The Expanse season 4 release date and trailer have been revealed, with Amazon Prime Video debuting the first look at the upcoming season during the show's panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. Syfy originally canceled The Expanse last year - shortly before season 3 ended - due to a rather poor distribution agreement. And after an impressive renewal campaign from fans, Amazon Prime Video quickly picked up the series for season 4.
Of course, the cancellation and then renewal at a different studio - a streaming service, no less - came with some consequences; it meant that The Expanse season 4 wouldn't be ready in time for a winter 2019 release date, as fans had been used to getting new seasons around the start of every year. But Amazon Prime Video had confirmed that The Expanse season 4 would release by the end of 2019, and getting a release date along with the first trailer at Comic-Con 2019 was a surefire bet.
Amazon Prime Video announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 that The Expanse season 4 releases on Friday, December 13. The release date came at the end of a trailer that ran for over five minutes and saw the Roci land on a new planet (New Terra), which the crew - James Holden (Steven Strait), Alex Kamal (Cas Anvar), Naomi Nagata (Dominique Tipper), and Amos Burton (Wes Chatham) - should find out in the very first episode of season 4, "New Terra", is called Ilus.
Here is the official synopsis for The Expanse season 4:
With the Ring Gates now open to thousands of new planets, a blood-soaked gold rush begins, igniting new conflicts between Earth, Mars, and the Belt. Meanwhile, on one unexplored planet, the Rocinante crew gets caught in a violent clash between an Earth mining corporation and desperate Belter settlers as deadly new threats from the protomolecule emerge.
Interestingly, while several key players from The Expanse's original run on Syfy are back for season 4, this trailer focuses only on the core group, specifically their mission to land on the planet of Ilus. Some things can still be gleaned from this brief look, however. In addition to the Rocinante appearing to have a new paint job, it seems Naomi had been training to walk with gravity for the first time. And seeing her stumble as she leaves the ship is a huge character moment for her character and something that was previously explored with Frankie Adams' Bobbie in season 2.
Given that the trailer seems to focus only on episode 1 and ended with the title of the season's first episode, it's possible that Amazon Prime Video may employ a weekly release schedule for The Expanse, which is what fans would be used to since it previously aired on a cable channel. But that would also go against the streaming service's modus operandi and may even deter new viewers who could potentially become fans themselves. Hopefully, more info on this is revealed in the near future.