NYCC 2019: The Expanse Panel and Installation Recap

Going into its fourth season after a tireless fan campaign to save it from cancellation, breakout space drama The Expanse came to NYCC 2019 poised to wow fresh and existing fans alike with a stunning interactive fan experience. Featuring a replica facade reminiscent of the show’s Rocinante Corvette-class frigate, the installation gave visitors and opportunity to explore a model cabin (complete with the infamous coffee machine), command a replica engineering station featuring telemetry displays, and partake in a themed blue screen photo op. The installation also features display showing expertly crafted props and costumes from the series.

The Expanse put on an impressive panel showing at the at the Jacob Javits Convention Center’s main stage for NYCC 2019. With cast members Cas Anvar, Cara Gee, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Wes Chatham, Burn Gorman, and Steven Strait in attendance, fans and the press were treated to an exclusive advanced preview of the first episode of season 4. After the episode, moderator Kyle Hill hosted an extensive cast Q & A that included showrunner Naren Shankar, among others. Guest writer Leah Braverman provide a detailed account of The Expanse panel, including the preview episode, and was quite thorough while not revealing any spoilers.

“I was apprehensive about season four in part because of the move to Amazon, but mostly because its based on Cibola Burn, a book that is somewhat divisive among fans of Expanse series. I also considered the fact that some of the characters that are prominent in the book have either been reinterpreted in the show, rolled into other characters, or in a few cases – killed off in earlier seasons. I previously saw from the trailers that Naomi goes down to the planet and, while it was exciting to watch, that doesn’t actually happen in the book. Instead she remains in orbit on Rocinante, which ends up being crucial to the narrative later on, so I’m both worried and excited about how or if they plan to get her back into orbit.

(from L to R) Moderator Kyle Hill of Nerdist, Showrunner Naren Shankar and cast members Steven Strait, Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham, Cas Anvar, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Cara Gee, and Burn Gorman

“New Tera felt familiar because they did a wonderful job picking its location and I loved that they integrated Expanse short stories into the narrative. It also seemed somewhat strange because of the changes compared to the books, like Naomi coming down or the differences in first meeting with the colonists. Some characters were being given things to do that they didn’t do in the book, but that also contributed to how engrossed I was in the episode. The bigger budget and creative freedom on Amazon’s platform really shows in the visual effects and production value, and getting to enjoy these characters again on screen after we almost lost them to cancellation was almost cathartic. Even more so because I genuinely didn’t know how they were going to handle some of the story points.

“During the panel, watching the actors come up on stage one by one was such a surreal experience because of how different they are from the characters they play. Dominique Tipper, in particular, is just so playful and joyous compared to a more serious and introspective Naomi. They all really seemed so happy about being able to continue to bring life to these characters, so I couldn’t help but grin through the entire Q & A section, caught up by their excitement. Especially Shohreh Aghdashloo’s enthusiasm at finally being able to curse in true Avasarala fashion. I think my favorite part was seeing actors interact with each other and getting this sense of them being a family off screen, which probably helps with getting them to feel so much like a family on screen.“