Apple's Flagship Sci-Fi Hit Ending With Sixth and Final Season

Joel Kinnaman can finally step away from the old-age makeup because, after six seasons, his Apple TV+ series For All Mankind is ending.

The streamer officially confirmed the news on Tuesday, ahead of the show’s fifth season premiere this Friday.

“Getting to explore the For All Mankind universe over six seasons has been an amazing privilege, and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to finish the story the way we’ve always hoped,” creators Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi said in a statement. “We’re incredibly proud of what this series has become, and grateful to Apple TV and Sony Pictures Television for helping us see it through to its final chapter.”

“From being one of the first Apple Originals to launch on Apple TV in 2019, For All Mankind has remained an innovative, epic sci-fi series that has enthralled fans season after season,” added Matt Cherniss, head of programming for Apple TV. “As one of Apple TV’s most enduring and celebrated series, it has delivered time and again because of the extraordinary artistry of visionary storytellers [creator Ronald D. Moore], Matt and Ben, along with our partners at Sony, and we can’t wait for people to experience how this story comes to its exhilarating conclusion when the final season debuts next year.”

For All Mankind was one of several shows available on Apple TV when the streamer launched in November 2019. Also among its originals were The Morning Show, Dickinson, See, Oprah's Book Club and a number of children's shows. Of those, only For All Mankind and The Morning Show are still airing.

What Is For All Mankind About?

The sci-fi series is set in an alternate timeline in which a Soviet cosmonaut was actually the first to land on the moon, altering the course of the space race forever. In Season 1, after the Soviets also get the first woman on the moon, the United States is pressured into playing catchup, leading to the recruitment of more women and ethnically diverse trainees.

In the seasons since, colonization has not only taken place on the moon, but also on Mars, as interpersonal space station relationships between astronauts from around the world continue to be explored.

Starting in 1969, each season has focused on a different decade, with Season 2 taking place in the 1980s, Season 3 in the '90s, Season 4 in the 2000s and the to-be-released Season 5 going into the 2010s. With massive time jumps between each season, that means most of the cast members also have to be aged-up with more makeup and prosthetics each time new episodes drop.

While star Joel Kinnaman—who plays astronaut Ed Baldwin—is in his 40s in real life, Baldwin should now be somewhere in his 80s on the new season. Per Apple, the season will find “friction” continuing to build between those on Mars and back home on Earth, as new missions take the space travelers “even further into the solar system.”

Toby Kebbell, Edi Gathegi, Cynthy Wu, Coral Peña and Wrenn Schmidt also star, while Mireille Enos, Costa Ronin, Sean Kaufman, Ruby Cruz and Ines Asserson join the cast. Though not listed by Apple TV as returning, star Krys Marshall is also expected to be back as Danielle Poole.

Season 5 premieres Friday, March 27 on Apple TV, with new episodes each week through May 29. A spinoff, Star City, is also set to premiere May 29.