''DMZ'' is an American

dystopian A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

miniseries created by

Roberto Patino Roberto Patino is an American screenwriter and television writer, known for writing the film ''Cut Bank'', starring Liam Hemsworth, John Malkovich and Billy Bob Thornton. He created and served as showrunner of the HBO Max miniseries ''DMZ'', was a ...

. It is based on the comic book series by Brian Wood and

Riccardo Burchielli Riccardo Burchielli (born 27 February 1975) is an Italian artist known for his work on the DC/Vertigo comic book series '' DMZ'', his first work in the United States. Early life Burchielli was born in Peccioli, near Pisa, Tuscany.

. ''DMZ'' premiered on

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

on March 17, 2022. A portion premiered at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

on March 12, 2022.

Premise

Alma Ortega, a

medic A medic is a person trained to provide medical care, encompassing a wide range of individuals involved in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of health conditions. The term can refer to fully qualified medical practitioners, such as physic ...

, becomes a symbol of hope in a

demilitarized zone A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between states, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or boundary ...

Manhattan Island Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

while trying to find her son, who wandered off during their evacuation during the Second American Civil War.

Cast

Main

Rosario Dawson Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama '' Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include '' He Got Game'' (1998), '' Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in B ...

as Alma "Zee" Ortega, a medic who spent the last 8 years looking for her son *

Hoon Lee Tong Hoon Lee (born July 18, 1973) is an American actor, known for playing Job in the Cinemax original series ''Banshee'' and the King in the Broadway revival of ''The King and I'', and voicing Hamato Yoshi/Splinter in the 2012 version of ''Teen ...

as Wilson, the leader of

Chinatown, Manhattan Manhattan's Chinatown is a Neighborhoods in Manhattan, neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, bordering the Lower East Side to its east, Little Italy, Manhattan, Little Italy to its north, Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center to its s ...

, who knew Alma before the war * Freddy Miyares as Skel, Parco's assassin and Alma's son formerly known as Christian Ortega * Jordan Preston Carter as Odi, an orphaned kid inside the DMZ who becomes friends with Alma * Venus Ariel as Nico, Odi's friend * Amandla Jahava as Nicole *

Benjamin Bratt Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for playing Paco Aguilar in '' Blood in Blood Out''. He had supporting film roles in the 1990s in ''Demolition Man'' (1993), ''Clear and Present Danger'' (1994) and '' ...

as Parco Delgado, Alma's ex and a leader of the Spanish Harlem Kings who controls a part of

Upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the northern section of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, 110th Street (the northern boundary of Central Park), 1 ...

Recurring

Mamie Gummer Mary Willa "Mamie" Gummer (born August 3, 1983) is an American actress. She starred in the title role of The CW series '' Emily Owens, M.D.'' (2012–2013), and played the recurring role of Nancy Crozier on ''The Good Wife'' (2010–2015) and its ...

as Rose *

Agam Darshi Agam Darshi (born 23 December 1987) is a British actress. Early life Agam Darshi was born in the city of Birmingham in England, the United Kingdom; to Sikh parents of Indian Punjabi descent. At a very young age she and her family has emigrate ...

as Franklin * Rey Gallegos as Cesar * Henry G. Sanders as Cedric * Jade Wu as Susie, Wilson's advisor *

Sydney Park Sydney Park is a recreational area in the inner-city area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The parkland is located in the suburb of Alexandria, sitting along the borders with Newtown and Erskineville. Sydney Park is the third largest ...

as Tenny, Skel's love interest *

Juani Feliz Juani Feliz (born January 3, 1989) is a Dominican-American actress. She is known for her roles as Isabela Benitez-Santiago in the Amazon Prime Video series ''Harlem'', Carmen in the HBO Max series ''DMZ'', and Alejandra Lopez in FX's '' Fle ...

as Carmen, Parco's wife *

Nora Dunn Nora Dunn (born April 29, 1952) is an American actress and comedian. She first garnered popularity during her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990. Following her departure from ''SNL'' ...

as Oona, the woman who controls the water supply *

Rutina Wesley Rutina Wesley (born December 21, 1978) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Tara Thornton in the HBO fantasy drama series ''True Blood'', Nova Bordelon on the OWN drama series ''Queen Sugar'', and Maria in the HBO post-ap ...

as Athena In addition, Bryan Gael Guzman co-stars as Christian Ortega, Alma's teenage son in flashbacks.

Episodes

Production

Development

In February 2014, it was announced that Syfy was planning on making a TV series adaptation of the comic with former writers and executive producers

Andre Jacquemetton Andre Jacquemetton is an American television writer and producer. He served as a producer for the first and second season of '' Mad Men''. He and his wife, Maria, co-wrote episodes of the first and second seasons. Alongside his colleagues on the ...

and

Maria Jacquemetton Maria Jacquemetton ( Mastras) is an American television writer and producer. She graduated from Lehigh University in 1983. She served as a producer for the first season of '' Mad Men'' and co-wrote, with her husband, Andre, three episodes of th ...

, with

David Heyman David Jonathan Heyman (born 26 July 1961) is a British film producer and the founder of Heyday Films. Heyman is best known as the producer of all eight installments of the ''Harry Potter'' film series, which are based on a series of popular ...

as executive producer for the potential series. On October 1, 2019, it was announced that

was developing a TV series adaptation of the comic with

Ava DuVernay Ava Marie DuVernay (; born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. She is a recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, Primetime Emmy Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, NAACP Image Awards, a British Academy Film Awards, ...

directing the pilot with

writing the pilot and as showrunner the series. It was also announced that DuVernay and Patino would both executive produce under their respective overall deals with

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios, operating under the name Warner Bros. Television (abbreviated as WBTV; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division), is an American television production and distribution studio and the flagship studio o ...

. On November 19, 2020, HBO Max gave ''DMZ'' a limited series order of four episodes, with Patino set to write all of the episodes. In July 2021,

Ernest Dickerson Ernest Roscoe Dickerson (born June 25, 1951) is an American director, cinematographer, and screenwriter of film, television, and music videos. As a cinematographer, Dickerson is known for his frequent collaborations with Spike Lee ever since they ...

joined the series as an executive producer and directed three episodes. The series premiered on March 17, 2022.

Casting

On January 22, 2020,

was cast as Alma. On February 6, 2020,

was cast as Parco Delgado. On February 18, 2020, Freddy Miyares was cast as Skel. Upon the limited series order announcement,

and Jordan Preston Carter joined the main cast. On July 12, 2021,

, and Henry G. Sanders were cast in undisclosed capacities while Venus Ariel, Jade Wu, Rey Gallegos,

, and

were cast as series regulars.

Filming

On October 1, 2019, the pilot was scheduled to go into production in early 2020, with filming on the pilot wrapping on March 16, 2020. Filming for the pilot took place in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. The pilot was picked up, and filming for the remaining three episodes took place in 2021.

Reception

References

External links

* {{Max (streaming service) 2020s American drama television miniseries 2022 American television series debuts 2022 American television series endings Alternate history television series Dystopian television series American English-language television shows HBO Max original programming Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows based on DC Comics Television shows set in New York City Triad television series Second American Civil War speculative fiction