One of the most mind-bending sci-fi shows on Apple TV seems to combine some of the best ingredients from Inception and Everything Everywhere All At Once. When it comes to delivering high-concept and twisty sci-fi shows, Apple TV is easily the leading streaming service with shows like Severance, Foundation, For All Mankind, Dark Matter, and Sugar in its catalog. Among these, Dark Matter is perhaps the most underappreciated sci-fi gem that does an incredible job of bringing its source material's multiversal story to the small screen. Based on Blake Crouch's book of the same name, Dark Matter is packed with one twist after another as it walks through a man's journey through many bizarre parallel worlds. Dark Matter also performed well enough on Apple TV to be renewed for season 2, which is set to premiere on August 28, 2026. While Dark Matter seems to have etched its own unique identity in the vast array of modern sci-fi shows out there, it shares some intriguing similarities with movies like Inception and Everything Everywhere All At Once. These similarities will likely be even more evident in its upcoming season, which makes its return even more exciting. Just like the dream machine in Christopher Nolan's Inception, Apple TV's Dark Matter features a device called "The Box." The Box in Dark Matter operates on a rigid set of rules, and, much like the dream machine, it operates through the mind of an observer. Just like the dream machine allows one to become the architect of a vivid subconscious reality, The Box allows one to manifest a desired parallel reality. Both Inception and Dark Matter present a "Schrödinger's cat" paradox where they argue that even the manifested or dream worlds are not less real than the ones the protagonists originally lived in. After watching both, it becomes hard not to question the nature of one's objective existence and how it is shaped by subjective perception. Dark Matter's parallels with Everything Everywhere All At Once emerge in the beginning itself, when the show sets out to explore a bizarre set of alternate realities and possibilities. Like the Oscar-winning movie, Apple TV's Dark Matter also presents alternate versions of the same character who are radically different from one another. Similar to Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's movie, Blake Crouch's Dark Matter also makes a narrative device out of its multiversal travel. It uses it to capture the complex nature of familial relationships and how even the smallest choices in the present can ripple into disastrous yet necessary consequences in the future. While Dark Matter is not as unique as Inception and Everything Everywhere All At Once and relies more on twists and turns to keep viewers invested, it is a fascinating addition to the sci-fi genre. Dark Matter season 1's ending exhausts its source material's story. Surprisingly, despite this, the show is returning with another season on August 28, 2026. Sci-fi book adaptations that try to stretch beyond their source material's story often end up going off the rails and forgetting what made them special in the first place.