NBC’s 2-Season Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Is the Perfect ‘The Last of Us’ Replacement

Published Nov 9, 2026, 4:17 PM EST

Collier Jennings is an entertainment journalist with extensive experience. Collier, or "CJ" to his friends and family, is a dedicated fan of genre films - particularly science fiction, fantasy, and comic book adaptations, not to mention all forms of animation. This stems from a close bond with his father, who introduced him to these genres via copies of X-Men comics and reruns of the original Ultraman series. With his near-encyclopedic knowledge and bottomless love of genre, he's tackled a wide variety of articles.

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The Last of Us is a series that made the end of the world feel interesting again, thanks to expanding the world of the video games that inspired it and having a perfectly cast pair of leads in Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. It's no surprise that other series have been following in its footsteps, including Paradise and Silo. With The Last of Us gearing up for its upcoming Season 3, fans can whet their appetite for post-apocalyptic fare by checking out a severely underrated sci-fi series that's now available to stream on Prime Video.

That series is Revolution. Created by Eric Kripke, Revolution takes place in the year 2027, fifteen years after a mysterious "blackout" disables all electricity on the planet. The fallout sees what's left of the United States being carved up by militias, while humanity adapts to a world without technology. Charlie Matheson (Tracy Spiridakos) winds up being pulled into a massive conspiracy when soldiers arrive at her town, killing her father Ben (Tim Guinee) and kidnapping her brother Danny (Graham Rogers); she enlists the help of her estranged uncle, Miles (Billy Burke), to save Danny.

‘Revolution’ Blends Action and Mystery Together For A Bingeworthy Series

Image via NBC

From its very first episode, Revolution balances intense fight scenes with a series of unravelling mysteries, keeping its audience's adrenaline pumping and their minds working. Flashbacks reveal the nature of the "Blackout," and the mysterious pendant that Ben was carrying that can restore electronic devices. Charlie's mother Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell), who was previously believed to be dead, is actually held captive by warlord Sebastian Monroe (David Lyons). Even the quest to rescue Danny takes a dark turn when he's gunned down in the Season 1 episode "The Stand". Kripke and his fellow writers managed to keep Revolution from falling into the same traps that other post-Lost shows ran into by actually delivering answers to its mysteries that made sense.

Season 2 shook up the series' premise by introducing a new enemy: the armed fanatics called "Patriots", led by President turned tyrant Jack Davis (Cotter Smith). On top of that, the technology behind the "Blackout" is revealed to be a cloud of sentient nanomachines that can perform miracles like restoring power to dead electronics and even healing the dead. This was a smart shift, as it allowed Revolution to keep its sci-fi elements while introducing a new threat to keep things fresh. Sadly, it wasn't enough to keep the series on the air.

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Movies/Science Fiction/Survival Assessment

Collider Survival Assessment Which Sci-Fi World
Would You Survive? 8 questions · 5 worlds · one honest verdict

Five of the great screen futures, and not one of them is built for comfort. Answer eight questions about instinct, loyalty and the line you would cross, and the scan will tell you which one you would still be standing in. Worlds in range

▦︎The Matrix

◈︎Mad Max

◑︎Blade Runner

▲︎Dune

✦︎Star Wars

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Signal lock01 / 08

Question 01 of 08INSTINCT

The world as you know it ends overnight. What is your first move? No wrong answer. There is a wrong hesitation.

AFind out what is really going on behind all of it BGrab a vehicle and as much fuel as you can carry CKeep your head down and show up to work anyway DLearn the rules of whoever is in charge now EFind other people and start organizing

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Question 02 of 08RESOURCE

You can stockpile exactly one thing. What is it? Choose carefully. You are not getting a second run.

AInformation nobody else has BFuel CClean money and cleaner documents DWater EA ship that can get you off-world

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Question 03 of 08THREAT

Which kind of enemy scares you the most? Be honest about what keeps you up.

AOne that can be anywhere, wearing anyone's face BA convoy of people who want what you are carrying CSomeone who looks exactly like you DA rival family that has been planning your downfall for generations EAn empire with unlimited resources and no patience

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Question 04 of 08AUTHORITY

How do you handle the people in charge? Every world has them. Even the ones that pretend otherwise.

AAssume they are lying and work around them BNobody is in charge where I am CFollow the orders, file the report, stay invisible DStudy them, get close to them, outlast them EJoin whoever is fighting them

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Question 05 of 08ENVIRONMENT

Pick the place you would rather wake up in: You will be there a while.

AA grey city that feels slightly too perfect BAn endless desert highway CA rainy neon street at three in the morning DA dune sea with a fortress on the horizon EA crowded spaceport full of strangers

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Question 06 of 08ALLIANCE

Who do you want standing next to you? Pick one. You only get one.

AA guide who knows far more than they are telling you BOne person you trust and nobody else CNobody. You work alone DA loyal circle you grew up with EA crew of misfits who argue the whole way

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Question 07 of 08MORALITY

Which line would you cross to survive? Everybody crosses one.

ALying to the people closest to you BTaking what you need by force CLooking the other way DPlaying a long game that costs other people dearly EBlowing something very expensive up

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Question 08 of 08PURPOSE

What are you really fighting for? Last question. Make it count.

AThe truth, whatever it turns out to be BTomorrow. Just tomorrow CSomething that finally feels like a real life DYour family's name EEveryone who cannot fight for themselves

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Scan completeYou would survive

▦︎ The Matrix The Resistance, Zion You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

You would survive The Matrix because you were never fully sold on the version of reality you were handed. You notice the seams. You ask the second question. In a world built to keep people comfortable and incurious, that instinct is the whole fight, and it is why Morpheus would have found you long before you found him. From the Collider file

• The Wachowskis' 1999 film won four Academy Awards, including Visual Effects and Film Editing.
• Bullet time was shot with a rig of roughly 120 still cameras firing in sequence around the actors.
• Keanu Reeves trained in martial arts for about four months before a frame was shot, recovering from neck surgery the whole time.
• It opened the same year as Fight Club and eXistenZ, in a run of films about not trusting the world in front of you.

Red pill energy Pattern spotter Built to question

◈︎ Mad Max The Wasteland Oh, what a day. What a lovely day.

You would survive the Wasteland because you do not waste energy mourning the world that ended. You move, you improvise, and you are very good with whatever is bolted to the thing in front of you. Furiosa would let you drive. That is not a compliment anybody earns easily. From the Collider file

• Mad Max: Fury Road won six Academy Awards in 2016, more than any other film that year.
• George Miller storyboarded the entire film as roughly 3,500 panels before there was a script.
• The chase was shot almost entirely practical in the Namib Desert, with real vehicles and real stunt performers.
• Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth carried the prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in 2024.

Keeps moving Improviser Good with engines

◑︎ Blade Runner Los Angeles, 2049 All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

You would survive 2049 because you know how to be small in a very loud city. You keep your head down, you do the job, and you hold onto one private thing that belongs only to you. That quiet stubbornness is exactly what both Deckard and K run on, and it is what keeps either of them going when the case stops making sense. From the Collider file

• Blade Runner 2049 won Roger Deakins his first Oscar for cinematography, on his fourteenth nomination.
• The film also took Best Visual Effects, 35 years after Ridley Scott's 1982 original.
• Villeneuve shot it on large-format film and kept the fog and rain practical on set wherever he could.
• Three short films by Luke Scott and Shinichiro Watanabe bridge the 30-year gap between the two movies.

Keeps her head down Private Noir soul

▲︎ Dune Arrakis Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

You would survive Arrakis because you think in decades while everyone around you thinks in weeks. You read the room, you learn the customs, you wait. The desert does not reward speed. It rewards people who understand that patience is a weapon, which is the one lesson the Fremen never had to be taught. From the Collider file

• Denis Villeneuve's Dune won six Academy Awards in 2022, including Cinematography and Original Score.
• Hans Zimmer turned down Christopher Nolan's Tenet so he could score Dune instead.
• Dune: Part Two arrived in 2024 and brought in Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken.
• David Lynch's 1984 version and Alejandro Jodorowsky's unmade one are both their own legends by now.

Plays the long game Reads the room Patient

✦︎ Star Wars A Galaxy Far, Far Away Rebellions are built on hope.

You would survive the galaxy because you never try to survive it alone. You collect people. You end up in the middle of other folks' problems and you stay anyway. Every version of this story, from the Falcon's crew to the Ghost's, runs on somebody exactly like that holding the group together. From the Collider file

• The 1977 original won six Academy Awards plus a special achievement award for sound effects.
• John Williams' score was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and became the best-selling symphonic film soundtrack ever.
• Andor took the galaxy somewhere colder and earned Emmy nominations for drama series in both seasons.
• The saga now runs across eleven feature films and a growing shelf of series on Disney+.

Collects people Shows up Hope merchant

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‘Revolution’ Was Cut Down in Its Prime

Despite having J.J. Abrams as a producer and fairly solid ratings, Revolution was canceled after two seasons. In the years following its cancellation, Eric Kripke would admit that he felt a strange sense of relief as Revolution was "a hard show" to make; ironically, he'd even compare it to The Last of Us.

"I would say looking back, I feel like my primary emotion was relief. It was such a hard show, and I forgot every lesson I learned with Supernatural. It was completely serialized. There was no engine. There was no clean path. But it was still a network show. Like, had that show been an eight-episode streaming show with a bigger budget? It would have been called The Last of Us [laughs]. It would have been good! Like, people ask me there, 'What do you think of The Last of Us?' I'm like, 'Oh, it's like if Revolution was good.'"

Revolution would fare better than most canceled shows, as it actually got the chance to wrap up its storyline in a digital comic book series. While the series had potential to last for many more seasons, what made it on screen is a story that feels oddly relevant given current events, and a post-apocalypse story that feels genuinely creative.