#Expanse spaceships series#

We see the shipping lanes of the asteroid belt and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn before the camera closes in on an astronaut, alone against the blackness of space and looking toward the sun. Humanity’s inexorable push into the solar system then continues out on Mars, as habitat domes are constructed on the surface. According to Breeder, these rays of light draw inspiration from the work of German artist Carsten Nicolai, who used cathode ray TVs and pendulums to make magnetic forces visible to the human eye. The sequence continues with a shot of expanding construction on the lunar surface as a spare, elegant swarm of lines, representing the flight paths of spacecraft, circle the moon. These dire environmental conditions are ultimately what necessitate humanity’s expansion into outer space – a story not of human curiosity or of scientific exploration, but a desperate, greedy grab for resources to further humanity’s consumption. The next shots, masterfully filmed by Breeder with a stuttering timelapse, tell this story through the images of retreating glaciers and the rising sea levels submerging Liberty Island, as a new platform is constructed to house the Statue of Liberty. But The Expanse is about humanity, not nature, and in this version of the future, population growth and humanity’s exploitation of natural resources has continued unchecked. When most people picture Earth from space, they picture clouds swathing blue oceans and mottled green and brown continents.

The opening sequence begins with the image of the Earth, as seen from space, at night, with its population centres lighting up the globe. ‘Breeder mapped the universe while adding specific texture and touch points that makes this journey very accessible.’ 1 In The Expanse’s version of the future, ‘we are wanderers, explorers and survivors,’ according to Sharon Hall, executive producer for The Expanse. But more importantly, the title sequence, created by graphics company Breeder, rewards attentive viewers by showing a visual history of humanity and the solar system, providing crucial context for the tension between Earth, Mars, and the Belt. The purpose of any television show’s opening sequence is to establish the show’s identity, and The Expanse’s opening certainly accomplishes that, creating atmosphere and setting the tone with its haunting Norwegian vocals. The story told by The Expanse begins not with the opening action of its first episode, but with its title sequence.

#Expanse spaceships series#

From the outset, The Expanse took the world created by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck in their series of nine novels and established itself as a show with a visual identity unlike any other science fiction series, with every element designed to reinforce its fundamental theme – how the disparities between different social classes might play out against the vastness and alienness of space. The neon-blue organic, crystalline horror of the alien lifeform called the protomolecule.

Characters from three factions, each with their own form of dress. Utilitarian spaceships that account for gravity’s pull in every facet of their design.