For All Mankind Season 5 Teases The Next Generation With First Trailer And Release Date

After a long wait, fans of For All Mankind can breathe a sigh of relief. Season 5 is finally coming, very, very soon. Apple TV has just announced the release date, new cast, and dropped a short teaser trailer for the alternate history sci-fi epic. And, now that we’re in 2012, or maybe even a bit further in the timeline, this may be the last season of For All Mankind with cast members from Season 1, and that means, very clearly, it’s time for the next generation to take over.

Ahead of For All Mankind Season 5, here’s the trailer, release date, new cast, confirmed returning cast, new photos, and plot details so far. No spoilers ahead for Season 5. Mild spoilers ahead for Seasons 1-4.

For All Mankind Season 5 Release Date

Following the Season 4 finale in January 2024, For All Mankind returns for Season 5 on March 27, 2026. As with previous seasons, there will be 10 episodes total, with the Season 5 finale airing on May 29.

For All Mankind Season 5 Timeline and Plot

Season 4 took place mostly in 2003, which, in the FaMK timeline, meant that there was a well-established base on Mars, which became the central plotline of the season, as the Mars residents ended the season by snagging a massive, valuable asteroid, the Goldilocks asteroid, for themselves. As is the show’s tradition, the final moments of Season 4 jumped ahead nearly a decade to 2012, showing an even bigger Mars base as well as a Kuznetsov Station, a refinery located on the asteroid, which is now in permanent orbit of Mars.

So, as Season 5 enters the twenty-teens, the plot will expand on the tensions between Earth and Mars, as well as maybe jump to more of the solar system. Here’s the official plot synopsis from Apple:

Season five of For All Mankind picks up in the years since the Goldilocks asteroid heist. Happy Valley has grown into a thriving colony with thousands of residents and a base for new missions that will take us even further into the solar system. But with the nations of Earth now demanding law and order on the Red Planet, friction continues to build between the people who live on Mars and their former home.

For All Mankind Season 5 Cast

Because For All Mankind began in an alternate 1969, it’s always been a multi-generational show, which showrunners Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi have told Inverse is like One Hundred Years of Solitude, but with an alternate space race. This means that cast members have come and gone, sometimes because of tragedy, but more often because time is passing and people are getting older. That said, Season 5 will feature at least two cast members who have been around since Season 1: Joel Kinnaman as Ed Baldwin and Wrenn Schmidt as Margo Madison. Ed will likely be in his 80s or 90s at this point, while Margo will be in her 70s.

Apple’s initial cast announcement did not include a mention of Krys Marshall as Danielle Poole, who did survive Season 4, and would be in her late 60s or early 70s this season. But, like Jodi Balfour’s Ellen Wilson in Season 3, Danielle’s story is, arguably, well-concluded at the end of Season 4. Could she still show up in a big cameo? Anything is possible right now.

The biggest development, though, in addition to returning cast from Season 2, Season 3, and Season 4, is a bunch of new faces. This makes sense. Slowly, the show has been about moving from one generation to the next. Case in point: Aleida Rosales (Coral Peña) was a literal child in Season 1, and by Season 4, she’s the flight director of NASA. Ditto Ed and Karen’s daughter, Kelly Baldwin (Cynthy Wu), who, in Season 3, had the first pregnancy on Mars, and by Season 4, brings her young son to work on Mars. Is he all grown up in Season 5? It looks like it! Here’s the confirmed cast for For All Mankind Season 5.

• Joel Kinnaman as Ed Baldwin
• Wrenn Schmidt as Margo Madison
• Toby Kebbell as Miles Dale
• Edi Gathegi as Dev Ayesa
• Cynthy Wu as Kelly Baldiwn
• Coral Peña as Aleida Rosales

And new cast members:

• Mireille Enos
• Costa Ronin
• Ines Asserson
• Ruby Cruz
• Sean Kaufman

These new cast members' characters’ names have not been confirmed, but the teaser trailer for Season 5 strongly suggests Kaufman is playing the adult Alex, the son of Kelly and the late cosmonaut Alexei Poletov.

For All Mankind Season 5 Trailer

With a voiceover from Ed, the brief For All Mankind Season 5 teaser trailer sees an astronaut riding an awesome dirtbike on Mars. Ed’s narration says, “You’re gonna do things people can’t even fathom,” and then we see Kaufman in a space helmet. This is almost certainly Alex, who is Ed’s grandson.

For All Mankind could go on well beyond Season 5, as creator Ronald D. Moore has often hinted at a seven-season plan. If that’s the case, maybe Alex is the new face of the next generation for the show, the start of a group of humans that takes mankind beyond the Moon and Mars, and out to places no one has gone before.

For All Mankind streams on Apple TV.