What a wild year or two for TV. A new trend, or at least an increasingly popular one, is fan interaction in the renewal process. Sure, they don’t have a seat at the table in actuality. Nevertheless, fans seem to be influential in what becomes of their favorite shows. Brooklyn 99 is the most high profile example of this, but Lucifer on Netflix also benefited from this passion. Once dropped from Fox, fans pleaded for another network to take the show starring Andy Samberg and Terry Cruise. NBC grabbed it, giving the show a home after pending doom. The Expanse followed a similar pattern, following a cancelation from SyFy. Amazon grabbed it, and brought a season four trailer and cast panel to Comic-Con 2019.
The Expanse Takes on Comic-Con 2019
Image Credit: Amazon
The theme of this Comic-Con panel was simple: Thank you. The hashtag #SaveTheExpanse took off as soon as SyFy canceled the show in May. Most movements stay on social media, but this one was different. Fans used GoFundMe to fly a banner at Amazon Headquarters, and it worked. Jeff Bezos delivered the news himself, and the show was back up and running. The show’s cast and creators used the panel in Ballroom 20 to express their gratitude.
“”We’re in what is really second big movement of the books — it’s a new chapter.”
#xecutive producer/showrunner Naren Shankar
Season Four Trailer
The showrunners and cast debuted a trailer for season four of The Expanse at their panel. The season runs congruently with Cibola Burn, the fourth book in the series from author James S. A. Corey. Academy Award nominees Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby are still behind the scripting process. The season takes place on Ilus, an insanely far-from-Earth planet. The book carries on as a story of post-modern woes and colonial and corporate greed.
What Happens in Season Four?
An alien civilization, long thought dead and gone, arises and looks to take the planet for its own. Showrunner Naren Shankar considers this season a Western at heart, so can we please hope for something like Cowboy Bebop meets Blade Runner? The alien race is back for gold, no matter how they have to get it. In all of the Ring Gates, newly opened for travel and conquest, the Rocinate crew must handle this new threat. Plus, larger dangers emerge, including cross-planet wars and universal meltdowns.
At Comic-Con, the fans attending the panel seemed overjoyed. Considering the show was all but over just months ago, it’s hard to believe they’d be here now. Not all shows are this lucky, but the source material is gold. The books are well worth a read, and the show is especially great for those who love sci-fi epics and space battles.
In a year dominated by Game of Thrones’ failures and Chernobyl’s slow burning successes, The Expanse is the best show you’re not watching . Catch up now and get ready for the show’s fourth season on December 13th of this year. Keep reading Comic Years for everything San Diego Comic-Con!