STACK #157 Nov 2017

DVD&BD FEATURE

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A dangerous universe awaits viewers in the Hugo Award-winning science fiction series The Expanse . Showrunner Mark Fergus spoke to Scott Hocking about bringing this sprawling sci-fi saga to television.

B ased on the series of novels by Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham (writing as James S.A. Corey), The Expanse is an ambitious new sci-fi series set 300 years in the future – a time when humankind has colonised Mars and the Asteroid Belt, resulting in interplanetary conflict, political intrigue, and a central mystery involving the missing daughter of a powerful business tycoon. The latter’s whereabouts becomes an obsession for

investigating ‘Belter’ detective Miller (Thomas Jane), who uncovers a sinister conspiracy that threatens humanity. Developed for television by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, whose screenwriting credits include Marvel’s Iron Man and the Oscar- nominated Children of Men , this rich and complex space opera evokes the gritty milieu of Battlestar Galactica in its approach to the rigours and dangers of life in space.

“Technology solves almost everything in most sci-fi – TV or film – and the drama goes out the window,” observes Mark Fergus. “What’s great about The Expanse is that it burrows into the science and difficulty – the speed of light is the speed of light, gravity is gravity, and you can’t change physics. Basically we’re in a world where you have to respect that – if you want to get across the universe, you can’t just press the hyperspace button. It’s

HOLDEN Swarthy ice hauler turned captain of the captured Martian ship Rocinante . Determined to discover who destroyed his former vessel, the Canterbury .

ALEX One of the best pilots in the solar system. Formerly with the Martian Congressional Republic Navy, he now serves aboard the Rocinante .

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NOVEMBER 2017

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