The Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Shows on Netflix Right Now

Travel to another dimension with these mind-bending series currently streaming.

love death and robots robot
'Love, Death & Robots' | Netflix
'Love, Death & Robots' | Netflix

We're in a boom period for science-fiction and fantasy television, with mind-bending new offerings joining classics earning new fans via streaming services. The addictive intrigue inherent in genre shows means that when you're finished with one, you're left wanting more, more, more. Fortunately, Netflix has built a robust catalog of original sci-fi shows (like Stranger Things and Shadow and Bone) and inventive acquired hits from other sources (like Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Magicians) to satiate everyone's appetites, so check out some of the titles below when you're craving fantastic and speculative stories.

ALSO READ: Our curated lists of the Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy TV Shows of 2021 and the Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Movies on Netflix

michel gomes in 3%
Netflix

3% (2016–2020)

If you relish the dystopian drama of The 100, The Hunger Games, or other narratives about attractive people living under unattractive regimes, then this Brazilian Netflix original is for you. The hook of 3% is simple: The world is divided between a world of wealth called the Offshore and a world of poverty called the Inland. (Sounds familiar, right?) The Elysium-like premise is explored with real emotional depth, and director César Charlone, the cinematographer responsible for City of God's stunning visuals, shoots everything with a gritty glow.

the 100
The CW

The 100 (2014–2020)

How many post-apocalyptic shows starring attractive young people do we really need? Apparently, lots! The 100, which was adapted from a YA series by writer Kass Morgan, is about a team of teens sent down to bombed-out Earth from a colony floating in space. Inevitably, things go wrong: Warring factions emerge, hearts get broken, and, as is required by TV law, beloved characters are killed. Don't let the show's soapy veneer fool you; this is dark, thoughtful material in a slick, teen-friendly package.

the 4400
USA

The 4400 (2004–2007)

If you want to make a good sci-fi show, put a number in the title, apparently. Produced by The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola, this underrated series imagines what would happen if 4,400 people suddenly vanished from the face of the planet in the early 20th century... then flashed back into reality decades later. The mystery unfolds through the eyes of some superlative performances, including Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali as a US Air Force pilot who disappeared but somehow has a daughter in the present.

joel kinnaman in altered carbon
Netflix

Altered Carbon (2018–2020)

Adapted from the 2002 Richard K. Morgan novel of the same name, Altered Carbon is a flashy, jargon-y, and, at times, dizzying descent into sci-fi decadence. The show follows a 22nd-century mercenary (Joel Kinnaman in Season 1, Anthony Mackie in Season 2) hired to solve a murder of a highly influential aristocrat and ensuing power struggle. The catch? In this version of the future, the wealthy can't really die; instead, their consciousnesses are essentially uploaded to the cloud and downloaded into new bodies. In a world without death, the ensuing action boasts jaw-dropping visuals on the level of Blade Runner and thought-provoking intrigue similar to HBO's Westworld. Though it takes a few episodes for Altered Carbon's dense story to really take off, and the second season falls off a bit, it's an ambitious ride that's well worth sticking around for."

Avatar: The Last Airbender
Nickelodeon

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005–2008)

This Nickelodeon show has been hailed as one of the best animated series of all time, for good reason. Maybe you were part of the generation that was obsessed with it during its initial run, or maybe you've yet to immerse yourself into this world of elemental nations, but there's never a bad time to watch or rewatch this stunning, Western-meets-anime-style series. Avatar: The Last Airbender is an adventure tale that follows the quest of waterbender Katara, her brother Sokka, and a boy they find frozen in an iceberg named Aang, who ends up being the avatar, a reincarnated being who can control all four elements whose job it is to keep harmonic balance between the Four Nations. As they journey through the nations so Aang can master all of the elements and eventually face the totalitarian leader of the Fire Nation, the devastating scope of the world in Aang's absence becomes more and more clear. Don't be mistaken: There's a lot more to this kid's show than you might expect, but Avatar: The Last Airbender makes it look as easy as walking on air.

hilary swank in away
Diyah Pera/Netflix

Away (2020)

Shows and movies about outer space often fall within one of two categories: an intergalactic sci-fi odyssey, or what we like to call "the space weepy." Even if it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to blast off among the stars, space is inevitably isolating, being so distant from loved ones. That's the basis for Netflix's Away, a series inspired by an Esquire article, but follows multinational crew of astronauts, lead by Hilary Swank's character who leaves her family in an emergency, on the first-ever manned mission to Mars. It's not the type of sci-fi series to watch if you're looking for an imaginative, futuristic epic, but it also doesn't pretend to be something that it's not—set in a very near future where this sort of space travel seems possible. It's this optimism, meshed with the show's earnest depiction of what it's actually like aboard a spaceship, that makes it one of the most evocative recent outer-space dramas. 

jesse plemons black mirror episode
Netflix

Black Mirror (2011–2019)

Each installment of Charlie Brooker's addictive anthology takes a current techno-social phenomenon—topics that range from hashtags to five-star ratings—to its extreme and asks whether human nature can coexist with it. Part satire and part (unintentional) prophecy, the series presents an appropriately grim view of the future, one that will definitely make you worry for the next generation and maybe even galvanize you into action. Binge this delicious platter of paranoia cautiously.

louis hofmann in dark
Netflix

Dark (2017–2020)

This mesmerizing series from the streaming platform is quite the mindbender—but that's not to say that it isn't still worth the watch. Dark is a German time-travel thriller that centers on four families whose dark pasts begin to rapidly unfurl when a handful of children in their small town begin disappearing. It fell into marketing that branded it as "the German Stranger Things," simply because of the missing persons presence and is partially set in the '80s, but that cheap comparison undersells its legitimacy as a haunting and deeply watchable series. 

the dark crystal age of resistance
Netflix

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019)

It's easy to remember Jim Henson's legendary original fantasy about the world of Thra, but your yearnings to return to that world and the story of the mystical Gelfings should be satisfied by this Netflix series. Over 10 episodes, a new story unfolds about three Gelflings who learn the truth about the villainous Skeksis' power, inspiring them to start a revolution and take back their home. And don't get too nervous if you’re worried that yet another reboot will ruin your childhood, because this one-season wonder is just as committed to the puppetry and visuals of the 1982 classic, and big names like Helena Bonham Carter, Taron Egerton, Andy Samberg, and Anya Taylor-Joy provide the voices.

the innocents
Richard Hanson/Netflix

The Innocents (2018)

Sci-fi and teen TV make for the perfect pair, based on its grandiose concepts partnered with already dramatic high-stakes love affairs. One of Netflix’s installments in this genre, The Innocents, is no different, following the star-crossed relationship between Harry and June, two teenagers who run away from home to be together. While on the road, they learn that June has an extraordinary ability: She can shape shift. Suddenly, their naive plan to live out their romantic dreams is thwarted by a scientist who seems eerily interested in unveiling the truth behind June's powers. 

lost in space netflix
Netflix

Lost in Space (2018–2021)

While not nearly as weird or fun as the classic '60s sci-fi TV series it's based on—even the enduring catchphrase "Danger, Will Robinson!" has been sterilized—Netflix's reimagining of Lost in Space is by no means a complete time-suck. The premise remains the same, about the Robinson family who are among the first colonists of space whose journey is rerouted and forces them to try to survive in an off course environment, but the adventure tale is upped with an intriguing backstory of the robot and solid performances by Molly Parker and Parker Posey. It's the formula for a great adventure tale, the kind anchored by a sweet family that'll bring you comfort when other sci-fi series overwhelm.

robots on love death and robots
Netflix

Love, Death + Robots (2019– )

There's a certain artistry to making entertaining, effective, and imaginative short films, and Netflix's animated series Love, Death + Robots blends all three of those strengths with some really crazy sci-fi stories. The title pretty much says it all: Every episode will have elements of love (read: sex—the show is very rated R), death, and/or robots, and sometimes a combination of all three. From a tourist party of androids traipsing through a post-apocalyptic Earth, to a monster-fighting ring where the creatures are powered by human minds, to an ancient civilization thriving in a couple's refrigerator, to a beautiful fable about an artist in the future who only paints using one shade of blue, Love Death + Robots is a multifaceted collection of some of the most exhilarating and inventive storytelling out there.

jason ralph in the magicians
Syfy

The Magicians (2015–2020)

Most fantasy fans grow up dreaming that one day they’ll be whisked away to some sort of supernatural academy, where they’ll learn that they possess special abilities and are destined to hone their skills in a fantastical world they never knew was real. In SyFy's drama The Magicians, yet another one of these universes is made into reality when a young man named Quentin enrolls in the mysterious Brakebills University for Magical pedagogy, a college for magicians. Based on the Lev Grossman novel of the same name, the series inhabits an imaginative world and documents all of the dangerous conflicts that loom within it. 

jonah hill in maniac
Netflix

Maniac (2018)

In an uncanny alternate present, a clinical drug trial exists in which its participants can swallow a series of alphabetical pills to resolve their past traumas. That is, that’s what’s supposed to happen—as for Jonah Hill and Emma Stone’s characters in this Netflix original, that’s not how things play out when the AI running the experiment starts to malfunction. At its core, the show is about the challenges of living with mental illness, but it’s also an extremely creative science fiction dreamscape of an adventure. Plus, what sci-fi shows have you seen that feature a lemur subplot, Justin Theroux as a scientist with overwhelming mommy issues, and killer ’80s video game aesthetics? Probably not many until you’ve seen Maniac

masters of the universe revelation skeletor
Netflix

Masters of the Universe: Revelation (2021– )

Masters of the Universe: Revelation is meant to pick up pretty much where the original He-Man series left off, with the magical world of Eternia and Castle Grayskull temporarily safe from the evil Skeletor's (Mark Hamill) dastardly plans—but not for long. Unlike the original show, as Revelation is geared toward a slightly older crowd, there's a narrative arc to this show that takes the characters and worlds familiar to fans and totally upends them. There's a huge paradigm shift in the very first episode, characters level up their powers and personalities throughout the course of the season, and the main quest is driven by the best trope in the world: heroes and villains teaming up to achieve a common goal.

nightflyers
SyFy

Nightflyers (2018)

Fans of Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin are likely familiar with his sci-fi novella, Nightflyersabout a space crew who face something rather horrific once their fleet reaches the end of the solar system. The story was previously adapted to film in 1987, but SyFy went all in for this adaptation, making the dark, grandiose environment of the titular Nightflyer ship its own terrifying universe. As things get very weird almost as soon as you’re aboard, the confounding series proves to be very binge-able even as you’re watching a mission essentially meet a disturbing fate.

brit marling in the oa
Netflix

The OA (2016–2019)

If Stranger Things was a little too basic for you, give this wonky sci-fi series from co-creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij a shot. The otherworldly Marling stars as Prairie, a blind woman who returns to society after years in captivity and quickly starts a youth group with some troubled teens. It gets crazier from there. Yes, there's interpretive dance. Yes, there are weird flashbacks to Russia. Yes, it will leave you scratching your head and searching the internet for clues. But sometimes the crazy shows are the ones you love the most, and unfortunately canceled way too soon

oats studios rakka
Oats Studios

Oats Studios (2021)

If you've been wondering what Neill Blomkamp, the director or District 9 and Elysium has been doing all this time, we have an answer for you: He's been making "experimental short films" with a collective known as Oats Studios, which brings to life sci-fi and post-apocalyptic scenarios with live-action and animation dreamt up by Blomkamp himself. Sigourney Weaver, Sharlto Copley, and Dakota Fanning star in a series of vignettes that follow a future Earth taken over by a reptilian alien species, a research facility haunted by a creature made up of hundreds of human limbs, and even a comedy short starring none other than God. 

osmosis
Jessica Forde/Netflix

Osmosis (2019)

Osmosis is a twisty, high-concept French sci-fi series that's like if a Black Mirror episode was expanded into an entire season of television. The show follows Paul and Esther Vanhove who run a tech company that claims to have invented a technology that can find everyone's definitive one soulmate. The problem is, of course, that that might be true. In the midst of beta testing the "implant," things start to go wrong, relationships dissolve, and an artificially intelligent computer becomes dangerously sentient.

Caitriona Balfe in outlander
Starz

Outlander (2014– )

If you're looking for a sci-fi lite series that's also hot and heavy, Outlander is the perfect answer to your yearning. The long-running, acclaimed drama adapted from Diana Bagaldon's book series follows the affair of a WWII nurse named Claire who's miraculously transported in time to Scotland in 1743 and a meets dashing Highland rebel named Jamie. The time-travel show is produced by Ronald D. Moore (Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica), and although it might leave behind the showy effects and high concepts that many other sci-fi shows go for, it's been praised for its strong grasp of the female gaze that carries through to its many intimate scenes, as well as its complex rendering of history. It's pure escapism as Clair and Jamie's relationship gets swept up into the time-space continuum, but Outlander manages to make it much more human than just an indulgent romance novel made for TV.

the rain
Netflix

The Rain (2018–2020)

The eco-pocalypse will come via rain, spreading its zombie infection within seconds of a person being hit by droplets. That's the future Netflix's The Rain posits, anyway. In one of the platform's best original foreign series, two Danish teenage siblings emerge from shelter for the first time after six years worth of viral rainfall to set out in search of their father, encountering other young survivors along the way. Focusing on a group of extremely emotional teens on a mission in a post-apocalyptic world, this dreary Scandinavian drama takes what’s addicting about sci-fi, and binge-worthy in teen TV, to make for one wild adventure.

Ja'Siah Young in raising dion
Steve Dietl/Netflix

Raising Dion (2019–2022)

Netflix makes sci-fi family-friendly by covering a superhero origin story in Raising Dion, while also managing to give an edgier exploration of grief and greed. Based on the comic book by Dennis Liu, it follows 8-year-old Dion (Ja'Siah Young) and his widowed mother Nicole (Alisha Wainwright) as the boy discovers he has superpowers. The story is largely seen through Nicole’s eyes, who is still reeling from the mysterious death of her husband Mark (Michael B. Jordan), and it's soon revealed there's a lot more to this story than the simple trope of unwitting heroes discovering their powers years after an other-worldly incident took place. This familiar-feeling tale not only comes from a fresh perspective, the series dodges genre tropes and expectations to deliver a fun supernatural story with edge and purpose.

sense8
Netflix

Sense8 (2015–2018)

Can you imagine waking up one day and suddenly your consciousness is interwoven with strangers from around the world? That’s the fate of eight individuals in the Netflix original Sense8, and only the beginning of the otherworldly oddity these "sensates" experience as they discover what their connection means, and the fact that they’re being hunted down. The global adventure of a show comes from the Wachowski sisters of The Matrix fame who intentionally wrote storylines revolving around identity politics rarely represented in sci-fi into the script, making Sense8 one dynamic genre series. 

jessie mei li in shadow and bone
Netflix

Shadow and Bone (2021– )

The first season of Netflix's adaptation of Leigh Bardugo's bestselling fantasy series introduces Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), a lowly army cartographer from Ravka, a country based loosely on Russia, who learns by accident that she possesses the rare ability to channel pure light, making her a powerful (and dangerous) Grisha. In Ravka, Grisha are trained as soldiers and led by General Kirigan (Westworld's Ben Barnes), himself a Grisha with power over darkness and a not-so-secret disdain for the nation's weak monarchy. Meanwhile, a band of teenage criminals from the slums of Ketterdam embark on their own dangerous mission, taking them deep into the heart of Grisha country. By adding in surly fledgling crime boss Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter) and his crew—characters from another novel in Bardugo's Grishaverse—the show tempers the romance and high court drama of the main story with a parallel crime-caper narrative, weaving them both together by using flashbacks and lots of creative license.

stargate sg 1
MGM Domestic Television Distribution

Stargate SG-1 (1997–2007)

Stargate SG-1 is the first of several series spun off from Roland Emmerich's 1994 Kurt Russel-starring movie—which was a surprise when it premiered, given how mixed critics were on the film. The show quickly defied expectations, and has gone down as one of the best sci-fi shows ever. Taking place a year after the events of the movie, it follows a special team of American forces who travel into outer-space through "stargates" to explore the galaxy. You'll come for the vibrant alien worlds built upon mythology, and stay for the characters and their campy sense of humor. Discovering what's out there is something that's intrigued sci-fi fans forever, and Stargate SG-1 manages to keep that concept as fascinating as ever throughout its long run.

star trek deep space nine
Paramount Domestic Television

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)

The fourth Star Trek series and the first to be set almost entirely inside a space station instead of a traveling starship, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has long divided even the most devoted Trek fans. In recent years, the show has been treated a little more kindly, and is now held up as not only one of the better Star Trek series, but also one of the most narratively creative. Set onboard the outer space way station Deep Space Nine and under the captainship of Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), the series explores the conflict between the Cardassians and the Bajorans, as well as the threat of the Dominion, a race of shape-shifting extraterrestrials from the far-off Gamma Quadrant. 

wil byers in the upside down
Netflix

Stranger Things (2016– )

If you haven't binged Netflix's '80s paranormal throwback... what gives? It's all your friends talked about when the show made its debut in 2016. It's got everything: another dimension, insane monsters, Russian conspiracy plots, and totally bitchin' pop culture references. If you've already done your time in the Upside Down, bide your time with the time-jumping Travelers, the alien-invasion saga Colony, the goofy fantasy series Shannara, and the one-season mind-bender Awake.

the society
Dana Starbard/Netflix

The Society (2019)

The Society blends anxious social politics into modern day by introducing us to a group of high school students who suddenly and inexplicably find themselves without parents, siblings, or anyone else at all populating their small town. When a bus full of kids is whisked off to a woodsy retreat only to be brought back home a few hours later due to bad weather, the bus's cargo soon find out that no one's coming to pick them up. Everyone except them seems to have been erased from the world, and their town has been neatly cut off from outside society. It's up to a bunch of high school students to form a pseudo-government, make sure no one starts killing anyone else, and, hopefully, figure out what the hell is going on.

tribes of europa
Gordon Timpen/Netflix

Tribes of Europa (2021– )

Tribes of Europa is a German post-apocalyptic series from the producers of Dark, taking place after a devastating event known as Black December, when the world's electrical power systems failed, plunging the globe into an energy catastrophe and forcing the remaining population to form tribes in the wilderness to fight for their survival. The series follows three siblings in the Origines tribe who discover a crashed flying machine with a mysterious cube inside that appears to have the power to change the fractured states of Europa forever—which is trippy, yes, but also makes for a very exciting watch. Those familiar with dystopian binges might find it's a mix of The Walking Dead (minus the zombies) and The 100 (minus the spaceships), and, with only a few short episodes, the kind of thing you can watch in a day or two if you're really into it (and you probably will be).

the umbrella academy
Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix

The Umbrella Academy (2019– )

A Netflix series based on an edgy comic written by My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way about a bunch of masked superheroes with weird powers who all grew up in a mansion and hate their dad sounds like a very elaborate, very specific joke. But we assure you, it's real, and it's actually pretty good once it finally hits its stride. You'll come for the explosions and time travel and chimpanzee butler, but you'll stay for the oddly affecting portrayal of how sibling relationships grow and powerfully shape each other, for better or for worse.

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian
Tencent Video

The Untamed (2019)

Infamous practitioner of the dark magical arts Wei Wuxian is resurrected 16 years after his death and reconnects with his soulmate, the honorable and well-liked Lan Wangji. But things get complicated when Wei Wuxian begins to remember his past life, and the web of manipulation and betrayal that led to his untimely death. The Untamed was a sensation in China and has gained cult status in the West, and while the webcomic it's based on has overt LGBTQ+ themes centered around the romance between its two main characters, the adaptation has just enough subtext to slip past the Chinese censors.

Henry Cavill as Geralt
Netflix

The Witcher (2019– )

Toss a coin once more to your favorite Witcher, as Netflix's weirdest high fantasy series returns for a second season. With the kingdoms of Elves and Men on the Continent in turmoil following last season's big war, Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) brings his young charge Ciri (Freya Allan) to the safest place he knows: Caer Morhen, the home of the Witchers, where he reunites with his mentor Vesemir (Kim Bodnia) and they attempt to find out the origins of Ciri's strange, terrifying power. This season leans more heavily into the fairytale aspects of the book series, including a sorceress who can transform into an owl and a furry faced creature named Nivellen (Kristofer Hivju), an ally of Geralt's whose story is modeled after Beauty and the Beast. Don't worry: Geralt's bard buddy Jaskier (Joey Batey) still shreds.

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