10 Best Sci-Fi Shows Streaming On Disney Plus

When you own both Marvel and Star Wars, your roster of science fiction shows is going to fill up fast. While it took some time for Disney+ to start debuting original series — most of which have been less than stellar — the platform has become one of the strongest in the streaming landscape for big-budget, high-quality genre fiction. And that goes beyond its two leading franchises.

Thanks to its partnership with Hulu under the overall Disney umbrella, and a notable roster of older shows in its back catalog, Disney+ has a pretty wide range of sci-fi series to pick from. Long-running network classics like "Fringe" and "Stargate Atlantis," sci-fi comedies like "The Orville" and "Rick and Morty," and a bevy of animated series are all available for streaming, in addition to the big tentpoles.

To assemble this list, we weighed each show's critical reviews, fan reception, and overall legacy. Let's take a look at some of the best sci-fi shows currently streaming on Disney+, from space operas and animated classics to cyberpunk sagas and modern techno-thrillers.

• Cast: Pedro Pascal, Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers
• Creator: Jon Favreau
• Rating: TV-14
• Episode Count: 24 episodes
• Where to Watch: Disney+

While "The Mandalorian" is not the best Star Wars show on Disney+ (we'll get there, don't worry), it is the biggest hit. Or at least, it was for a few years. As the sequel trilogy ended with more of a polarizing whimper than a bang, this show and its lovable leading duo gave fans both diehard and casual an easy-to-love way back into the galaxy far, far away. Yes, it takes a bit of a dip in Season 3, and yes Dave Filoni may pack in a little too much connective tissue to extraneous Star Wars stories, but when popcorn sci-fi looks this good and is this much fun, it's hard not to recommend it.

Admittedly, the show is almost more fantasy western than science fiction. It's an outer rim story, set mostly on backwater planets, wild alien landscapes, and in the cold vacuum of space. But there's just enough post-war galactic politics and cool space tech to keep Star Wars lore nuts occupied between saloon shootouts.

With Star Wars finally returning to theaters in 2026 with "The Mandalorian and Grogu," it's also a great time to get caught up. This show will not blow your mind, nor will it alter your perception of Star Wars. But it's a genuinely good time, and one that pretty much anyone can love.

• Cast: Dee Bradley Baker, Michelle Ang
• Creators: Dave Filoni, Jennifer Corbett
• Rating: TV-PG
• Episode Count: 47
• Where to Watch: Disney+

On the flip side from "The Mandalorian," we have "Star Wars: The Bad Batch" — the most unsung, best-looking, and arguably greatest all-around of the various Star Wars animated series. With a more focused narrative than "The Clone Wars" and a more grounded tone than "Rebels," it's the most underrated Star Wars project of the Disney era.

When Order 66 hits, a squad of genetically altered clones (Dee Bradley Baker) go unaffected. Disturbed by their brethren's sudden betrayal of the Jedi, they leave the new Empire with a young female clone named Omega (Michelle Ang) and hire out their skills as a mercenary crew. Quickly, the Empire's new secret cloning initiative sends agents after the girl, drawing the Bad Batch into an early, elongated skirmish against Palpatine's shadowy regime.

That setup leads to a series of connected but at times largely independent stories, many focusing on the specifics of cloning, early science projects under Imperial rule, the restricted freedom of mobility, and the start of rebel actions. It's some of the truest sci-fi material you can find in Star Wars. For all of its narrative focus on the Empire, "The Bad Batch" often embraces the more natural side of Star Wars, with stunning alien vistas and strange flora and fauna contrasted with the rapid industrialization under galactic fascism.

• Cast: Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio
• Creator: Matt Groening
• Rating: TV-14
• Episode Count: 170
• Where to Watch: Disney+, Hulu

There are few science fiction shows as legendary as "Futurama," and the whole series is available on Disney+. Matt Groening's signature comedy style is arguably at its peak here, combined with a genuine love of science fiction. The biggest "Futurama" fans will tell you that while the show is hilarious, it's how it blends that comedy with fun sci-fi storylines and genuinely touching emotion that makes it so special.

Set in a cartoon future that pulls influence from a wide range of different sci-fi subgenres, the show follows the employees of Planet Express through various misadventures, often involving time travel, space tech, robots, mind control, alien cultures, and all manner of other genre tropes. Some will say that the later rebooted episodes of "Futurama" aren't as strong as the original run, but with it all on the table for streaming on Disney+, you can make your own assessment.

• Cast: Ray Chase, Jennifer Hale, Alison Sealy-Smith 
• Creator: Beau DeMayo
• Rating: TV-14
• Episode Count: 10
• Where to Watch: Disney+

The third and final animated series on this list is a Marvel show, but one of a different stripe. Not part of the MCU, "X-Men '97" is a continuation of the 1990s cartoon "X-Men: The Animated Series," updated with a fresh coat of paint that resulted in one of the most visually stunning animation styles currently on television.

While the show is technically a sequel, you don't need to have seen "The Animated Series" to understand or appreciate it. As with all of the best X-Men stories, "'97" thrives on the strength of its deep and varied character relationships — mentors, enemies, traitors, lovers, found family, and of course, the relationship with the self. It also features some absolutely wild action set pieces, packed with incredible visuals and lasting emotional moments (if you've watched, you know the one).

With Season 2 coming later in 2026 and Season 3 already ordered, it's a great time to get in on "X-Men '97." While the MCU has continued to have strong moments over the years, there's something refreshing about a series that stands squarely on its own, while also having a whole cosmos of Marvel lore to pull from when relevant. Plus, is there really anything in Marvel Comics as good as the X-Men?

• Cast: Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis
• Creator: Noah Hawley
• Rating: TV-MA
• Episode Count: 8
• Where to Watch: Disney+, Hulu

You may have heard some mixed things about "Alien: Earth." A big-budget "Alien" spin-off series has a lot of promise, but not all fans liked the show's direction. While there is plenty of xenomorph bloodshed, the show is more of a cyberpunk thriller, following a powerful tech corporation called Prodigy, which is developing a method of transferring human consciousness into immortal synthetic bodies. Just as they've created their first batch of "Hybrids" — adult android bodies with the minds of children who were suffering from terminal illnesses — a ship full of dangerous alien lifeforms lands in their backyard.

"Alien: Earth" is, admittedly, a weird show. It has insane editing, a staggering number of references to MLB history and "Ice Age: Continental Drift," and some performances that go way too zany. But there's also a ton to love. The production design is fantastic, the horror hits, and the story is true sci-fi in the best way, embracing a thought-experiment approach to future technology that brings up fascinating questions. 

Anchored by fantastic performances from Babou Ceesay and Sydney Chandler, and propelled by the distinct vision of showrunner Noah Hawley (who appears again on this list), "Alien: Earth" deserves a lot more love, and it has a ton of potential for the upcoming Season 2.

• Cast: Sonoya Mizuno, Nick Offerman, Jin Ha
• Creator: Alex Garland
• Rating: TV-MA
• Episode Count: 8
• Where to Watch: Disney+, Hulu

Two years before "Severance" premiered on Apple TV, a very similar show dropped on FX and Hulu. "Devs," written and directed by sci-fi maestro Alex Garland ("Ex Machina," "Annihilation"), is an eight-episode techno-thriller miniseries blending a cultish vision of Silicon Valley with layers of futurist intrigue. Sounds familiar, right?

Some even say that "Devs" is better than "Severance," despite the latter rising to far greater fame. The Hulu series, which now exists in its entirety on Disney+, features a star-studded cast led by Sonoya Mizuno ("House of the Dragon") and Nick Offerman ("The Last of Us"). The surrounding ensemble includes Janet Mock, Jin Ha, Cailee Spaeny, and Brian d'Arcy James.

The story centers on a quantum computing company called Amaya, and more specifically, its secret R&D division, known as Devs. The mysterious death of a Devs employee sparks an investigation from his girlfriend, sending her down a tangled web of techno-corpo secrecy.

"Devs" earned high marks from critics, with Lucy Mangan of The Guardian calling it "a deep, dark, wild ride." And with our current reality increasingly bending to the will of poorly regulated mega-corporations and their shifty tech CEOs, it's a series that unfortunately is even more relevant now than ever.

• Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino 
• Creator: Michael Waldron
• Rating: TV-14
• Episode Count: 12
• Where to Watch: Disney+

We had to include at least one proper MCU show on here, as the franchise has been a defining part of Disney+, for both better and worse. While "Loki" bears many of the usual MCU hallmarks, it's also a bit of an anomaly, and not just because of its central focus on rehabilitating a longstanding Marvel villain. It's also distinct in its retro-inspired aesthetic and tight thematic focus. Through a story about the diverging paths of the multiverse and monitoring organization TVA, "Loki" becomes about our capacity for change, or, alternatively, the sense of inevitability that many accept.

This is still an MCU show, full of quips and disparate threads. But the core cast of Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, and Sophia Di Martino compromise a compelling ensemble, and the writing is deft enough to weave in nuanced character work alongside the macro sci-fi narrative.

Beyond all that, though, this is an easy show to recommend based on its classic sci-fi aesthetics. The TVA has a strong look and feel that's imbued into its multiversal technology, and the show has one of the MCU's best soundtracks — original and licensed (we all remember that Hayley Kiyoko moment). Plus, unlike so many Marvel projects, this show actually is well shot and sports a compelling, easy-to-manage beginning-to-ending arc.

• Cast: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk
• Creator: Joss Whedon
• Rating: TV-14
• Episode Count: 14
• Where to Watch: Disney+, Hulu

A quarter of a century later, we're still talking about "Firefly," but how can you not? Some shows are just that memorable.

Maybe it's the chemistry about the starship Serenity that made the short-lived Fox series such a cult hit. Maybe it was the look and sound of its distinctive frontier sci-fi Western universe, which felt transportive at a time when sci-fi shows didn't get the budgets they do nowadays. But that's just the thing: We have so many science fiction shows now, and so many good ones. And yet, "Firefly" still persists, asserting itself repeatedly in the culture as something truly timeless.

Among other places, you can currently watch all 14 episodes on Disney+. Unfortunately, the film sequel "Serenity" is not on the platform, so you'll have to track that down elsewhere, or eschew it entirely. Some fans would urge you to take the latter path. While the movie does wrap up most of the major storylines, it does so in a rushed, somewhat hectic fashion that's at odds with the lived-in, cozy vibe of the show.

However you choose to watch or rewatch it, there's never a bad time to put on "Firefly." 

• Cast: Dan Stevens, Rachel Keller, Aubrey Plaza
• Creator: Noah Hawley
• Rating: TV-MA
• Episode Count: 27
• Where to Watch: Disney+, Hulu

Noah Hawley makes his second appearance on this list with "Legion," one of his many acclaimed FX series. It's also technically the second X-Men show named here, as the characters are pulled from Marvel Comics. But this is not an MCU project, nor is it connected to Netflix's era of Marvel shows.

"Legion" is unlike any superhero series you've ever seen. It stars Dan Stevens in the lead role of David Haller, a schizophrenic psychic mutant trying to stay one step ahead of a shadowy government organization and the malicious force invading his mind. The show features a large cast of supporting stars, including Aubrey Plaza, Rachel Keller, Amber Midthunder, Jemaine Clement, and Hamish Linklater.

What makes "Legion" distinct is the way it blends its psychedelic narrative structure with some of the most striking visuals ever put in a live-action series. Its varied array of camera and editing tricks put the viewer inside the head of a protagonist who can never fully trust the things he sees. The psychic dimension of his powers provides a canvas for confrontations and action sequences that Hawley uses to full effect — often musically. Dance battles, rap battles, and other nontraditional forms of fighting take center stage, giving the show a trippy, enrapturing energy unlike anything else.

• Cast: Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Genevieve O'Reilly
• Creator: Tony Gilroy
• Rating: TV-14
• Episode Count: 24
• Where to Watch: Disney+

How good is "Andor"? Well it's the best show on Disney+, of any genre, and it may well be the best show ever made. Who's to say for sure?

Bringing the franchise to new critical heights, "Andor" is many things. It's an ensemble about resistance in the face of fascist oppression, where every character receives shocking depth, complexity, and nuance. It's one of the most visually impressive genre shows ever made, with set pieces comparable to the most ambitious HBO series. It's a story about loss, rebellion, love, community, and the way time changes us. And under the masterful hand of showrunner Tony Gilroy, it puts 100% capacity into every shot, line, and design detail.

If you love science fiction for the costumes, "Andor" has some of the best ever. If you love it for the action, "Andor" has got you there too, with some of the best spaceships in Star Wars and stunning alien planets. But more than anything, it sings any time any two characters are alone to just talk. The writing here is at the peak of the craft, whether it's a monologue about siphoning space fuel from an Imperial pipeline or a grotesque family confrontation over breakfast. "Andor" is everything science fiction TV is supposed to be, executed at the highest level.