What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedSolar Opposites
Mike McMahan · Series · 2020
If you loved Solar Opposites, start with Elio (Domee Shi, 2025) — a film on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 films and 2 podcasts, each matched to Solar Opposites across media.
You love Solar Opposites because it finds the absurd, dysfunctional humor in the collision between ordinary life and catastrophic, world-ending sci-fi.
Books on the same thread
The Three-Body Problem
Cixin Liu · Book
Explores: Existential threat, Technological singularity, Societal collapse.
Solar Opposites makes alien invasion feel like a mundane chore, whereas this story explores the terrifying, high-stakes reality of societal collapse when an existential threat finally reaches our planet.
Invincible Compendium Two
Robert Kirkman · Book
Explores: coming-of-age, intergalactic conflict, moral complexity.
If you enjoy the intergalactic chaos of Solar Opposites, this graphic novel collection offers a similar sense of scale and moral complexity within a wild, action-packed superhero universe.
In the Lives of Puppets
T.J. Klune · Book
Explores: found family, artificial intelligence, humanity.
While Solar Opposites focuses on a dysfunctional alien family, this story highlights a found family dynamic, exploring how artificial intelligence and humans coexist during a period of upheaval.
Invincible Compendium Three
Robert Kirkman · Book
Explores: coming-of-age, moral ambiguity, intergalactic conflict.
Readers who appreciate the space opera elements of Solar Opposites will find this third collection essential for its exploration of coming-of-age themes amidst ongoing, high-stakes intergalactic conflict.
Films on the same thread
Elio
Domee Shi · Film · 2025
Shares a thread with Solar Opposites: Fish Out of Water.
Much like the alien perspective in Solar Opposites, this movie captures the fish-out-of-water feeling of navigating a cosmic crisis while searching for identity among eccentric and unpredictable alien lifeforms.
Don't Look Up
Adam McKay · Film · 2021
Explores: Existential Threat, Societal Collapse, Political Ineptitude.
Solar Opposites thrives on the absurdity of impending doom, a tone mirrored perfectly in this film's satirical take on how a distracted, inept society handles a planet-killing comet.
Elemental
Peter Sohn · Film · 2023
Explores: Opposites Attract, Cultural Differences, Finding Common Ground.
Though more grounded in romance, this film captures the same culture clash themes found in Solar Opposites by showing how different groups bridge their fundamental differences within a city.
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Mike Rianda · Film · 2021
Shares a thread with Solar Opposites: dysfunctional family.
Like the family in Solar Opposites, the leads here are a dysfunctional unit forced to save the world during an apocalypse, turning a routine road trip into a chaotic adventure.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Orphans
The Light and Tragic Company · Podcast · 2025
This audio drama captures the same feeling of navigating a harsh, alien environment as seen in Solar Opposites, emphasizing the struggles of survival and emotional complexity in space.
Reply All
Gimlet · Podcast · 2026
Explores: internet subcultures, modern connectivity, technological ethics.
If the technological satire of Solar Opposites resonates with you, this podcast provides an equally sharp, investigative look at the strange ways modern connectivity impacts our daily human lives.
Keep exploring
Common questions
What is the primary mission of the characters in Solar Opposites?
The family of aliens in Solar Opposites is tasked with protecting the Pupa. This living super computer is destined to evolve into its true form, which will eventually consume the family and terraform the Earth after their home planet was destroyed.
Is Solar Opposites about aliens living on Earth?
Yes, Solar Opposites follows a family of aliens who are forced to take refuge in middle America. They are survivors from a much better world that was destroyed, and they must now hide among humans while they wait for the Pupa to complete its development.
How does the Pupa function in Solar Opposites?
In Solar Opposites, the Pupa acts as a living super computer. Its existence is central to the plot, as it is maturing toward a final form that will terraform the Earth and consume the alien family once its evolution is complete.
Why did the aliens arrive in middle America in Solar Opposites?
The aliens in Solar Opposites arrived in middle America to seek refuge after the destruction of their home planet. They are currently living there to protect the Pupa until it reaches its true form and carries out its mission to terraform the Earth.