Star City is poised to bring the events of For All Mankind into a very different kind of view by focusing on the perspective of the Soviets’ astronaut program in the alternative history version of the space race.
Like FAM‘s first season, Star City takes place in the ’60s as Russia wins the race for the moon and continues vying for supremacy on the world stage … and beyond.
In this exclusive sneak peek at the show’s first season, it’s clear that the initial victory will offer very little reprieve to Star City’s Chief Designer (Rhys Ifans), and instead will only ramp up the pressure on him to succeed even more.
In the clip, he is told that the lunar base is now the “top priority” — presumably after the Soviets make their surprise first landing on the moon — and “no” is not an acceptable answer.
“This would be a mistake, with respect,” the Chief Designer insists.
However, he is asked to do the impossible: move up the lunar base launch, even though the redesign is still a year away from completion.
“This is absurd,” he says, defiantly. “You would be sending these men and women to their deaths.”
That threat does not seem to faze his adamant colleague, however, and he says simply, “Well, we have ultimate faith in your ability to deliver this for the general secretary. You are our most valuable resource.” Though that sounds complimentary enough, it is also a thinly-veiled threat about who will be held accountable if things do not pan out the way leadership wants.
The mostly American characters from NASA in For All Mankind certainly faced tons of pressure from on high, particularly in this era of the show, but that was clearly nothing compared to the iron fist rule the scientists of Star City will be up against in this iteration of events.
Star City premieres with its first two episodes on Friday (May 29), along with the Season 5 finale of For All Mankind, which should make for quite a split-screen experience for fans as the parent show explores the havoc on Mars and Titan, while this one brings it all back to the very beginning of the celestial adventuring.
Star City, Series Premiere, May 29, Apple TV