Hulu's 16-Part Sci-Fi Series Renewed For Season 3 Is A Dystopian Masterpiece

One Hulu show proves that the streaming service can produce true masterpieces in the sci-fi genre, even if the dystopian hit’s story could be too trippy for some viewers. If the six-season run of The Handmaid’s Tale provided anything, it was that Hulu was a force to be reckoned with in the world of small-screen sci-fi. Even though author Margaret Atwood’s original novel of the same name was a slight tome that was light on plot, Hulu’s acclaimed adaptation expanded far beyond the book’s story with its six-season run.

While Netflix’s 3 Body Problem and Prime Video’s The Expanse prove that there is no shortage of smart, cerebral sci-fi on every streaming platform, Hulu’s competitor Apple TV has still emerged as the biggest voice in the genre in the years since The Handmaid’s Tale ended. Silo, Foundation, Severance, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and Apple TV’s upcoming William Gibson adaptation Neuromancer all prove that the streaming service is unafraid of spending big budgets on smart sci-fi, leaving every other creator scrambling to keep up.

Fortunately, Hulu has not given up on the dystopian sci-fi genre just yet. Debuting in January 2025, the post-apocalyptic thriller Paradise earned the streaming service a nomination for Outstanding Drama Series at the Primetime Emmy Awards as well as a near-perfect critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Set in a massive underground bunker three years after the end of the world, Paradise initially follows the story of Sterling K. Brown’s Secret Service agent Xavier Collins as he investigates the killing of the president.

Paradise Is Destined For Cult Classic Status In Years To Come

A masterpiece of the dystopian genre, Paradise borrows a trick from Prime Video’s acclaimed sci-fi The Expanse by starting out as a mystery thriller and gradually expanding the show’s scope to become something stranger and stronger. With a large cast including Shailene Woodley, Sarah Shahi, Nicole Brydon Bloom, Enuka Okuma, and James Marsden as the late president, Paradise untangles a complex, thrilling conspiracy slowly while introducing viewers to its sci-fi setting.

Like so many great dystopian dramas, Paradise’s world is an ersatz mirror of our own, and the show uses its setting and characters to comment on contemporary politics and culture. However, this sly satire never comes at the expense of an entertaining story, and Collins’ search for the truth behind the president’s death ensures that the shadowy conspiracy at the heart of the series is always its primary story focus.

While Netflix’s acclaimed sci-fi anthology Black Mirror introduces a new set of characters with each new episode, Paradise’s longer story allows the show to flesh out its cast and expand their storylines with each new season. While season 1 was a huge hit, earning an 86% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, season 2 fared even better with a 90% critical rating. Paradise was renewed for a third season in March 2026, meaning viewers can be sure the heady, trippy sci-fi thriller will be able to keep its complex story going.

Paradise isn’t Brown and series creator Dan Fogelman’s first collaboration, although, surprisingly enough, the pair’s last project doesn’t have much in common with the paranoia dystopian sci-fi thriller. Years before the Hulu hit began, Fogelman created the hit NBC family drama This Is Us, a time-jumping generational saga in which Brown starred in his breakout role as Rebecca and Jack’s son, Randall Pearson.

Although the poignant drama of This Is Us doesn’t seem to share many superficial similarities with the propulsive dystopian action of Paradise, the two shows have one interesting thing in common. Like Paradise, This Is Us cleverly concealed massive plot twists with its flashbacks, giving Fogelman a chance to road-test this storytelling style in a drama before Hulu’s dystopian masterpiece utilized this twisty plotting to great effect.