'Farscape' Creator Rockne S. O’Bannon Creating Syfy's 'Defiance'

If you were a fan of Farscape, then by proxy, you were a fan of its creator, Rockne S. O’Bannon.  And then, by proxy, you might also be interested in an upcoming new series being put together for Syfy called Defiance.

And that's not all.  The budding cast numbers seem to have a few interesting personalities to boot.  That is if you like Julie Benz, Grant Bowler, Stephanie Leonidas, Tony Curran and Jaime Murray.

Julie Benz is just hot, as many of the male species might attest to, and those same folk might say the same about Jaime Murray!

If you're trying to place them, you might have caught Julie Benz in shows like Desperate Housewives, Dexter, No Ordinary Family or A Gifted Man.  On the silver screen, ALL fans of The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day will remember her.

Jaime Murray has been seen in shows like Warehouse 13, Sparatacus: Gods of the Arena, Hustle and Ringer.

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What's going to be unique about this show is that it will "unite television and MMO gaming."

Defiance will be directed by Scott Stewart (Legion, Priest), and written/executive produced by Rockne O’Bannon (Farscape), Kevin Murphy (Desperate Housewives, Caprica, Hellcats) & Michael Taylor (Battlestar Galactica). Kevin Murphy will serve as the front man of the production, or as they call them, the showrunner.

Syfy press release:

Defiance is set in Earth's near future, where Earth is a transformed planet that is inhabited by the survivors of a universal war. Forced to co-habitate, the disparate group struggles to build a new society among the devastation.

The dramatic tapestry of the series and the intense action of the game will exist in a single universe where their respective narratives will inform one another and evolve together into one overall story. Defiance is produced by Universal Cable Productions.

Benz portrays Amanda Rosewater, the idealistic mayor of a bustling mining boomtown, one of the world’s few oases of civility and inclusion. As the newly appointed mayor, she is determined to maintain peace in the community, an ambitious task in this deadly new world.

Leonidas plays Irisa, an exotically beautiful warrior who is part of an alien race called the Irathients. After Nolan (Bowler) killed her criminal father, he adopted the girl and raised her as his clever – and lethal – right-hand.

Curran will portray Datak Tarr, part of an elite alien race known as the Castithans. Datak grew up in the slums of his home planet, but despite being part of the under-privileged class, he schemed his way onto one of the alien arks, saving himself before his home planet was destroyed.

Murray portrays Datak’s beautiful and proper wife, Stahma, a high-ranking Castithan before her home planet ceased to exist. Clever, imaginative and darkly opportunistic, Stahma is perhaps more dangerous than her husband.

The four join New Zealand born actor Grant Bowler, who is well-known for the recurring role on Ugly Betty (2008) as Wilhelmina Slater’s love interest, Connor Owens, and for the role of Cooter, the leader of the werewolf biker gang in the HBO series True Blood (2010) and Captain Gault in ABC's Lost (2008). Bowler plays Nolan, the new law keeper in the boomtown and former Marine who fought in the alien conflict. After losing his wife and child in the war, he becomes a wanderer in the dangerous new world, eventually joined by Irisa, a young Irathient he raises as his own and as his lone companion in the lawless badlands.

And that is the TV news fit to be print today about the Syfy channel's latest production, Defiance.


[Syfy]