The Expanse creator James S.A. Corey's new series The Captive's War is becoming a TV show at Amazon!

Today, Variety announced some news that should make any fan of the incredible sci-fi saga The Expanse very happy: Amazon MGM Studios is entering into development on a new series based on The Captive's War, the latest book series from Expanse authors James S.A. Corey! I'm having a hard time even getting that sentence out coherently, because I loved The Expanse, have been really enjoying The Captive's War, and am thrilled about the idea of another television series from these creators. This is a huge win, even more so because The Captive's War isn't some franchise spinoff of The Expanse, but an entirely new series.

The Captive's War follows the humans of the planet Anjiin, a distant world completely disconnected from Earth. In the first book, The Mercy of Gods, the people of Anjiin are conquered by the insectoid Carryx, an alien race which scours the galaxy for intelligent species, captures them, and puts them to work with the goal of expanding the Carryx empire. But once they're within the Carryx imperial machine, the people of Anjiin start to find ways to resist their oppressors, with an eye toward one day bringing them down from the inside. The Mercy of Gods came out earlier this year and stands as one of the most exciting sci-fi releases of 2024; you can read our review of it here.

Here's the official logline of the series, from James S.A. Corey's press release for the announcement: “Set in a distant future of galactic empires and alien civilizations, and inspired by the biblical Book of Daniel, ‘The Captive’s War’ follows a group of prisoners who rise from the ashes of catastrophe to destroy their conqueror’s society from within. It is an epic tale about the transformative power of individuality in a totalitarian world.”

The new Captive's War series sounds like a dream for The Expanse show fans

So we now know that Amazon is in the process of starting a new TV series based on The Captive's War. That would be exciting enough, but this comes alongside the announcement that Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck — the writing duo collectively known as James S.A. Corey — are launching a new production company called Expanding Universe with The Expanse showrunner Naren Shankar and Breck Eisner, one of The Expanse's longtime directors. This new Captive's War series is the first major deal that Expanding Universe has locked in with Amazon, but the company will be "announcing additional projects soon."

Once upon a time, The Expanse was a hit show on the Syfy Channel that was unceremoniously canceled after its third season. After a concerted fan campaign to save the series, it was eventually picked up by Amazon, where it ran for three more seasons before ending in 2022. The transition from the Syfy Channel to Prime Video was virtually seamless, in large part because The Expanse retained most of the creative team that made it such a success in the first place. So for this announcement to include some of those same major players like Shankar and Eisner alongside the books' authors is extremely encouraging. That alone is enough to convince me that whenever we do get The Captive's War, it'll probably be pretty good.

Shankar will once again serve as the showrunner on The Captive's War, as well as a writer and executive producer. Abraham and Franck will also pen episodes for the series, just as they did with The Expanse, and Eisner is returning to direct. The band's all back together!

“On ‘The Expanse’ we built a deep, immersive universe filled with great characters and intense, emotional stories — on a budget that wasn’t insane,” Shankar said. “And now we’re bringing that expertise to new storytelling universes and platforms.”

Expanding Universe will "bring a new generation of science fiction to the screen"

Since this announcement wasn't just for The Captive's War, but a whole new media endeavor with Shankar, Eisner, Abraham and Franck at the helm, the team also spoke a bit about their overall vision for Expanding Universe, which they dub a "multi-platform content company."

“’The Expanse’ was originally created to be a video game, then it became an RPG, then a novel, then a show, and then a couple of video games,” Franck said. “In a way, it was a roadmap for how Expanding Universe is developing projects now.”

“Our track record has already attracted some exciting material: original features, adaptations by other novelist’s work, and even legacy IPs which would be a blast to reimagine in a modern context," added Abraham. "In success, we have the opportunity to bring a new generation of science fiction to the screen.”

Consider me very excited. The track record is indeed there, and it's cool to think about other properties that Expanding Universe might take on, across film or games or any other medium. But first, there's The Captive's War.

“Expanding Universe is focused on developing sci-fi narratives with sweeping world-building and elevated storylines, geared toward multi-platform expressions in filmed entertainment, gaming, and publishing,” Eisner said. “‘The Captive’s War’ is a perfect launchpad for our model.”

We'll have our ear to the ground for more updates about The Captive's War TV show and any other projects that get announced from Expanding Universe. In the meantime, if you haven't read The Mercy of Gods and the follow-up novella Livesuit, now's a good time to get familiar with the latest series from James S.A. Corey before it takes over your TV screen.

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