What To Expect From The Expanse Season 6

Here’s what to expect from The Expanse season 6 – and when to expect it. Starting out on the Syfy channel as an underrated gem, The Expanse initially ran for 3 seasons between 2015 and 2018, telling the story of the Rocinante crew as they investigate alien interference and political misbehavior in a colonized solar system. Starring Steven Strait as James Holden, Dominique Tipper as Naomi, Wes Chatham as Amos and Cas Anvar as Alex, The Expanse was praised for its detailed science fiction world, tense mystery storytelling and fascinating characters, but was canceled nonetheless by the Syfy network. Fortunately, Amazon stepped in to give The Expanse new life from season 4 onward.

The Expanse season 5 picks up with the Belt’s Marco Inaros establishing himself as the new baddie in town. An extremist with connections to Martian rebels, Marco assails Earth with a spray of asteroids while the Rocinante crew are spread out and separated. Holden witnesses the Free Navy’s attack on Tycho then sets off after Marco, Naomi tries and failes to rescue her son before ending up on the sabotaged Chetzemoka, Amos experiences the destruction of Earth first-hand, and Alex joins Bobbie to investigate the Martian end of Marco’s operation. With The Expanse season 5 now over, what do we know about season 6?

The Expanse Season 6 Renewal

The Expanse was renewed for a sixth season before the fifth even aired, however, Amazon simultaneously confirmed this would be the show’s final voyage. The original Expanse book series by James S.A. Corey runs for a total of nine novels, adapting approximately one volume per season, so expect some significant deviation in the last season. The possibility of The Expanse‘s story continuing beyond season 6 has been broached by showrunner Naren Shankar, who acknowledged the discrepancy between nine books and six seasons, and answered coyly with “that would be more of a question for our studio.” Factors that might’ve potentially played into The Expanse‘s cancellation include the books’ upcoming time jump, an inability to crack the mainstream, and a not-insignificant budget.

The Expanse Season 6 Release Date Info

Lining up with prior season premiere dates, The Expanse season 6 is set to debut on December 10, 2021. At Syfy, The Expanse‘s release schedule lacked consistency, but it’s been a different story at Amazon. The Expanse season 4 premiered in December 2019, and season 5 in December 2020 after completion of filming in the first few months of the year. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic raging on, that schedule didn’t get thrown too far off course for The Expanse, as season 6 began filming on January 27, 2021, and production wrapped on May 7, 2021. That’s in contrast to season 5 filming from September 2019 to February 2020.

The Expanse Season 6 Story Details

Following the current model, The Expanse season 6 will adapt events from Babylon’s Ashes, the sixth book in the series. As Earth continues to grapple with the aftermath of Marco’s attack, war rages between the Blue Planet and the Free Navy, with Marco Inaros striving desperately to tighten his dominance of the system. The Rocinante joins the fight, naturally, but another enemy soon rises from the Laconia system. Those alien ships being brought back to life by Paolo Cortazar surely aren’t going to stay idle for long.

Meanwhile, the presence of the so-called Unknown Aggressors who wiped out the Protomolecule creators continues to grow after the destruction of the Barkeith. The mysterious species is very obviously displeased by the reactivation of the Protomolecule, but only Holden and Elvi Okoye are truly aware of this shadowy enemy. With The Expanse‘s future beyond season 6 uncertain, the extra-terrestrial side of the narrative may be accelerated out of necessity. Following allegations of sexual misconduct, Alex will not appear in The Expanse season 6. That will surely disappoint fans of the character, but it’s the right move to make.

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Craig Elvy
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Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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