SDCC 2018 - SDCC 2018 : We were at the Mars Season 2 press roundtables

By Mulder, San Diego, Hilton Bayfront, Room Aqua 310, 19 july 2018

The prospect of terraforming Mars once was considered science fiction, but soon, it will be a reality. Season 2 of MARS returns with a hybrid, six-episode arc that alternates between scripted drama and documentary sequences to predict what life will be like on the Red Planet forecasted by what’s happening now on Earth. It picks up in 2042 when the International Mars Science Foundation (IMSF) astronauts have developed a fully-fledged colony, but to fund their mission, they need the help of the private sector. MARS delves into the archetypical friction between science and industry on this unforgiving frontier. The mission to terraform a virgin planet comes with heavy adjustments, including how humans we’ll cope with contamination, illness, death, natural disasters and even the first Martian baby. Are we doomed to repeat the same mistakes when Earthlings become Martians?

The series is based on the 2015 book How We'll Live on Mars by Stephen Petranek. The narrative alternates between the years 2016, 2033 and 2037, using 2016 interviews to explain events unfolding in the story. The series was filmed in Budapest and Morocco. A companion book to the series, called Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet, was published in October 2016 detailing the science behind the show.[A prequel episode, called Before Mars, was produced and released conjointly with the series. It tells the fictional story of a moment in the life of one of the astronauts, and the decisions they made to get involved in science

Roundtable Leland Melvin (MARS Big Thinker; former NASA Astronaut and author)

Roundtable JiHae Hana Joon and Jeff Hephner Kurt

Roundtable Dee Johnson (MARS season 2 showrunner and executive producer) and Dr Stephen Petranek (MARS scientific advisor, co-executive producer and Big Thinker; award-winning author of How We'll Live on Mars, upon which the series is based)

Mars Season 2 (Six-Part Hybrid Event Series)
Premiere: November 2018
Created by Ben Young Mason, Justin Wilkes
Based on How We'll Live on Mars by Stephen Petranek
Developed by Ben Young Mason, André Bormanis, Mickey Fisher, Karen Janszen, Jonathan Silberberg
Starring : Ben Cotton, Alberto Ammann, Anamaria Marinca, Clementine Poidatz, Jihae, Sammi Rotibi
Composers : Nick Cave, Warren Ellis
Executive producers : Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Michael Rosenberg, Justin Wilkes, Everardo Gout, Tommy Turtle, Jonathan Silberberg, Lorenzo Mieli, Dave O'Connor, Jon Kamen
Production companies : Imagine Entertainment, RadicalMedia
Original network : National Geographic

Videos and photos : Adrian Jones