Apple TV+’s revisionist history series,For All Mankind, is getting a spinoff, andStar Citywill tell the story of the Space Race from a different perspective. Debuting back in 2019,For All Mankindimagines a timeline in which the Space Race never ended, and examines humanity’s leap into the future as they explore the solar system. Known for its compelling characters and big time jumps,For All Mankind’s view of the future is both idealized and realistic, as the common foibles of mankind show themselves again and again as the timeline unfolds.
Already heading into its fifth season,the Apple TV+ sci-fi seriesis one of the platform’s tentpole programs, and alongsideSlow Horses, is its longest running. Now, the spinoffStar Cityis set to turn the series into a bona fide franchise, though it’s achieving that goal in a truly unique way. Instead of telling another story set in the same universe,Star Citywill tell the same story of the fictional Space Race, but this time from the perspective of the Soviet Union. With casting and story details already flooding in,Star Cityis expected sooner rather than later.
Star City Spinoff Latest News
Three More Cast Members Join The For All Mankind Spinoff
As the ensemble continues to grow exponentially, the latest news confirms thatthree more cast members have joinedStar City.The Terrorstar Adam Nagaitis is set to appear as Valya, a highly-respected cosmonaut in the Soviet Space Program. Meanwhile,Josef Davies (Andor) will play the role of Sergei, a ground control engineer known for his powerful mind.Finally, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis (Shardlake) is going to play Tanya, the wife of a cosmonaut who feels smothered by life within the confines of Star City. All three will be part of the show’s main cast, though many details are still unknown.
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2024 was a big year for Apple TV+, and when the streamer announced thatFor All Mankindseason 5 was confirmed, they also revealed their plans for theStar Cityspinoff. Though the project was still in its infancy at that point, the streamer had a host of details about the spinoff, including plot details. Simultaneously, it was revealed thatRonald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert, and Ben Nedivi were once again teaming up to bring the spinoff to life, with the latter two set to serve as showrunners.
In July 2024,Ronald D. Moore laid out the writing processfor the spinoff series, saying:
[W]e have a path. We have a general arc. It’s probably not as detailed as what we started off with on For All Mankind, but we have a general sort of, “Okay, here’s the structure of how this would play out over several seasons.”
I’m not sure what the [time] jumps will be. We know we are gonna jump through time. We haven’t quite got to that point yet. It’s probably still a in-the-decade, or so, jump ahead. We don’t know if we’re gonna do exactly what the Mankind jumps were or if we’ll attempt to split them in the middle. But it’s still a format that works for us and makes it a unique part of this universe. It also allows their space program to advance. That was why we did it on Mankind so that you could see the advancement in chunks instead of getting stuck in a very limited timeframe where there really wouldn’t be a lot of change.
It would be the better part of a year before any serious update would arrive, and in February 2025, the first casting news began arriving for the spinoff. As of the first few months of 2025,there is still no production timeline forStar City, and Apple TV+ has been pretty tight-lipped regarding when the show will arrive. WithFor All Mankindseason 5 also on the horizon, the streamer likely has a schedule that will include weaving the two shows together somehow.
Star City Spinoff Cast Details
Like the cast ofFor All Mankind, it’s expected thatStar Citywill employ a large ensemble, especially as it leaps forward in time.
With the show still developing, little is known about the cast ofStar Citythus far. However, the series has seemingly landed its lead actor with the casting ofRhys Ifans as the Soviet Space Program’s Chief Designer. The as-yet-unnamed character is a crucial figure in the early days of the USSR’s space exploits, and Ifans' track record with authoritative roles (inshows such asHouse of the Dragon) makes him uniquely qualified to play the part.Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House) will play the part of a Soviet woman named Lyudmilla.
More cast members have joined, including Adam Nagaitis (The Terror) as experienced and respected cosmonaut, Valya, and Josef Davies (Andor), who is set to play ground control engineer Sergei.Ruby Ashbourne Serkis (Shardlake) has been tapped to play Tanya, the wife of a cosmonaut who feels smothered by life within Star City. Like the cast ofFor All Mankind, it’s expected thatStar Citywill employ a large ensemble, especially as it leaps forward in time.
Ifans is not leaving his role as Otto Hightower onHouse of the Dragon.
Tanya
For All Mankind’s New Spinoff Creates A Unique Returning Character Opportunity
Apple TV+’s spin-off of its sci-fi series For All Mankind, Star City, can offer an exciting opportunity to expand on the established characters.
Star City Spinoff Story Details
The Space Race From The Soviet Perspective
WhenApple TV+ announced the spinoffshow, they also revealed the basic story framework forStar City. According to Apple, the series will follow the same timeline asFor All Mankind, but will instead track the story from the perspective of the Soviet Union. However, unlike its predecessor,Star Citywill have elements of a thrilleras the high tension of winning the Space Race is coupled with the pressure of the USSR’s repressive regime.
Apple’s official synopsis reads:
Star City is a propulsive paranoid thriller that takes us back to the key moment in the alt-history retelling of the space race - when the Soviet Union became the first nation to put a man on the moon. But this time, we explore the story from behind the Iron Curtain, showing the lives of the cosmonauts, the engineers, and the intelligence officers embedded among them in the Soviet space program, and the risks they all took to propel humanity forward.
Ronald D. Moore filled in a few more gaps in his July 2024 update, explaining how the pressure of the KGB adds to the thrills and chills of space travel in general. Since the Soviets beat the US to the moon in the fictional universe ofFor All Mankind, Moore explained howStar Citywould feature all the sacrifices and dangers that the members of the USSR’s Space Program had to go through to achieve that goal.
