Invasion release date, trailer, cast, and plot for the Apple TV Plus sci-fi series

In most alien invasion movies, the plot often follows just one family running for their lives. But in a new Apple TV+ series, many people experience the same cataclysmic event, and the show explores how they all will deal with it in different ways.

Invasion, a new science-fiction series by producer Simon Kinberg, is coming soon to Apple TV+. A classic alien invasion story with a twist, the series takes place amidst the arrival of unknown and hostile visitors, which kicks off a fight for survival seen through the eyes of different people from around the world.

From rural America to metropolitan Japan, Invasion is a character-driven sci-fi ensemble in the spirit of Sense8, Heroes, and Lost.

Here is everything we know so far about Invasion, including its release date, trailer, plot synopsis, and more. Bookmark this page and come back often as we'll update it with more information as it is available.

When is the release date for Invasion?

Invasion will debut its first three episodes on October 22, 2021. Each of the remaining seven episodes will premiere weekly on Fridays.

Where can I stream Invasion?

Invasion will be available exclusively on Apple TV+.

Who is starring in Invasion?

• Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) is "Sheriff John Bell Tyson," a rural American lawman on the verge of retirement.
• Shamier Anderson (Wynonna Earp) is "Trevante Ward," a homesick soldier stationed in Afghanistan.
• Golshifteh Farahani (Extraction, gen:LOCK) is "Aneesha Malik," a Syrian immigrant mother who sacrificed her career to raise a family; actor Firas Nassar plays her husband.
• Billy Barratt (Blinded by the Light) is a British schoolboy with a crush on his classmate.
• Shioli Kutsuna (Deadpool 2) is "Mitsuki," a Japanese aerospace technician who is in a love affair with a fellow astronaut.

Where can I watch the trailer for Invasion?

Apple TV+ released the full series trailer on September 22. You can watch it in the embed below.

What is Invasion? What is the story about?

Invasion is a new series from producer Simon Kinberg, whose credits include the screenplay for Mr. and Mrs. Smith and producer on The Martian, Chappie, and both the X-Men and Deadpool film franchises. The series is an original concept not based on any pre-existing books or comics.

Its story takes place during the initial arrival of an unknown, gigantic species from another planet. The show follows several people from different parts of the world, who all struggle to survive, learn about — or even fight back — the invading aliens.

"Like Babel meets War of the Worlds"

In an interview with IGN, producer Simon Kinberg described the series as a blend of H.G. Wells' classic War of the Worlds with the Oscar-winning 2006 movie Babel, directed by Alejandro Iñárritu.

"Well, initially I had a thought of doing a very modern global Babel, like the movie Babel meets War of the Worlds," Kinberg told IGN. After meeting co-creator David Weill, conversations about the premise evolved from being a simple alien invasion movie to become "its own original thing."

"And what was, from the beginning, the biggest draw to me and the thing that got me the most excited, was playing the reality of what it would feel like to be invaded," Kinberg says. "I think there are a lot of nations, unfortunately, around the world that know what that feels like, but there's a whole lot of nations that don't, and America is one of them."

As a longtime producer of the X-Men film franchise, Kinberg commented that Invasion similarly uses science-fiction to muse on real-world strifes:

"So in the case of the X-Men movies that I spent a lot of my life working on, the mutants were a metaphor for any persecuted or oppressed people. And in the case of Invasion, it's really about two things for me, metaphorically. One is the fact that we're all aliens, that there is a sense of alienation that I think all people carry with them in some form, whether they're alienated from their families, alienated from their communities, alienated from their jobs, there is a sense of disconnect. And I think I was really trying to find storylines in our show that would explore that feeling of alienation and really sort of explode it under the intensity of the magnifying glass of an actual alien invasion."

Invasion will begin streaming on Apple TV+ on October 22.