The Expanse Season 6 - What We Know So Far
The premier sci-fi drama of the last decade, The Expanse is an epic space drama based on the best-selling novels of James S.A. Corey (the pen name of collaborators and series writers Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). Set in a future in which humanity has colonized the solar system, the show follows the people of Earth, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt who have long been in opposition with one another. Originally on Syfy, the fan-favorite show was canceled after three seasons, but Amazon Prime swooped in and saved it from cancellation.
In the show's recently concluded fifth season, Alex (Cas Anvar) and Bobbie (Frankie Adams) successfully rescued Naomi (Dominique Tipper) after she threw herself out of her ship's airlock, but Alex suffered a fatal stroke in the process. Meanwhile, rogue Martians who were in league with Marco (Keon Alexander) and the Free Navy took control of Medina Station and the Ring Gate, and the protomolecule sample Marco stole was sent to Laconia, a planet on the other side. Complicating things even more, a ship that went through the Ring disappeared, an event that was seemingly the work of the ancient beings that built the protomolecule.
In the end, though, the Roci crew, minus Alex, were finally reunited after spending the entire season apart. If you're wondering where the show will go next, here's everything we know about The Expanse season 6 so far.
What is the release date for The Expanse season 6?
Amazon Prime renewed The Expanse for a sixth and final season prior to the debut of season 5, which wrapped up its 10-episode run in early February. There's no word yet on when the sixth season will make its debut, or how many episodes it will entail, but Collider has confirmed that the series began production in January.
Going by what we know from previous seasons that aired on Amazon — season 4 and season 5 arrived on the streaming service in December 2019 and December 2020, respectively — it's possible that we'll see the arrival of season 6 by the end of 2021, if production stays on track of course. However, given the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted many television and movie productions around the world for the last year, it's impossible to say for sure that nothing will interfere with filming. At the very least, though, it seems reasonable to believe that the show will return by the first quarter of 2022.
Who is in the cast of The Expanse season 6?
As far as we can tell, most of the main cast will return for The Expanse season 6, including star Steven Strait as James Holden. He'll be joined by Dominique Tipper as Naomi Nagata, Shohreh Aghdashloo as Chrisjen Avasarala, Wes Chatham as Amos Burton, and Frankie Adams as Bobbie Draper.
However, as previously mentioned, Cas Anvar's Alex did not survive the events of season 5, dying from a stroke in the season finale after rescuing Tipper's Naomi, so he will not be returning for the show's final season. While not confirmed to be the reason for Anvar's exit, it's still worth noting that the actor was investigated by the show's producer, Alcon Television Group, after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct were brought forward in the summer of 2020. Anvar has denied the allegations.
As far as new cast members joining the show for its final lap, it's still too early to say.
What will be the plot of The Expanse season 6?
There is no official word yet on what the plot of the final season of The Expanse entails, but going by what we've seen so far and what we know of the plot of Babylon's Ashes, the sixth book of the series upon which The Expanse is based, it's likely that the story will follow the brewing war between the Free Navy, made up of rogue Belter ships, and the shaky coalition between the Earthers, Martians, and Belters.
But even though nothing is official, one thing is certain: The series' writers are determined to stick the landing by going back to the start. In an interview with Collider in February, executive producer Ty Franck, who wrote the books with Daniel Abraham, said the show honors the story that was set up in the very beginning of the show.
"The thing that season 6 does is it pays off the story we began in episode 1 of season 1, where the Martians, the Earthers, and the Belters were all in this incredibly uneasy and unstable political system with the Belters absolutely being at the foot of that table and everybody fighting for their place in the solar system. I think we pay off that story in a very satisfying way," he said.
Franck also noted that the producers have kept "some of the mystery intact involving the great forces of the universe that humans are only starting to become aware [of]" in case the writers eventually want to "tell more stories" set in this universe.
Meanwhile, Franck's fellow producer and co-showrunner Naren Shankar promised that the show's series finale is going to be huge. "We ain't going out small," he teased.