Image via Netflix
Published Oct 21, 2026, 9:30 PM EDT
Makuochi Echebiri is a News Writer for Collider. He has been interested in creative writing from as far back as high school, and he would consume pretty much anything that’s film or TV. However, his truest love lies in the presence of historical epics and thrillers.
Lured by the brilliance of Middle Earth from an early age both in print and on screen, his palate has since expanded to other realms including Westeros, Kattegat among others. He also possesses a great appetite for the stories that emanate from the vastness of space. Even though he is no Avenger.
Obsessed with storytelling and having works of his own that have yet to make it to print, he is content to use that ability to communicate to as many as are reachable. In his spare time, he looks out for avenues where he can aid people aside from his plans to reign over this earthly realm. Yes…you heard that first here.
Sign in to your Collider account
As far as experiences go, very few things can come close to how it feels when things go catastrophically wrong when aboard an airplane. Several stories have explored that premise, from classics like Harrison Ford's action thriller Air Force One, Cillian Murphy's 2005 film Red Eye, and more recent entries like the first season of Hijack starring Idris Alba and Apple TV's high-budget miniseries Masters of the Air. Despite the aforementioned titles all holding significant appeal, albeit with distinct storylines, none of them comes close to the bizarre premise upon which NBC's fan-favorite series, Manifest, was set.
NBC premiered Manifest in 2018, and it came with a unique premise. Passengers had boarded a flight from Jamaica to New York City, but during the course of the flight, they experienced a period of intense turbulence. Ultimately, they land in New York to discover a horrifying truth: they were all presumed dead as their plane had taken off more than five years ago. Starring Melissa Roxburgh and Josh Dallas in leading roles, Manifest quickly built up a loyal following during the course of its three-season run. Ultimately, NBC decided to pull the plug on the series in June 2021 because it no longer fit the network’s ratings model. Streaming service Netflix stepped in and saved the series and onboarded the platform; Manifest and the story of Montego Air Flight 828 skyrocketed up the charts.
Despite already saving the series by offering it a home, Netflix has already announced plans to further expand the Manifest universe. In late August 2026, the streaming service announced a Manifest spin-off,Arrivals: A New Manifest Mystery, had been greenlit. Jeff Rake, who created the original series, returns to executive produce, co-create, and co-showrun the series with Margaret Easley and Laura Putney, both of whom are veterans of the original show. Now, per What's On Netflix, it has been revealed that Arrivals will have cameras rolling in January 2027. Latest production listings have the spin-off set to film in Vancouver, British Columbia, from January 19th, 2027, to June 9th, 2027.
Meet the Characters for 'Arrivals: A New Manifest Mystery'
While the episode count has not been released, they are listed as running at around 60 minutes each. Character breakdowns have also been made available, introducing some of the key figures. Zoe is our social worker lead, who is smart, compassionate, and courageous, despite growing up in the foster system. There is Mike Deaver, a former Air Force helicopter pilot who now works for the Department of Homeland Security. Billy is Zoe’s wealthy, charming ex-boyfriend with Sloane is a tough, loving, resourceful, and cautious character who also has a pulmonary condition that requires an inhaler. Wes and Selena are a pair of characters with history together, with Wes living off the grid with Sloane and Joe, whom he has raised for years. The aforementioned characters are series regulars. Director Gary Bolton, a by-the-book DHS director, and Francisco, a hardworking family man, are the only characters in the recurring cast. The logline for Arrivals reads:
"When a mysterious plane crash-lands in Denver, the passengers emerge with no memory of who they are, where they came from, or why they’re here. A young social worker and a novice Homeland Security agent team up with the new arrivals in an attempt to stop a humanity-ending catastrophe, discovering along the way that they are all part of the very puzzle they’re trying to solve."
Arrivals: A New Manifest Mystery is in development at Netflix; no release date has yet been announced. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
Release Date 2018 - 2023-00-00
Showrunner Michael Smith
Directors Romeo Tirone, Michael Smith, Claudia Yarmy, Dean White, Marisol Adler, Craig Zisk, Joe Chappelle, Paul Holahan, Ramaa Mosley, SJ Main Muñoz, Sherwin Shilati, Andy Wolk, Bosede Williams, Cheryl Dunye, Constantine Makris, David Frankel, Félix Enríquez Alcalá, Jean de Segonzac, Laura Belsey, Millicent Shelton, Nathan Hope, Nicole Rubio, Ruba Nadda, Tawnia McKiernan
Writers Jeff Rake, Laura Putney, Margaret Easley, MW Cartozian Wilson, Simran Baidwan, Matthew Lau, Ezra W. Nachman, Bobak Esfarjani, Marta Gene Camps, Darika Fuhrmann, Matt K. Turner, Sumerah Srivastav, Jeannine Renshaw, Amanda Green, Ryan Martinez, Margaret Rose Lester, Eric Haywood
English (US) ·