The HBO Max adaptation of the DC Comics series DMZ received a ton of new details and images at DC FanDome 2021.
DMZ is a four-part limited series that is being led by Selma and When They See Us' Ava DuVernay and Westworld writer Roberto Patino. The Mandalorian's Rosario Dawson is set to star as Alma and DMZ will tell the story of a USA that is in the middle of its second civil war. This war is between the Free States of America and the United States of America and the rule of law is "dictated by the most powerful person at any point at time."
"It's a story about a fractured people that are coming together," Patino said. "We have a civil war between the Free States of America and the United States of America, and our story takes place eight years into that DMZ where the rule of law is basically dictated by the most powerful person at any point in time, and that can change from block to block."
Dawson's Alma, who is an outsider that will turn "everything upside down," is inspired by Z from the graphic novel.
"Alma was inspired by one of the most fascinating characters in the comic book and also one of the most underserved in the comic book named Z, who is this fearless medic," Patino explained. "I really took the creative guard rails off and dove into the spirit of Z and reinvented her. This show is a bit of an origin story for one of the best characters in the graphic novel."
Alma will be joined by Benjamin Bratt's Parco Delgado and Hoon Lee's Wilson, both of whom have different styles of leadership. Delgado is a character who takes power who believes that no one can challenge him on that if he says it "with enough resolve."
Wilson, on the other hand, wants everyone to make "truly free choices in the DMZ," and loves the "patchwork of gangs and tribes and outfits" that come of that.
DMZ is set in Manhattan and is meant to be a piece of media we can see our potential future in if we "let the worst of our divisions get to us."
"That's what DMZ is," DuVernay said. "It is set in a world that's just a few moments into the future, and it speculates what would we be if we let the worst of our divisions get to us. I just think it's super cool. It's also important in ways that allow us to consider ourselves now and what we want to be going forward."
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.