First Look at Star City: Apple TV Expands the For All Mankind Universe With a Soviet-Side Space Race Thriller

The space race is blasting off again, only this time, we’re strapping in from the other side of the Iron Curtain. Apple TV has unveiled a first look at Star City, its highly anticipated expansion of the For All Mankind universe, and the message is clear: history may be alternate, but the tension is very real.

Set in the same alt-history timeline that reimagined the global space race, Star City zeroes in on the Soviet Union’s triumph in putting the first man on the moon. While For All Mankind largely explored the American fallout of that seismic loss, this new eight-episode drama pivots the camera east. The result? A paranoid thriller steeped in ambition, secrecy and political pressure, with rocket fuel in its veins.

Created by Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert and space-drama mastermind Ronald D. Moore, Star City revisits the franchise’s defining moment but reframes it through the lives of Soviet cosmonauts, engineers and intelligence officers embedded within the space program. The tone, at least from this first look, leans colder and more claustrophobic than its predecessor. Success here isn’t just about scientific glory; it’s survival.

The cast is packed. Rhys Ifans brings his unpredictable gravitas, joined by Anna Maxwell Martin, Agnes O'Casey, Alice Englert and Adam Nagaitis, among others. If the preview footage is any indication, performances will balance quiet intensity with the ever-present dread of being watched by your government, your colleagues or both.

Visually, Star City appears to maintain the cinematic polish that made For All Mankind a cornerstone of Apple TV’s prestige slate. Stark production design, moody interiors and looming launchpads give the series a brooding identity distinct from its NASA-set sibling. It’s still about exploration and innovation, but it feels more like a chess match than a victory lap.

Thematically, the show seems poised to explore loyalty, nationalism and the cost of progress in a system where failure isn’t an option and neither is dissent. That shift in perspective could deepen the mythology of the franchise in meaningful ways, expanding the world-building while tightening the emotional screws.

Star City premieres globally May 29 with two episodes, followed by weekly installments through July 10 on Apple TV.

If the first look is any indication, the next chapter of this alternate space race won’t just revisit history, it’ll interrogate it. And for viewers who’ve long wondered what was happening behind those Kremlin walls while NASA scrambled to catch up, the countdown has officially begun.