General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Welcome to Earth

Welcome to Earth is a six-part documentary television series from National Geographic in which actor Will Smith travels to extreme locations around the world, guided by scientists and explorers, to explore natural phenomena such as volcanoes, deep oceans, deserts, and animal swarms. It premiered on Disney+ on December 8, 2021, with all six episodes available at once.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Format	Six-part limited series, Disney+ original from National Geographic, rated TV-PG¹^•³
Premiere	December 8, 2021, all episodes streaming at once¹^•²
Host	Will Smith, also executive producer³
Production companies	Protozoa Pictures (Darren Aronofsky), Nutopia (Jane Root), and Westbrook Studios¹
Episode themes	Sound, smell, speed, color, swarm, and pattern⁴
Scale of production	92 shoots in 34 countries⁵
Critical reception	100% Tomatometer from 9 reviews; 80% Popcornmeter from fewer than 50 ratings on Rotten Tomatoes³

Spoilers

Premise and format

The series follows Smith, described as an "apprentice explorer," as he visits some of the planet's most inhospitable places, including diving deep beneath the ocean, dodging exploding rocks at the tip of a volcano, and avoiding lions on the African plains.⁴^•⁶ Each episode is organized around a theme related to a sense or an idea: sound, smell, speed, color, swarm, and pattern.⁴ The stated premise is that although humans may think every inch of the planet has been mapped, there are still discoveries to be made, and that the tiniest details have enormous consequences.⁴

Smith's personal reactions are a central element. He faces fears throughout the series, traversing a gorge by rope above a crocodile river, abseiling into an ice hole, and descending to the ocean floor in a submersible.⁷ In one episode, Descent into Darkness, he descends 3,300 feet to the bottom of the ocean, a place fewer people have gone than outer space.¹ In the premiere episode, The Silent Roar, he descends into the heart of an active volcano on a remote Pacific island to investigate sounds beyond human hearing, including a silent rumble deep enough to move the earth around it.¹

Guides and experts

Smith is accompanied by a team of explorers and scientists. Those named in coverage include marine biologist and National Geographic Explorer Diva Amon, Jamaican-born polar explorer Dwayne Fields, engineer and National Geographic Explorer Albert Lin, National Geographic photographer Cristina Mittermeier, and blind mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer.² Volcanologist Jeffrey Johnson appears alongside Smith and Weihenmayer during the descent into Yasur Volcano in Vanuatu.⁸ Fields, who takes Smith kayaking, rappelling, and hiking in Iceland, gave an interview with BBC Wildlife about the experience.⁹

Production

The series was produced by Darren Aronofsky's Protozoa Pictures, Jane Root's Nutopia, and Westbrook Studios for National Geographic and Disney+.¹^•⁵ Executive producers include Smith, Aronofsky, Ari Handel, James Lassiter, Matt Renner, Jane Root, Peter Lovering, Terence Carter, and Miguel Melendez.³ According to showrunner Graham Booth, the production involved 92 shoots in 34 countries and captured images from the natural world that had not been filmed before; he described the result as a hybrid of adventure show, natural history show, science show, and buddy movie.⁵ Territory Studio created the series' title design, with animation that subtly hints at the episode themes.⁵

The title echoes Smith's famous line from the science-fiction film Independence Day.² It was Smith's second National Geographic series about the planet, following One Strange Rock, a ten-part 2018 series also made with Aronofsky and Root in which Smith was guided by eight astronauts.⁸^•¹⁰ Westbrook describes Welcome to Earth as an Emmy winner and as the template for the premium, globe-spanning documentary work the company continued with the same creative team, including the later Smith series Pole to Pole.¹¹^•⁵

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 100% Tomatometer based on 9 critic reviews and an 80% Popcornmeter audience score from fewer than 50 ratings.³ Critics highlighted the cinematography: The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg wrote that the team of cinematographers "are the heroes who make it thrilling, scary and generally eye-popping," while CNN's Brian Lowry called it "a cheerful exercise in nature programming for beginners."¹² The Guardian's review was more critical, describing the show as a Hollywood-style nature documentary with ramped-up drama and messages about conquering fear, and noting that the guides were not given much room for intellectual discovery.⁷ CGMagazine scored the series 8 out of 10.¹³

The series was accompanied by a special issue of National Geographic magazine, published with the December 2021 issue, in which scientists and explorers journey to extreme places and explain the natural phenomena behind everyday experiences such as sunsets, tides, and bird formations.¹⁴

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series › Nature, wildlife, and science documentary series

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

Notice something wrong?