What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Tomorrow War
Chris McKay · Film · 2021
If you loved The Tomorrow War, start with Travelers (Brad Wright, 2016) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Tomorrow War across media.
What hooked you in The Tomorrow War was the way high-stakes global warfare forces ordinary people to confront impossible temporal paradoxes.
Books on the same thread
The Forever War
Joe W. Haldeman, Marvano · Book · 1990
Shares a thread with The Tomorrow War: Military Science Fiction.
Like the reluctant soldiers drafted in The Tomorrow War, Mandella experiences the brutal reality of interstellar combat where time dilation makes the war feel agonizingly detached from human experience.
Watching Over Us
Will McIntosh · Book · 2025
Shares 2 threads with The Tomorrow War: Military Science Fiction, Alien Invasion.
This story mirrors the desperate struggle for survival against an overwhelming alien force found in The Tomorrow War, focusing on the intimate grit of a resistance fighting impossible odds.
Ender's Game
Orson Scott Card · Book · 2013
Shares 2 threads with The Tomorrow War: Alien Invasion, Military Science Fiction.
If the tactical intensity of the alien conflict in The Tomorrow War resonated with you, this tale of young recruits facing total extinction will provide a similar moral weight.
Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir · Book · 2021
Explores: Amnesia, Planetary Survival, Xenobiology.
While The Tomorrow War focuses on combat, you will appreciate the urgency of planetary survival and the high-stakes problem solving that drives characters to save humanity from certain doom.
Series on the same thread
Travelers
Brad Wright · Series · 2016
Shares a thread with The Tomorrow War: Saving the future.
The concept of sending consciousness back to prevent future catastrophe echoes the temporal missions of The Tomorrow War, emphasizing the heavy moral dilemmas inherent in saving the world.
12 Monkeys
Terry Matalas · Series · 2015
Explores: Time Paradoxes, Fate vs. Free Will, Saving the World.
This series captures the same high-stakes race against the clock seen in The Tomorrow War, where a traveler must navigate complex paradoxes to stop a dark, inevitable future.
Samurai Jack
Genndy Tartakovsky · Series · 2001
Explores: Good vs Evil, Time Travel, Fish Out of Water.
The sensation of being a fish out of water in a dangerous, technologically advanced future mirrors the displacement Dan Forester feels in The Tomorrow War as he navigates survival.
Doctor Who
Sydney Newman · Series · 2005
Explores: Time Travel Paradoxes, Alien Encounters, Redemption.
Much like the mission in The Tomorrow War, this series uses the mechanics of time travel to explore the capacity for hope and redemption amidst constant alien threats.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Orphans
The Light and Tragic Company · Podcast · 2025
The struggle for survival in a harsh, alien-dominated universe presented here aligns with the bleak, high-stakes military atmosphere that defines the conflict within The Tomorrow War.
The Adventure Zone
The McElroys · Podcast · 2026
Explores: improvised storytelling, group dynamics, high fantasy satire.
While lighter in tone, the camaraderie and group dynamics of these adventurers facing constant peril will appeal to those who enjoyed the squad-based missions in The Tomorrow War.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Tomorrow War about a war in the present day?
No, The Tomorrow War centers on a conflict occurring thirty years in the future. Time travelers arrive from 2051 to recruit soldiers and civilians from the present to travel forward in time and fight against a deadly alien species that threatens the survival of mankind.
What is the mission in The Tomorrow War?
In The Tomorrow War, the mission is to save humanity from extinction. Time travelers from 2051 warn that mankind is losing a global war against an alien species. Civilians and soldiers are transported to the future to join the fight and attempt to change the outcome of the war.
Who is the main character recruited in The Tomorrow War?
The main character recruited in The Tomorrow War is Dan Forester. He is a high school teacher and a family man who is selected to be transported to the future to participate in the desperate global fight against the alien species threatening the existence of the human race.
What is the premise of the alien conflict in The Tomorrow War?
The Tomorrow War depicts a global war against a deadly alien species that begins in the future. Mankind is losing this conflict by the year 2051, leading survivors to travel back in time to the present to recruit reinforcements for the battle to ensure the survival of the species.