10 Best Sci-Fi Shows On Hulu

Thanks to streaming services, fans of every genre can find plenty to watch outside of primetime television. If your tastes tend toward the science fiction, there are plenty of offerings, both old and new, on Hulu. You can get lost in space in a futuristic series or watch investigators try to determine what's the truth at the heart of a case. You can travel through time or see a time you hope will never come.

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Whether you're looking for a show to get into early or a series that was on for years and will take you a while to get through, there's something for everyone.

SMALLVILLE

Yes, the Arrowverse currently rules over CW's primetime television (and it's even growing), but once upon a time, there was only one superhero series part of its lineup. Smallville told the origin story of Tom Welling's Clark Kent, who would go on to become Superman.

For 10 seasons, it followed him from the small town of Smallville to the big city of Metropolis and his journalistic work at the Daily Planet alongside Lois Lane. The series introduced other well-known masked heroes, including those who would go on to have their own television series, like the Green Arrow, or appear in other shows, like the Black Canary.

MARVEL'S RUNAWAYS

Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe won't want to miss this one. Marvel's Runaways fits right in with the movies and other television series available across ABC and Netflix. Those looking for the world of the Avengers or SHIELD on a (much) smaller scale need look no further.

The series follows six teenagers who don't get along but have a common enemy: their evil parents. It's a Hulu original, and the entire second season was just released on the streaming service in December. In the new episodes, the teenagers are on the run and trying to hide from their parents while also trying to figure out how to stop them.

11.22.63

What if you had the ability to change history? James Franco's Jake Epping does in this eight-episode miniseries, Hulu's 11.22.63, based on Stephen King's novel, 11/22/63. The history teacher is given the opportunity to travel back in time and prevent John F. Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963.

However, as Jake learns, changing the past is easier than said done because history wants to happen as it did. It's one of many time travel-related series, and the best part of this subgenre of science fiction is you can love them all and find something to appreciate in every one of them.

STARGATE SG-1

Stargate SG-1 was part of the Stargate franchise and took place a year after the movie, Stargate. It followed SG-1, a military team made up of soldiers and scientists, that traveled to other planets to explore, make alliances, resolve conflicts, investigate ancient mysteries and defend Earth from hostile forces.

The Stargate that allowed them to travel between planets allowed the series to explore a variety of places and threats. The series was not only very popular, but it also received several nominations, including for Emmys. It also led to several spinoffs, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe and the animated Stargate Infinity.

12 MONKEYS

12 Monkeys showed what happened when, 27 years after a virus wiped out most of humanity, someone traveled back in time and tried to save the future. The first three seasons of the Syfy time travel series are already available on Hulu, so you can watch the beginning of Cole and Cassie's journeys.

Cole used a risky time travel machine to go back in time and try to find the origin of the deadly plague that eventually decimated the human race, and that was just the beginning. The series was loosely based on the 1995 movie with the same name.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

2004's Battlestar Galactica picked up where the 2003 miniseries left off, as the last surviving humans traveled on a fleet of ships led by President Laura Roslin and Commander William Adama. They were chased by Cylons that wanted to wipe out humanity, but little did they know that there could be Cylons closer than they even realized.

The survivors traveled across the galaxy looking for the long-lost Earth. Earlier seasons were much stronger than the later ones, but it is still a television show worth binging, and Hulu gives you the perfect opportunity to do just that. Both the miniseries and the series are available to stream.

THE X-FILES

Do you want to believe? The truth is out there. The X-Files followed FBI agents Scully and Mulder as they attempted to explain the unexplainable. The concept of the original series was simple: he believed, while she sought a scientific reason behind their cases.

Though the series' original nine season run ended in 2002, Fox brought it back for two additional seasons, with the season 11 finale airing in March 2018. All 11 seasons are available to stream on Hulu, so whether you're an old fan who wants to rewatch them all or a newer fan who maybe only caught the revival, you're in luck.

FIREFLY

There may have only been one season (and a follow-up movie) of Firefly, but it is easily one of the best science fiction series ever. There are fans just discovering the series now, and that's because it's available to stream on Hulu.

Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds led his crew on the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity, and it's likely you were able to find at least one character you loved among those on board.

It was a space adventure and science fiction series that may not have been perfect but was certainly memorable, in great part because it was canceled too soon.

TIMELESS

In a way, Timeless was the little show that could, mainly, the little show that could survive cancelation — twice! Three strangers became family as they traveled through time and tried to stop the enemy that wanted to change history.

NBC canceled the series after the first season, but then surprisingly took back that decision. The series returned for a second season, but then it was canceled again. However, fans were treated to a two-hour wrap-up movie in December, which not only tied all the loose threads together but also teased future life, just in case. For now, fans have to just make do with two seasons and a movie, all of which is available on Hulu.

THE HANDMAID'S TALE

The Handmaid's Tale has been quite the success for Hulu, and it will be back for a third season soon.

The dystopian drama is based on Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel and imagines a future with widespread infertility. The totalitarian Gilead becomes the government, and women become subservient to men, serving as Marthas, who work in the house, and handmaids, women who are fertile and whose sole purpose is to produce children for the man of the house and his wife. It's a bleak world, and it's a television series that has received numerous awards, for the show itself and its actors, and nominations.