The countdown is officially on for the next piece of The Expanse TV series canon, with star Wes Chatham returning for a new adventure for Amos Burton in The Expanse: A Little Death. And with the latest follow-up comic once again smashing its Kickstarter goal in minutes, the co-writer is getting fans even more excited, promising to do justice to the show’s hero in a way viewers never got the chance to see.
Longtime DC/Vertigo writer Andy Diggle joined The Expanse co-creator Ty Franck on his and Chatham’s Ty & That Guy podcast to discuss the project, with the franchise creator jokingly reassuring fans that “all the weaknesses in Wes’s writing will be paved over by Andy.” With the previous Dragon Tooth comic series under his belt, Diggle explained that while Chatham seems the most obvious person to guide Amos Burton through a new adventure, this gritty new thriller is as far from Expanse fan service as you can get:
“‘A Little Death’ is an Amos story. Rather than having everybody in everything all the time, what if we focus on Amos? The fact that Wes is behind the story and happens to play Amos, it’s entirely coincidental that he’s the main character in the story… I’ll happily take the credit for it when it comes out, unless the end product sucks [Laughs]. In which case it’s all your fault.”
The Expanse’s New Series is All About Amos Burton
The Expanse: A Little Death by Andy Diggle, Wes Chatham, and
Diggle offered some of the most specific details about the coming story thus far in his appearance, sure to grab fan interest. The official synopsis alludes to a new web of secrecy which pulls Amos Burton into old drama, but Diggle points to a powerful film as reference for the kind of thriller that’s born from letting Amos “go full Amos”:
“‘Man on Fire’ is something you keep coming back to, I’ve noticed. In terms of the tone and the vibe. That’s what I’m really responding to: a sort of dark, noir, hardcore, crime thriller.
“One of the things I really like about The Expanse is you play with genres… the show is more tonally even, but in the novels there’s a bit of, ‘this is noir, and then that’s kind of a western on Ilus, and this is space horror.’ You can play around with the different subgenres, and I think there is room to do that in the comics, too. So it’s not exactly a revenge thriller, but it has that kind of vibe to it. A noir revenge thriller. And just letting Amos go ‘full Amos.’ I describe it as ‘Churn Mode.’ But it has to be about something.”
These insights promise big things for Amos fans, especially with “The Churn” referring to The Expanse novella centered on Amos’ origins on Earth. While the novella is set prior to his time aboard The Rocinante, the story was adapted through flashbacks in the episode “Churn” from Season 5 of the TV series.
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There’s little question that fans of Tony Scott and Denzel Washington’s gritty thriller will be delighted to hear that anything is taking inspiration from Man on Fire (2004), since the brutal, pull-no-punches, man-on-a-mission tale has ‘vibes’ to spare. And while that might seem like a challenging match for The Expanse TV series upon which the new comics are based, that seems entirely the point. The nature of The Expanse novels makes it impossible to place the focus on one character, and denying fans of an unbroken, “full Amos” thriller would be downright cruel.
Diggle and Chatham both point to this fact as a strength of the novellas, and this new synergy between the Expanse books, TV series, and comics is brilliant to watch being formed. The previous Expanse: Dragon Tooth series already helped to flesh out the time period missing between the novels, so it only seems right that the comics should next take inspiration from the novellas, giving Amos Burton a spotlight he is rarely ever afforded.
The Expanse: A Little Death #1 will arrive in 2026 from BOOM! Studios
Source: Ty & That Guy
The Expanse
- Created by
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Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck
- First Episode Air Date
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December 14, 2015
- Cast
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Steven Strait, Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Thomas Jane, Cas Anvar, Frankie Adams, Cara Gee, David Strathairn, Keon Alexander
Summary
The Expanse is a critically acclaimed science fiction franchise that originated as a series of novels by James S.A. Corey, the pen name for authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Set in a future where humanity has colonized the Solar System, the series explores the political, social, and existential challenges faced by the inhabitants of Earth, Mars, and the asteroid belt. The franchise gained widespread popularity with its television adaptation, which ran for six seasons and was praised for its complex characters, intricate storytelling, and stunning visuals.
