousness, and whether humanity has any control over its own fate. Nick Offerman delivers one of his most surprising performances as the company's enigmatic CEO.

Rather than relying on conventional sci-fi tropes, Devs breaks every rule of time travel in the most creative way. It's also a series that rewards a second viewing, as its central revelations fundamentally change how earlier scenes resonate.

Unfortunately, its March 2020 release coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic's disruption of television, and it never received the attention its ambitious ideas deserved. For fans of more cerebral sci-fi, Devs is an addictive binge on Hulu.