Wednesday, April 15, 2015

TRAILER: Comic "Dark Matter" turned into space opera thriller for SyFy




Wow! It's literally RAINING SPACE OPERAS TODAY! At least I'd heard about this one. Dark Matter is based on the Dark Horse comic of the same name by writers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. I've got the entire series (stored somewhere!) and thought it was...okay. The concept was pretty awesome, but the comic didn't hold my interest over time (I probably should give it a re-read). But I have to say, this trailer breathes new life into that initial concept, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Synopsis:
In Dark Matter, the crew of a derelict spaceship is awakened from stasis with no memories of who they are or how they got on board. Facing threats at every turn, they have to work together to survive a voyage charged with vengeance, betrayal and hidden secrets.  
"Their Memories are Gone, but the Truth Survives."

As with Killjoys, the show's cast looks to be largely Canadian. It seems SyFy is (smartly) relying on our neighbors to the north for fresh faces and likely huge production discounts. They're also heavily promoting that it's from the producers of Stargate--another smart move to woo back SG-1 and SG-U fans, in particular.

And is this show also gameable? Yes, totally! In fact, I've run something with a similar hook, a few years ago at Con of the North. Same basic concept: a team of specialists awakens aboard a spaceship--stocked with massive firepower--already en route to an unknown planet. Though, for mine, I gave them a captain who knew what was going on. :) (What do you want, we only had a 3 hour time slot!)

Dark Matter premieres Friday, June 12 at 9pm central.
That makes me wonder actually if Killjoys and Dark Matter going to be back-to-back space opera anchors (!!!) 

Another unanswered question--does this mean Dark Horse is continuing the comic (which was initially a miniseries)?


Add a few more to the pile: previous articles on space opera projects (at SyFy, other networks):

2 comments:

  1. Wow, there's real sci-fi coming back to sci-fi! Or SyFy. Or whatever. I'm just happy to see it!

    Music for the trailer has an Alien vibe going for it. That's a good sign too.

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  2. Yeah, nice to see Syfy channel getting back to making actual sci-fi shows. This summer looks good for science fiction TV.

    -Ed

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