Shows Like
Shows Like Andor for Grown-Up Sci-Fi
By Jordan A. · · 5 min read
Andor pulled off something most franchise television never manages. It took a Star Wars side character and built a two-season spy thriller so good that its second season landed 14 Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series. Both seasons are on Disney+, all 24 episodes, and they lead directly into the 2016 film Rogue One.
If Tony Gilroy's grounded, adult take on a galaxy far, far away rewired what you expect from science fiction, you do not have to go back to laser swords and chosen ones. Here is the good stuff for grown-ups.
What makes Andor different
Diego Luna plays Cassian Andor as a reluctant revolutionary, not a hero. The show cares about logistics, politics, and the moral cost of resistance more than spectacle. There are long stretches with no action at all, just people making hard choices under an authoritarian boot. The picks below share that seriousness, that sense that the stakes are real and nobody is safe.
The Mandalorian, for the other side of Star Wars
If you want to stay in the galaxy but keep the quality high, The Mandalorian is the obvious companion. It is warmer and more adventure-driven than Andor, following a bounty hunter and the small green kid who upended his life. Three seasons on Disney+, gorgeous to look at, and a good palate cleanser after Andor's heavier material. For a full tour of where to begin across the saga, see our guide to how to start Star Wars on Disney Plus.
Rogue One, the movie Andor was built for
This one is not optional. Rogue One is the film Cassian's whole story drives toward, and watching Andor first turns its ending into a gut punch. It is a war movie dressed as a blockbuster, about the ordinary people who steal the plans that make the original 1977 film possible. Stream it on Disney+ the moment you finish season two. You will not look at that famous ending the same way again.
Battlestar Galactica, for the political sci-fi original
Before Andor, the 2004 Battlestar Galactica was the gold standard for serious science fiction about survival, faith, and what people become under pressure. Humanity's last survivors flee a robotic enemy while tearing themselves apart from the inside. It holds up remarkably well and streams on Peacock. If the political grit of Andor is what you crave, this is the deep cut that started it.
Two more for the shortlist
- The Expanse (Prime Video): hard science fiction with real politics, a slow burn that becomes one of the genre's best. Grounded in the same way Andor is.
- Fallout (Prime Video): a post-apocalyptic adaptation that nails tone and world-building. Our shows like Fallout list has more in that vein.
Where to land
Watch Rogue One first, always, to complete the Andor story. Then reach for The Mandalorian if you want to stay in Star Wars, or Battlestar Galactica and The Expanse if you want smart science fiction with the same weight. For a broader sweep of the genre this year, our roundup of the best sci-fi shows of 2026 covers what else is worth your time.
The live-action cousin worth chasing
Part of what makes Andor feel so adult is that it borrows from the tradition of political thrillers, not space operas. If the show sharpened your appetite for stories about ordinary people versus vast systems, The Americans on Hulu is a perfect companion, a slow-burn Cold War drama about deep-cover spies whose marriage is both cover and cage. It shares Andor's patience, its craft, and its willingness to sit in moral gray without offering easy answers. Watching it back to back with Cassian's story makes clear that the best Star Wars in years was really a spy show wearing a genre costume.
The lesson Andor teaches, and the reason these picks belong together, is that scale means nothing without stakes. A show can blow up a planet and bore you, or it can hold on a single frightened face and leave you breathless. Tony Gilroy chose the second path, building tension out of bureaucracy, betrayal, and the slow, grinding cost of resistance. Every show on this list does the same, trading spectacle for consequence, which is exactly why they stay with you long after the credits roll instead of evaporating by the next morning.
Where to start tonight
If you have not seen Rogue One, watch it the moment you finish Andor season two, because the two were built as a single story and the film's ending hits twice as hard with the show behind it. From there, The Mandalorian is the easy, warm follow-up when you want adventure over politics. Save The Expanse and Battlestar Galactica for the nights you want your science fiction to argue with you. Any of them will fill the hole Andor leaves, and not one will insult your intelligence to do it.
One final note for the impatient. Andor asks for patience up front, and so do a few of these picks, but the payoff is always worth it. Give any of them a few episodes before you judge, because the grounded style that makes them special takes a beat to reveal its stakes. Rushing them is the one mistake to avoid. Settle in, let the world build, and trust that the tension is being wound tight for a reason. That slow burn is the entire point, and it always delivers.
Serious science fiction is scattered across half a dozen services, and hunting for the next great one gets old fast. BingeNext reads your taste across all of them and points you at the grounded, grown-up sci-fi you have not seen yet. Get show recommendations and skip the search.
Topics covered: andor, grown-up sci-fi, star wars shows, disney plus, battlestar galactica
About the author
Jordan A., Founder, BingeNext
Jordan A. is the founder of BingeNext and is responsible for every guide published on this site. He built the recommendation engine after one too many nights lost to the streaming menu. Dates, season counts and where-to-watch details in these guides are checked against official sources before publishing, and corrections are welcome at Jordan@Bingenext.com.