Last year it was reported at E3, that TV and video games were going to collide as Syfy and Trion were teaming up tosimultaneously release a TV series and MMO called Defiance. The press release that followed stated that Defiancewould be “the first multi-platform shooter MMO which, in a ground-breaking entertainment experience, interconnects with a global television program by Syfy, cable’s premier imagination-based entertainment channel.”
In a step in the right direction for the collaboration they’ve officially begun casting the series and Dexter’s Julie Benz (Buffy, Angel) has landed the lead role. Also on board for the project is fellow Dexter-alum, and Benz’s real-life BFF, Jaime Murray (Gods of the Arena), Grant Bowler (Coot from True Blood’s Season 3), Tony Curran (Pillars of the Earth) and Stephanie Leonidas.
Defiance, the show and the game, is set on a ravaged, future Earth, now co-habituated by both humans and aliens after decades of war. Benz will be playing Amanda Rosewater, the idealistic newly appointed mayor of a bustling mining boomtown who is determined to maintain peace in the community while Bowler will star as Jeb Nolan, the law-keeper of the town. Leonidas will be Irisa, an alien warrior from a race called the Irathients. The backstory here involves Nolan killing Irisa’s criminal father and adopting her and raising her to be his sidekick. Curran will play the role of Datak Tarr, a member of another elite alien race known as the Castithans who schemed his way out of his home planet before it was destroyed, and Murray will play Datak’s beautiful, mannered wife.
The production of the series is slated to begin in April, with Scott Stewart (Legion) directing the pilot. It is presently not known whether any of these actors will be involved in the MMO game at all, or what the ETA is for the game is. You can head over to the official Defiance site for a look at the trailer. The game will be playable on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.