For All Mankind showrunners Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi spoke to ComicBook about the growing wedge between Mars and Earth, Ed’s advanced age, and the rise of a new generation.
ComicBook: After the asteroid heist, have things cooled down between Earth and Mars? How would you describe any remaining conflict – if there’s any – between the two?
Matt Wolpert: I would say it’s calmed down in the sense that maybe they put a lid on a boiling pot of water to kind of tame it. But after the theft of this asteroid, I think the countries of Earth were like, “Ok, Mars is a little out of control and we need to get control over things.” They introduce this peacekeeping force, like a police force, to keep everyone in line. It has done that, but it’s also lead to more festering tensions beneath the surface as we come into the season.
Ben Nedivi: One of our reference points was the build up to the American Revolution, We found fascinating that the distance and time it took you to go from England to America is similar to Earth to Mars. When you are trying to control a population so far from you, it usually doesn’t work out so well.
Ed is getting up in age. What kind of conversations did you have about the character’s trajectory and what his legacy would be?
Wolpert: We talked a lot about that. It felt like Ed, even though he is in his mid-80s now, it felt like Ed was the kind of guy, who in his DNA is like, “I am still a part of this world. I’m still going to try to do things. I don’t care what you tell me. Get off my back.” He’s more Ed than ever. It’s funny. People are like, “Man, he’s in his 80s, and he’s out in space.” But you think about Buzz Aldrin or William Shatner going into space when he was 90. It is not out of the realm of possibility, even within our real history to be doing stuff like that. I think he is someone who is constantly going to try to be a part of the mix. Seeing him evolve, but also seeing him take his grandson under his wing and teach him how to be the man he thinks he should be… which might not necessarily meet up with what Alex thinks he wants his future to be… That was really compelling, as well.
A murder takes place on Mars. What does that ripple effect look like for those pulled into its orbit?
Nedivi: In a way, that murder is the incentive of the season. One, it tells you the state of Mars is now, the fact that we have crime, and there are cops solving crimes. It sets up this sense of strange normalcy that this is an event that is not uncommon. As they mentioned, there’s a few murders and suicides. But I think for us, like everything else on this show, nothing is just put in for no reason. What’s set off by that murder sets up a lot of domino effect for the rest of the season. Also, it introduces one of the major new characters with Celia Boyd, who is investigating that crime. So, we wanted something that really felt different, something we hadn’t done on the show so far. But also, something that could set up the rest of our season and open things up from there. That provided the perfect avenue for that.
Besides the murder, what else is driving this season?
Wolpert: Besides the murder, really what we talked about before, which is this growing sense of disconnection between Earth and Mars, and these two planets having different motivations and different beliefs. Alongside that, the other really compelling thing, in terms of the evolution of science, is Kelly Baldwin’s continued search for finding microbial life in the solar system. That is a big storyline for the season.
You mentioned Ed’s grandson, Alex. This younger generation takes center stage. What did their introduction allow you to explore? Did it give a fresh perspective on what was going in?
Nedivi: Yeah, honestly, I think that is the biggest change this year, is suddenly this generational shift… This younger group of characters. I think for us, it allows two things. One, I think one of the unique things about the show is that we are telling the story of people’s lifetime. Now, we are telling the story of generational lifetimes. We are going from Ed Baldwin to his children, Kelly, to now her child, Alex. This ability to not only show how things evolve from generation to generation, but how trauma continues, makes the show really unique in a way.
I think the other element that is exciting to us is to tell the story of someone who, for them, Mars is not this exotic place. We kept thinking, to any kid who grew up in the most exciting place, if you grew up there, it’s not that exciting. So, even for all of us watching the show, the idea of living on Mars feels fascinating and terrifying. But for Alex Baldwin, who cannot be on Earth, it’s a small town. For him, the exotic place is Earth, which is shown by that scene in episode one where he is looking through those VR glasses and fantasizing about the ocean touching his feet. To him, that’s the most exotic idea, the idea of being outside without a suit, touching the water. We really wanted to nail this idea of perspective shift of what it is when Mars becomes a home, when Mars becomes a place that you live, rather than a place you dream about going to.
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