New York Comic Con 2015 attendees were treated to a screening of the premiere episode of The Expanse , a 10-part series airing in December on Syfy, as well as a Q&A with the series' stars Thomas Jane (Det. Miller), Florence Faivre (Julie Mao), Steven Strait (James Holden), Cas Anwar (Alex Kamel), as well as executive producers Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby.

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The Expanse is a multi-layered story that focuses on three prominent yet seemingly disparate arcs that will eventually intertwine as the series progresses. It should appeal to fans of hard sci-fi as it shares many elements from such prominent franchises as Blade Runner, Battlestar Galactica and Alien.Part detective story, part political thriller and part outer space adventure, The Expanse takes place 200 years in the future after the solar system has been colonized and Earth and Mars are on the brink of war. Life is pretty grim for those who live on Ceres, a colonized asteroid teeming with bleakness and poverty, or those who work on space freighters, searching for food and water to help keep humanity alive.In the Q&A that followed, the cast and crew spoke about the process of creating the show, such as the huge amount of wire-work that goes into filming the anti-gravity scenes, as well as the allegorical themes that reoccur throughout each episode. Even though the scope is massive, with excellent special effects and set pieces, the themes are very basic -- freedom, equality and the fight for justice. In addition, executive producer Hawk Otsby settled a few audience members' concerns. "We're definitely challenging the books," he promised.The Expanse is a 10-episode series premiering December 14, 2015 on Syfy.