5 reasons to binge Future Man immediately

Future Man’s combination of silly comedy and clever sci-fi has made it a rare genre hit with critics. Collider hailed it as a “sci-fi comedy triumph” while Den of Geek praised it as an “unpredictable, one-of-a-kind comedy… a classic, fearless piece of sci-fi comedy.”

Season 3 is now streaming on Showmax. Here are five reasons we love Future Man.

1. Josh Hutcherson as Josh Futturman

Josh won four Teen Choice awards as Peeta in The Hunger Games but his character here couldn’t be further away from that over-achieving heart-throb. In Future Man, he plays Josh Futturman, a slacker janitor by day, obsessive gamer by night, who is recruited by mysterious visitors to travel through time in order to prevent the extinction of humanity at the hands of a super-race accidentally created by a cure for herpes. But some heroes are born; others are chosen… by mistake. Let’s just say Josh Futturman wouldn’t have survived long in The Hunger Games, even if he’s slowly growing into the hero Wolf and Tiger convinced him he was in Season 1.

2. Derek Wilson as Wolf

You’ll recognise Derek as Donnie in Preacher and Kent in Rectify, but Future Man gives him his best role by far as Wolf, one of the time-travellers sent back from a dystopian future to recruit Josh. ScreenRant calls him “the show’s not-so-secret weapon” and “the MVP of Season 1,” rightly pointing out that his “hyper-aggressive, overly masculinized persona” was the “source of the show’s biggest laughs.” If Josh is hopelessly unprepared to be a military hero, then Wolf is even less prepared to blend into any era that values human life.

3. Eliza Coupe as Tiger

Eliza Coupe’s always been funny: she’s been featured in Variety as part of their ‘10 Comics To Watch’ feature and starred in hit comedies like Happy Endings, Casual, Scrubs, and The Mindy Project, among many others. But she’s a revelation in Future Man as Tiger – as Decider phrases it, she’s “this kickass lady general who had the discipline and gravitas of every video game commander but the comedic timing of Amy Brookheimer on Veep.”

4. Haley Joel Osment as Stu Camillo

“I see dead people…” Remember that kid actor in The Sixth Sense who became the first millennial male nominated for an Oscar? He’s all grown up now – and even has the beard to prove it. In Future Man, he plays scientist Stu Camillo – described by Inverse as “the worst case scenario of what might happen in the future if we let beta male tech magnates like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg take over the entire world.” He’s also obsessed with Tiger – and takes part in what Inverse calls “the weirdest sci-fi sex scene of all time.” (Which, for anyone who knows sci-fi, is quite a claim).

5. It’ll make you laugh out loud – a lot

Ultimately, as Decider puts it, “Future Man isn’t going to be the most prestigious show you watch … But there’s one thing I can guarantee it will do: it’ll make you laugh loud and often. Sometimes, that’s all you need.”

That should be more than enough of a sales pitch for Future Man to be on your watchlist, but if you’re still holding out, we should add that two-time MTV Movie Award winner Seth Rogen (Knocked Up, This Is The End) stars as Susan – and is also one of the directors and executive producers – and that Future Man was nominated as 2018’s Best New Media Superhero Series by The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.

Season 3 is now on Showmax.