Feature Image Credit: Chris Danelon

In this blog series, we report on the production progress and other news of The Expanse. During production, we issued blogs weekly, but as production has wrapped for Season 4, we intend to issue them biweekly. We will feature news from the show (cast, production crew, writers, etc.), media, and the community and collect the latest social media and press activity. We hope this series is useful for those who are not able to closely monitor social media, but who want an easy way to catch up on all the latest Expanse happenings.

To catch up on the previous blog editions, check out our last post here.

In HOT NEWS, several cast members will be at the Great Philadelphia Comic Con from Friday, April 12 to Sunday, April 14. Confirmed guests include Cara Gee, Frankie Adams, Cas Anvar and Dominique Tipper! Also, The Moldy Filters will be at PhillyCon. And, as many, many folks are interested in the Belter language, it’s truly terrific that our team of Paine and MacTane will be teaching LangBelta at PhillyCon, as well. If you can’t wait, Paine and MacTane created a Memrise course.  If you can’t wait, or can’t make it, Oaktown Pirate and Lexica have created an exhaustive resource listing for those interested in LangBelta! Finally, Herme5 is putting together a list of fandom attending PhillyCon.

We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, so let’s get started!

Production

Production is in hibernation until Season 5 (hopefully!). But, there are still interesting things which surface.

  • Fun throwback, and a reminder that the show leverages practical effects to minimize the need for special effects, so that when they are used, they are spectacular! Here is where the practical effects/prop department saved the special effects folks time on the comms units.
  • Production had a contest to name the essential coffee machine: Kevin Roastinante won, and he periodically surfaces, as in this picture of Pizza Hat Drill Matt.
  • Under the ‘This Is So Cool’ category, this tweet includes a clip of the VR concept design of the Razorback, made before Production built the set. As Chris Danelon says, “Watch this with a headset on for the full effect.” Note that you can adjust your view in this video. Look for the icon in the upper left hand corner.
  • We remain jealous of the crew gifts….
  • And, the Production Team went out for one last season wrap lunch.
  • And, even though this picture by Manny Danelon was a few weeks ago, it’s probably STILL SNOWING in Toronto.

Cast & Crew

The cast and crew are in between seasons except for post-production, and vfx. But, we still keep track of them (including those who will begin their Expanse adventure in Season 4.)

  • Terry Chen (Prax) shares his love for the show.
  • There’s a rumor going around that our very own Martian, Cas Anvar (Alex Kamal), might be cooking up something fun. Stay tuned!
  • Some people might know that Cara Gee doesn’t really have the same accent as the character she plays, Camina Drummer. But, if you listen to The Light Brigade audio book, you’ll see just how nice her actual speaking voice is.
  • Exciting news for folks who are attending FedCon. Steven Strait (James Holden), Thomas Jane (Detective Miller) and Wes Chatham (Amos Burton) are attending, too!
  • Many actors have multiple talents. In this case, we are pleased to note that Dominique Tipper (Naomi Nagata in The Expanse) directed a short film “Trying to Find Me” which was featured at The Oxford Film Fest in Mississippi.
  • It’s been a little while, but we were happy to wish Thomas Jane a very happy birthday. In particular, this cake was smashing!
  • Dominique Tipper will also be at the Escape Velocity convention this year in May.
  • Cas Anvar also found the time to team up with scientists from NASA specialising in exoplanets with a live stream on exploring the science behind The Expanse.
  • In casting news, Deadline Hollywood spilled that Rosa Gilmore, Keon Alexander (Tyrant) and Jess Salgueiro will be appearing in The Expanse, Season 4.
  • In more casting, well, information, D. Audy, on Twitter, prepared this excellent non-spoilery image of actors who have been revealed to be in Season 4. Character descriptors have been removed. Read replies at your own risk.

Media

The biggest news is the impending release of The Expanse, Book 8, Tiamat’s Wrath, later in March, 2019.

Community

Unfortunately, we had some sad news in February. We recently learned that a dear member of the community and r/TheExpanse moderator, vwwally, Wally Scott, passed away. A loving husband and father, Walter contributed much of his free time to the fandom and to spreading the word about The Expanse. Oyedeng, beratna.

The Expanse‘s fan base continues to impress with its wide variety of creative output inspired by this amazing show. During this hiatus, while we wait for Season 4, people are sharing the love.

Podcasts

  • This particular podcast is a gift to The Expanse’s community. Happy 1st Anniversary, The Tightbeam! Here is no. 22 for your listening pleasure.

Videos

Fine Art

  • Forlath has a few more amusing cartoon panels.
  • On Instagram
    • Doug Warner (“Muchomoto”) has shared this lovely little doodle of the Razorback.
    • ORyan (“omcentire”) shared one of Miller’s significant actions “I didn’t kill him because he was crazy. I killed him ‘cause he was makin’ sense.”
    • Nick Wohlfarth shared this beautiful picture of Camina Drummer (Cara Gee).
    • Kenneth Fontano (“KennethFontanoArt”) shared this oil pastel portrait of Bobbie (Frankie Adams).
    • Limedirective shared the ill-fated Lopez.
    • Hannah Williams (“studiofourtwo”) shared a wonderful sketch of Amos Burton (Wes Chatham).
    • Gordon Robb (“gordonrobb63”) shared his sketch of Frankie Adams (Bobbie).
    • Morbid_lupus shared a sketch of Bobbie Draper and the Protomolecule in the cargo bay.
    • Paul Azaceta shared his sketch of Miller (Thomas Jane).
    • Adina Simone Edgett (“bananabottomboys”) shared a drawing of Avasarala (Shohreh Agdashloo).
    • Agnes Barton-Sabo (“bettyturbo”) shared her love of the abundance of badass babes.
    • PurpleQuailEggs shared this digital art of Prax (Terry Chen).
    • William Blasko (“willblasko”) shared his digital drawing of Naomi Nagata (Dominique Tipper).
    • And, here is Ben Floyd’s cartoon of Naomi Nagata.
    • Jeanette Muller shared her 3-D print of the Razorback.
    • Laura Hagan-Elliff (“hippiegnome”) shared her Expanse-themed coasters.
  • On Twitter
    • Orionlodubyal shared a picture of Avasarala (Shohreh Agdashloo) in that stunning red outfit!
    • Pleasant Lee shared his portrait of Alex Kamal (Cas Anvar). We love the Stetson and “six-shooter” in the background!
    • Ever the attractive pair, Tabby Stardust created, as Cara Gee put it, an incredibly steamy drawing of Naomi Nagata (Dominique Tipper) and Camina Drummer (Cara Gee)

Reviews and Discussion

Cocktails

Contests

  • Bora Kutlu, on Twitter, is running a daily contest. Check it out.
  • Jim Coleman, on Twitter, is running a contest and giving away his excellent rendering of Camina Drummer (Cara Gee).

Cosplay

While we continue to wait for Season 4, we are enjoying bingeing on the Amazon Prime Video’s release of all three seasons. It’s a wonderful opportunity to go back and relive the story from the beginning. Use it to hook new fans! Remember to post your art, blogs, reviews, videos and other Expanse creations. Drop us a line if we have missed you!

For those interested, our detailed record of Expanse-related web activity for this month (assembled by Joe) is available here. As always, if we missed something you think belongs in this article, please get in touch with us and let us know!

Thanks for reading and see you next week!
~ Kiddle