Science fiction is one of the most dominant genres around — and it’s not hard to understand why. With the rise of AI, the invention of self-driving cars and $100,000 humanoid robots for purchase (yes, that’s real), it often feels like the future is already here.
HBO and Max have plenty of quality sci-fi shows in their impressive library for viewers to peruse, so much so that it can be a hassle to decide which ones are worth your time.
Thankfully, Watch With Us has seen most of them, selecting the best ones to stream and watch. Among the contenders in April are a massively popular video game adaptation, a bizarre comic book adaptation and a prequel set in the Dune universe.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the Great New Movies on Netflix, Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and More, the Best Movies on Amazon Prime Video Right Now, the Best Movies on Hulu Right Now and 4 Underrated Movies on Netflix in April 2025.
Fans of the two recent Dune movies starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya will dig Dune: Prophecy, which mimics the look and tone of Denis Villeneuve’s epic take on Frank Herbert’s classic novel.
Set 10,000 years before the first Dune, the series explores the origins of the mysterious Bene Gesserit, a secret organization populated by powerful women who exert control over the universe’s political, social and religious circles. Sisters and allies Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams) want to secure the safety of humanity, but can they withstand betrayals from within their own group as well as prepare for the “reckoning,” a prophecy that could end them all?
While Dune: Prophecy looks like its cinematic brethren, it feels more like Game of Thrones due to its emphasis on politics and power struggles among the elite. It doesn’t feel derivative, though, and Watson and Williams give the show the spark it needs to make you watch all of its six episodes.
Zombies were getting a bit stale when The Last of Us premiered in early 2023, but the show’s stellar acting and production values made them relevant again and gave star Pedro Pascal yet another iconic role. The first season was a relatively faithful adaptation of the massively popular 2013 Naughty Dog game, telling the story of outbreak survivors Joel (Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they cross a postapocalyptic United States while trying to avoid “the infected.”
Season 2 premiered in April 2025 and adapts the first half of the video game sequel, The Last of Us Part II. Ellie, now in her late teens, and Joel are still as world-weary as ever. Some major new characters this season include Isabel Merced as Ellie’s love interest Dina, Catherine O’Hara as Joel’s therapist and Kaitlyn Dever as the soldier Abby. The Last of Us isn’t just a great sci-fi series, it’s also one of the best shows streaming right now.
Noah Wyle is justifiably getting his flowers right now for his stellar work in The Pitt, but the ER actor has been regularly appearing on the small screen for decades. In between his popular hospital dramas, Wyle found the time to battle invading aliens in the enjoyably goofy sci-fi drama, Falling Skies.
Months after the world had been taken over by the Espeni, what’s left of humankind has assembled into groups of paramilitary forces around the globe. Tom Mason is the leader of one of those units, and he’s determined to not only fight the invaders but also find out what they want from Earth. That won’t be easy, and he’ll have to forge uneasy alliances with other humans he normally wouldn’t get along with while also trying to raise his teenage son (Connor Jessup).
Falling Skies lasted for five seasons, and the longer it was on the air, the more far-fetched its stories became. It’s still enjoyable to watch, though, and Wyle proves he’s just as good at kicking alien butt as he is saving lives in an emergency room.
Shameless ripoffs can be good, and Paradise is better than it has any right to be. Set in early 1990s Spain, the supernatural show opens with the disappearance of three girls. No one knows where they went or who took them, but Javi (Pau Gimeno), the brother of one of the missing girls, thinks something sinister is at play. Together with his three friends, he decides to find out for himself what happened to his sister and her friends.
Sound familiar? Paradise owes a lot to Stranger Things, right down to the shameless nostalgic pull of early ‘90s culture. But it all works, and the central mystery is intriguing enough to keep you guessing. The show ran for two seasons and wrapped things up in 15 easy-to-watch episodes.
Several super-powered outcasts band together to stop evildoers from taking over the world — no, it’s not the X-Men, it’s Doom Patrol. The short-lived Max show is based on the DC Vertigo comic of the same name and takes most of its inspiration from writer Grant Morrison’s genre-bending run on the series in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
When team founder and leader Niles Caulder (Timothy Dalton) is kidnapped by Mr. Nobody, the Doom Patrol — Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero), Elasti-Woman (April Bowlby), Negative Man (Matt Bomer), Robotman (Brendan Fraser) and Cyborg (Joivan Wade) — must set aside their differences long enough to take back the man who cared for them when no one would. But getting Niles back isn’t easy, and along the way, each member of the team discovers some shocking secrets about their past that threatens their future.
Doom Patrol isn’t your standard superhero show — the team encounters a sentient street called Danny the Street and has to prevent a “buttpocalypse” from destroying the world. The show is weird and almost nonsensical, but it’s also a fun ride worth taking.
