12.03.13

[Hawki]

Actually, it most closely resembles space opera. A fanfic author should know this.

Star Wars as a whole could fit under the "space opera" definition, but space opera is a sub-genre. It could apply as a sub-genre of the ones I listed too.

We need something like firefly, bsg, or stargate. Though, this is coming out:

Would be nice, but I think "space sci-fi" had its heyday in the 1990s, and was definately winding down in the 2000s. It'll be quite awhile IMO before it can make a comeback. And as for Blood and Chrome...I can't comment. You can blame Machinima's region locking for that.

[DemolitionSquid]

Personally I've always wondered how AvP never got a TV series. There's so many viable Colonial Marines storylines in the Dark Horse comics to take from to easily produce episodic content. With simple CGI the wealth of leftover props and costumes, I think a series set in the Weyland-Yutani universe would be very viable. Thanks to Game Of Thrones and the like, gory Chestburster scenes should be fine on HBO.

[TheEconomist]

Well, yes, but I think that the presence of an all-powerful unifying force, the users of which are essentially demigods and sorcerers (I.E: Magic), pushes Star Wars from the realm of "Science Fiction" firmly into the realm of "Fantasy".

Most space operas epics I've read have some form of intelligent being giving special powers to its followers. The only difference is that the Force is of the universe not of a particular being or race of beings. That's not that far of a stretch. Sure, you'd be right in saying its fantasy, but its still closer to space opera given the 1000000000s of other similarities it has with space opera. Space opera is basically just fantasy science fiction since the heroes in space opera usually are waaaay more powerful and skilled than they should be, just like fantasy. It just stretches reality a bit less than straight up fantasy.

But, really, who the hell cares? Worst debate topic ever. I must write ten walls'o'text in the next month just to make up for this waste of time.

@Hawki: Why would you bother to note that Star Wars is fantasy without taking the next step and being more specific. It's obvious that Star Wars has fantasy elements. It's like saying something is not white instead of saying its red.

[Alar]

Honor Harrington is a space opera series and they don't really have super powers. The closest thing to it that they have art prosthetic limbs that are pretty good. She also has the luck of the gods.

[Triceron]

Ender's Game movie 2013, so can't wait. Really hope it doesn't disappoint.

[TheEconomist]

Honor Harrington is a space opera series and they don't really have super powers. The closest thing to it that they have art prosthetic limbs that are pretty good. She also has the luck of the gods.

The First Law series is fantasy and doesn't have much magic ......................................

[Quirel]

Personally I've always wondered how AvP never got a TV series. There's so many viable Colonial Marines storylines in the Dark Horse comics to take from to easily produce episodic content. With simple CGI the wealth of leftover props and costumes, I think a series set in the Weyland-Yutani universe would be very viable. Thanks to Game Of Thrones and the like, gory Chestburster scenes should be fine on HBO.

It can't appear on HBO, because Alien and Predator are owned by Fox. And they utterly loathe good programming.

But how many seasons do you think you could get out of the Dark Horse comics? Just out of curiosity.

[DemolitionSquid]

It can't appear on HBO, because Alien and Predator are owned by Fox. And they utterly loathe good programming.

But how many seasons do you think you could get out of the Dark Horse comics? Just out of curiosity.

4 seasons, minimum. I have all of the DH Aliens and Predator comics. Ignoring the stupid and implausible royal jelly/zeno zip stuff, there's plenty of content to take from that's directly related to the movies. Android ethics and evolutions, alien genetic manipulation, alien cult worshipping and the subsequent infestation of earth, conflicts between the UNSC colonial marines and weyland-yutani forces, later season expansion of the new Promethus and Engineer/space jockey information. I can provide a base layout for you if you wish.

Also, HBO was just an example.

[Hawki]

Personally I've always wondered how AvP never got a TV series. There's so many viable Colonial Marines storylines in the Dark Horse comics to take from to easily produce episodic content. With simple CGI the wealth of leftover props and costumes, I think a series set in the Weyland-Yutani universe would be very viable. Thanks to Game Of Thrones and the like, gory Chestburster scenes should be fine on HBO.

What happened the last time a film series that Cameron was involved in got small screen treatment aside, the idea of a Xenopedia (blanket term for the three settings) tv series...well, it could work. You make a good point. Personally I think that other eras of the setting could do with more fleshing out though, as the "Colonial Marines era" (pretty much from 2179 at the latest to some nebulous point in the 23rd century...you can probably define it better than I can) has been done to death. I'd like to see other areas of the timeline revisited.

Still, if you have an idea for how a tv series could play out via your series offer, I wouldn't mind a glance, if only to get some easy insight into EU elements, my EU collection for the series being quite small.

@Hawki: Why would you bother to note that Star Wars is fantasy without taking the next step and being more specific. It's obvious that Star Wars has fantasy elements. It's like saying something is not white instead of saying its red.

Of course Star Wars has fantasy elements. Question is whether they define it.

[DemolitionSquid]

Here's my basic premise. We completely forget Alien: Resurrection was ever made. Everyone loves the USCMC (United States Colonial Marine Corps), so much like in Aliens we're following a squad of Colonial Marines. The series starts several years after Alien3 (Both Aliens and Alien3 took place in 2178-2180). So we'll say 2185. The general public is still completely ignorant about anything Alien/Predator/Engineer related. Weyland-Yutani is focused on capturing, breeding, and experimenting with xenomorphs. They're also still producing androids. The USCMC obviously knows about the alien threat, but only at the highest levels, and under the influence of Weyland-Yutani. The USCMC has the most to gain from WY's biological warfare division and is subsequently funding it. This just clarifies a lot about how WY was about to get their staff and androids into the ranks of the USCMC. It also gives us room to play with all the needed cliches.

So we start with a WY orbital lab going boom. As usual, the xenomorphs they were experimenting on escaped and the place had to go into quarantine. Eventually there was no choice for WY but to destroy the station and all the evidence of their stupid endeavors. They then try to cover it up with the help of the USCMC officials who are in on it, and the media. However, some debris remains and eventually finds its way to a USCMC general/admiral who's not a part of the WY conspiracy. Standard radiation testing to ensure it was safe for human exposure found strange readings, and further analysis determined there was organic material left over from an extraterrestrial source not on record. This general/admiral investigates and learns that, as usual, something foul is afoot in the USCMC. Thus, he sends his best covert force to another WY facility to see what they might recover. Only 1 or 2 come back, and they have very important news. He's forced to round up another squad and we're off on season one - to discover how far the WY conspiracy goes, and what WY is working on and achieving. We learn more about WY and their xenogenetics division. The season ends unveiling which officers are in bed with WY. Of course there will be the prerequisite fight scenes between the USCMC squad and WY forces, as well as xenomorphs escaping or being let loose in other facilities and extra-solar colonies.

Season 2 opens with the squad trying to take down WY and their USCMC financiers. There's increasing internal conflict in the USCMC as officials take sides. We're also introduced to the Alien Worshippers, a fanatical cult from the Earth Hive comic. For coherence, we'll have it started by a scientist working on the aliens at WY. As in Earth Hive, he gets a hologram of a Xenomorph and slowly gathers followers to worship the "purity" of the aliens form and nature. They then manage to sneak out a single Queen egg from WY and slowly breed a den of timebombs. At the end of season two, the squad has either killed or exposed the senior USCMC members supporting WY, but everyone is ignorant of the worshipper threat. The entire Earth is taken by surprise when hives of aggressive aliens start to pop up in random cities worldwide.

Season 3 picks up 6 months later, and now it gets crazy. The various Earth military forces are trying to stop the constant threat of Xenomorph hives. The alien cult lost control of their Gods long ago and the Aliens have infected much of South America and Asia where they had an easier time reproducing thanks to the environment and black market trafficking. There is constant conflict as zones are quarantined and cleansed, but the Aliens are always spreading because they can swim and infect sea life. We start seeing more alien breeds as the so-called "gene reflex" is explored by the infestation of different bipedal, quadrupedal, avian, and marine life (concept first explored in Alen3 with Runner birthed from dog/ox). We also see the Predators introduced. In AvP:R the Predator comes after the wreak of the sip from AvP, to cleanse and contain the xenomorphs in the town. In the same way, the Predators are still keeping track of Earth 200 years later and seeing the infestation decide its a perfect target for a mass hunting expedition. We get to witness the first USCMC vs. Predator ship battles and some Predaliens. The ragged USCMC squad we've been following discovers the data on the Prometheus project from 100 years before, and at the end of season 3 sets out to discover the origins of everything, and a way to save the Earth from the alien infection and the predators indiscriminate hunting.

Season 4 plot I'm still a bit vague on, but the way I would do it is I imagine the squad go to the planet from Prometheus, LV-223, and discover the new derelect, the crashed Prometheus, and the other Engineer ships filled with the goo urns. The follow in Shaw and Davids footsteps and meet with more hostile Engineers. They eventually discover a way to quickly exterminate large groups of Aliens from the Engineers, and somehow save the Earth from complete ruin, although there is significant rebuilding to be done.

Frankly, there's a massive amount of content to take from the comics.