Apple TV’s Star City, a Soviet-focused spin-off from For All Mankind, arrives as a grounded 8-part thriller about cosmonauts, KGB pressure, and the surveillance of a state that never looks away.
Apple TV’s Star City is already being pitched as the series you watch when you want the Cold War to feel personal again.
The new 8-part thriller takes off from the alternate-history premise that launched For All Mankind: in this version of the world. the Soviets beat the U.S. to the Moon. The idea traces back to June 1969. when cosmonaut Alexei Leonov is credited with the first successful crewed Moon landing—setting the knock-on effects of a changed timeline in motion.
Star City comes from the same For All Mankind universe, but it doesn’t try to be a simple rebadge. It follows the cosmonauts of Star City and the man running the space program. known only as the Chief Designer. played by Rhys Ifans. Their mission is both familiar and tense: reach for the stars while working inside the KGB’s influence and the Soviet state’s interests.
In the early writing of For All Mankind. names like Anastasia Belikova (Alice Englert) were introduced with less explanation and more implication. Star City leans into those characters—expanding them instead of requiring viewers to do homework. The result. in the show’s own storytelling choice. is that it builds its drama on top of familiar faces without turning the spin-off into a checklist of must-watch origins.
The show also brings Star City into direct conversation with another spy benchmark: FX’s The Americans. Both series rely on surveillance and espionage as constant pressure, but they do it through different structures. The Americans centers on Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell). KGB agents infiltrating America and presenting themselves as a married couple. Their cover life—living in the suburbs with children who remain unaware of their parents’ secret—comes with the ethical dilemmas of keeping up the act.
Star City doesn’t stage its tension through a single undercover family. It gets there through the systems surrounding the mission—where everything is watched by the Soviet state. Irina Morozova (Agnes O’Casey) begins in the surveillance department as a transcriber of recordings before being pulled into the orbit of KGB head Lyudmilla Raskova (Anna Maxwell Martin). The contrast is clear in the way the stakes land: in Star City. challenges aren’t just personal; they’re structured by the machinery of the state.
One of For All Mankind’s signature pleasures is its insistence on optimism—the belief that human cooperation can outlast borders. Star City keeps that thread by giving spaceflight the support of a team effort. not just a string of lone heroics. National interest still exists. but the show’s worldview leans on the idea—repeated in For All Mankind—that the goal is to “push the envelope” and take humanity to the stars. even with the cost.
What makes the spin-off feel like more than a retread is the balance it strikes between that idealism and a grittier spy-thriller tone. Star City works as a counterpoint to the original series’ hopeful framing while giving viewers a more grounded experience—especially if what they miss from The Americans is the steady pressure of secrets. monitoring. and the consequences of doing the wrong thing for the right reason.
Star City is set to premiere on Apple TV on May 28, 2026. Ben Nedivi and Matt Wolpert are the showrunners, alongside Rhys Ifans as the Chief Designer.
Star City Apple TV For All Mankind spin-off Cold War thriller KGB Rhys Ifans Alice Englert Agnes O'Casey Anna Maxwell Martin Anastasia Belikova The Americans Philip and Elizabeth Jennings surveillance May 28 2026