Resident Alien's final episode aired in August 2025, but the hole it left in the sci-fi TV landscape has thankfully been filled by an Apple TV+ project. Led by Alan Tudyk as Harry Vanderspeigle, the core Resident Alien cast remained intact throughout all four seasons. While it often had to fight for renewal between runs, USA Network informed showrunner Chris Sheridan to the fact that season 4 would be the end early, allowing him to pen a proper farewell for Harry and company.
USA Network isn't especially well-known for fun sci-fi shows, but Resident Alien's original platform, Syfy, is. Apple TV+ is another streaming service that has quietly specialized in the sci-fi genre for years now. So, even though Tudyk's irreverent dramedy won't be back, Resident Alien fans will find one Apple TV+ show especially welcoming and oddly familiar.
Resident Alien fans will love Murderbot on Apple TV+
One of the biggest hallmarks of Resident Alien was watching the show's non-human protagonist try to find a new place to belong. Initially, his strange behavior and apathetic attitude toward humanity made it seem as though this would be a herculean task. It certainly was at first, but the show quickly moved on to champion its message of acceptance and the fact that anyone can be family, given certain circumstances.
Murderbot has pretty much the exact same formula in this respect. Alexander Skarsgård's title character, also known as SecUnit, begins the show harboring violent tendencies toward humans, which is also true of Tudyk's character in Resident Alien. In other words, they both start with a lot of killing to do. Similarly, they both feel like outcasts in their respective communities, because basically...they are.
As someone who was very upset by Resident Alien coming to a close, trust me when I say that Murderbot is a great replacement. Both shows rely heavily on a delicate balance of comedy and drama, and they each manage to achieve their shared task of examining humanity through the eyes of a non-human character in a surprisingly effective way.
Resident Alien and Murderbot are both live-action adaptations of pre-existing source material
Murderbot is based on a series of books by Martha Wells, the first of which was published in 2017. Resident Alien is based on comics of the same name by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse. The first Resident Alien comic was published in 2012. So, neither show was built from the ground up. There was a solid foundation there for both projects.
Where Resident Alien and Murderbot differ in this respect is that the former has only loosely adapted the source material's characters and storylines, whereas Apple TV+ has taken a pretty faithful approach when translating Wells' literary work to the small screen. I'm not saying either approach is better or worse, but it's certainly interesting.
I suppose the biggest upside for Resident Alien is that reading the comics doesn't make it as easy to guess where the TV version is headed next, which isn't quite so true of the relationship between Murderbot and its source material.
Murderbot's ensemble cast gives Resident Alien's a run for its money
Although they're pretty heavy on sci-fi lore, both shows are incredibly character-driven. That kind of formula doesn't work without a great cast with tangible chemistry. Thankfully, Resident Alien and Murderbot found actors who could hit every beat required and felt like they belonged together. Resident Alien's cast is one of the show's biggest strengths, and the actors bringing the Murderbot characters to life on-screen do a similarly impressive job.
Tudyk and Skarsgård both shine as leading men, which is pretty much expected of them due to their established star status. However, the supporting cast of both Resident Alien and Murderbot is just as good, despite being largely populated with relative unknowns. There is a pop of fame here and there, but it's tricky for those high-profile stars to steal the show when they're alongside other very talented and perfectly cast actors.
Murderbot currently has a huge edge over Resident Alien
Despite a few teases of spinoffs and future storylines, Resident Alien has aired its last episode, and there's no sign of it coming back or expanding to become a TV franchise. So, fans are left with the same 44 episodes to watch—unless they want to delve into the comics and see where it all began. Conversely, Murderbot is just getting started.
Murderbot season 2 was greenlit just after the season 1 finale aired and was announced via a press release from Apple TV+. There's no word on when it will arrive, but it's great to know the show will continue. What's even more promising is that there are still six more unadapted books in the series on which the show is based, plus several short stories. And Martha Wells is still writing more in the series; the next Murderbot book, Platform Decay, releases in May, 2026. So, if Murderbot season 2 is a success, another renewal is possible, and the source material would still be unlikely to be exhausted.
Furthermore, Murderbot's budget is quite obviously much higher than Resident Alien's ever was. While that didn't hold the Tudyk-led show back in any way, it's nice to see such a similar project receive the money it needs to be as visually spectacular as it can possibly be. Special effects can make or break a sci-fi story like Murderbot, but they haven't been a concern so far.
The first season of Murderbot is currently streaming on Apple TV+.