YouTube Premium’s ambitious science fiction series ‘Origin’ is basically ‘Lost‘ in space– not to be confused with the Netflix series ‘Lost In Space‘. No, ‘Origin’, created by Mika Watkins borrows its format from the buzzy ABC series about castaways on a mysterious island, which mixed present day footage with flashbacks to their former lives, which provided clues to their current predicament. (Or did they?) ‘Origin’ swaps out a desert island for a massive spaceship, almost more of a space station. While the passengers explore this ark, the show shifts back to depict their lives before they left Earth.
The trailer is introduced by Xavier Grey of the Siren corporation, who offers the opportunity to relocate to the idyllic planet of Thea. The passengers are placed in suspended animation aboard the mysterious craft the Origin, but at some point, a ragtag group of 11 awaken– engineers, medics, various criminals, the usual– only to find out that at some point the Origin was stranded and most of the other passengers escaped, leaving just this group behind. Why? That’s part of the mystery.
The other part is just what’s going on in this ship? After exploring, it turns out that it’s perhaps not as uninhabited as it seems at first. Who… or what… is lurking in dark corners with these cosmic castaways?
Fittingly, Paul W.S. Anderson, director of the 1997 creepy spaceship thriller ‘Event Horizon’ is directing the first two episodes. Among Anderson’s other films are ‘Alien Vs. Predator’ and several ‘Resident Evil’ movies, so that should give you an idea of the tone.
Check out the trailer below:
The most recognizable face in the cast is Tom Felton, best known as Draco Malfoy from the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise. He most recently wrapped a season long arc on ‘The Flash’ as villain Julian Albert, a.k.a. Alchemy. On ‘Origin’, he plays Logan, a drug dealer looking for a second chance. Felton’s ‘Harry Potter’ costar Natalia Tena, a.k.a. Nymphadora Tonks, plays Lana, “a PTSD-stricken, gun-loving woman of mystery.”
However, perhaps the main character (and I do mean *perhaps*) is Shun, played by Sen Mitsuji, a Japanese Yakuza looking to escape his life of crime and violence only to wind up in an even worse situation aboard the ‘Origin’.
The cast also includes Fraser James as Henri, a geneticist and impromptu medic and Nora Arnezeder as Rey, an engineer employed by Siren. The rest of the cast includes Adelayo Adedayo, Wil Coban as Max Taylor, Philipp Christopher as Baum Arndt, Siobhán Cullen as Katie Devlin, Belén Fabra, Tara Fitzgerald, Madalyn Horcher, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Eric Carlson, Jamie Quinn as Crosby and Nina Wadia as Venisha.
