San Diego Comic-Con attendees in the Indigo Ballroom on Saturday were treated to the first-ever, exclusive screening of Syfy's The Expanse premiere. Based on the bestselling books by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck -- who also moderated the Comic-Con proceedings -- the series is set 200 years in the future after humanity has colonized the Solar System and follows the different factions and social classes spread across the planets.

Joining the panel were stars Thomas Jane ("Detective Miller"), Steven Strait ("Holden"), Shohreh Aghdashloo ("Chrisjen Avasarala"), Cas Anvar ("Alex Kamal"), Dominique Tipper ("Naomi Nagata"), Wes Chatham ("Amos Burton"), as well as writer-executive producer Naren Shankar (Star Trek: The Next Generation), and writer-EPs Hawk Otsby and Mark Fergus (Iron Man, Children of Men).

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We'll do a proper review closer to the premiere date, but based on what we saw at the screening, The Expanse was an interesting if dense -- very dense -- hour of television. As someone who hasn't read the books, the terminology got a little overwhelming at times, as did keeping up with the huge ensemble cast. That said, book readers seemed enthused by Syfy's interpretation of the source material, and that's always a good sign.Moreover, the pilot looked gorgeous. The exterior space shots and zero gravity effects in particular were top notch, especially for television. In terms of the visual style, it felt like an amalgam of different sci-fi properties like Battlestar Galactica, with hints of Dune and Firefly too.As Fergus pointed out, adapting Abraham and Franck's work was definitely a challenge for him and Otsby. "The books are very large, so as a team, one of us holds the unwieldy book open and the other types," he said, referencing an old Cohen Brothers joke. But ultimately what appealed to Fergus and Otsby was the idea of "what happened to man before Star Trek" or before other "sci-fi utopia" shows. In other words, how did humanity get to that point?Contrary to the books, which are said to contain humorous banter amongst the crew, the Expanse pilot was notably grim and dramatic. However, Shankar assured fans that as the characters get to know each other better, those dynamics will continue to develop in both compelling and amusing ways. "What you're going to see is the banter that you loved in the books," he said.

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For Thomas Jane, the big question was: "What's with the hat?" (His character wears a conspicuous fedora throughout the first episode.) Smirking, the former Punisher replied, "I obviously took the part so I could wear the hat." But seriously, "like everybody else, I love the books and I love the world," he said. "It's a great extrapolation of where we are now and where we may end up."Funny enough, Strait's first scene finds his character in a "precarious" position with another performer in zero gravity, which the actor noted wasn't easy to accomplish. "When we were shooting the sex scene in zero gravity, we were on wires," he said. "The harness was a little different. It holds you low." What made it even more difficult though was that Strait had broken some of his ribs a few weeks before shooting. "It was a challenge," he said, laughing.Of course, that just speaks to Syfy's practical approach to creating all the special effects. For many of the actors, this was the biggest set they'd ever been on -- a whopping 80,000 square feet -- with all-real interiors and very little green screen. Perhaps most heartening were Jane's parting thoughts on the shoot: "It's one of those rare occasions where you walk on set and you're in the world."The Expanse debuts this December on Syfy.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.