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Published Mar 19, 2026, 11:31 PM EDT
Dani Kessel Odom (they/them) is an autistic lead writer and TV critic who frequently covers sci-fi shows like Doctor Who and Pluribus, fantasy shows like The Magicians and Percy Jackson, horror, and superheroes. Their specialty is onscreen book adaptations.
They have covered events, such as the Denver Fan Expo. Their articles have also been shared by professionals in the field, such as Damien Leone and Lucy Hale. Their review for Ponies was quoted in the show's TV trailer.
In university, they majored in English Writing with a minor in psychology. They have always had a passion for analyzing TV and movies, even taking filmography and scriptwriting classes in university. They also studied and participated in onstage and onscreen acting extensively from the ages of 7 to 18.
Aside from working at Screen Rant, Dani has worked as a freelance editor and writer over the past decade, often in a ghostwriting capacity.
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Prime Video has a top-notch sci-fi series on the horizon, adapting a space opera book series by James S.A. Corey, but it will also serve as a reminder that the streamer needs to bring back one of its best TV shows of all time.
While they’re nowhere near as successful as Apple TV’s sci-fi shows, Prime Video has carved out its own little place in science fiction. Putting aside the superhero shows, which deserve their own genre, they’ve put out hidden gems like Night Sky, Upload, and The Peripheral.
They also have more sci-fi on the horizon. Blade 2099 will come out this year, expanding the genre of live-action cyberpunk on TV. Additionally, The Captive’s War adaptation, which doesn’t yet have a release date, will help revive the space opera genre.
The Captive's War Will Be A Reminder That We Need More The Expanse
The Captive’s War could be Prime Video’s next great space opera. So far, the book series is incredible. The Mercy of Gods and Livesuit are absolutely captivating (pun intended). The characters are easy to invest in. Although the first book has a slow start, it’s clearly building towards an epic rebellion.
That being said, The Captive’s War TV show will also be a painful reminder of The Expanse, a masterpiece space opera that ended too soon. The word “masterpiece” gets thrown around quite a bit, but The Expanse is one show that truly deserves the title. The show’s impact on the audience and the sci-fi genre is ineffable.
The Expanse can only be described as lightning in a bottle.
It’s bittersweet for The Captive’s War to come to Prime Video. The book series is written by the same authors and the creative team behind The Expanse is bringing the new show to life. If they can come back together for The Captive’s War, maybe they could come back together for a revival of The Expanse.
Don't Expect The Captive's War To Be Like The Expanse
The Captive’s War and The Expanse book series share similar writing styles and ambiance. Plus, they both fall into the space opera subgenre, and they’re extremely character-driven stories. However, The Expanse and The Captive’s War are, by and large, two very different stories.
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#1 |
The Mercy of Gods |
August 6, 2024 |
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#1.5 |
Livesuit |
October 1, 2024 |
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#2 |
The Faith of Beasts |
April 14, 2026 |
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#2.5 |
Untitled novella |
TBA |
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#3 |
Untitled book |
TBA |
The Expanse focuses on human beings in our own solar system in the near future, while The Captive’s War has non-Earthly humans alongside a myriad of aliens in a very far-off galaxy in a far-off period. The former moves quickly, while the latter is a slowburn.
The characters in The Expanse are much more likable than those in The Captive’s War, although they're both easy to invest in. The Carryx Empire feels much more dangerous than Marco Inaros, mostly because the Carryx seem completely invincible and dangerously amoral throughout the first book. All things considered, these two TV shows will feel both extremely different and mildly familiar.
A Revival Of The Expanse Is Unlikely
credit: Amazon StudiosAs much as I’d like to see more of The Expanse, a revival is unlikely. The series ended when it did for a very good reason. The Expanse TV show adapts the first six books, leaving the last three untouched. Between book six, Babylon’s Ashes, and book seven, Persepolis Rising, there’s a twenty-year time jump.
Only four years have passed since The Expanse’s finale, and the actors pretty much look the same. To revive The Expanse at this point, they would need to either artificially age up the original actors, which hasn’t looked good in past projects, or recast the characters, which would upset dedicated fans. Alternatively, they would have to adapt The Expanse: Dragon's Tooth.
Plus, Prime Video would take a huge risk by reviving The Expanse. The show is widely considered one of the best sci-fi series of this century, and it’s often held up as the blueprint for most modern science fiction TV shows. Any one misstep could ruin its legacy.
Sadly, there’s no guarantee it would pay off. The Expanse can only be described as lightning in a bottle. It had the right producers, VFX team, showrunner, actors, budget, hype, etc. Any one piece of the puzzle is out of place, and its picture-perfect image falls apart.
Plus, there’s no guarantee that The Expanse’s revival would pull in the same audience numbers. After all, many great sci-fi shows have come out in the past four years, and viewers’ attention is fleeting. Prime Video will most likely take the safer path and not revive The Expanse.
Release Date 2015 - 2022-00-00
Showrunner Naren Shankar, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby
Directors Breck Eisner, Jeff Woolnough, David Grossman, Kenneth Fink, Rob Lieberman, Terry McDonough, Thor Freudenthal, Bill Johnson, David Petrarca, Jennifer Phang, Mikael Salomon, Sarah Harding, Marisol Adler, Anya Adams, Nick Gomez, Simon Cellan Jones
Writers Georgia Lee, Robin Veith, Hallie Lambert, Matthew Rasmussen, Ty Franck, Naren Shankar, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Daniel Abraham, Dan Nowak
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Dominique Tipper
Naomi Nagata
English (US) ·