Dark Matter
Franka Potente will play Commander Shaddick in Season 2 of Syfy's "Dark Matter."

New ‘Dark Matter’ clip teases dark future

On the heels of announcing that Franka Potente will play a recurring role in Dark Matter, Syfy on Wednesday released an intriguing new teaser for Season 2

The new clip shows Potente, who portrays Commander Shaddick, chief inspector of the Galactic Authority Serious Crimes Division. Shaddick appears to be investigating the crew of the Raza and what they did on the ship. You see Potente, who starred in “Run Lola Run,” “The Bourne Identity” and “The Bridge,” pull a weapon on a Raza crew member.

“Dark Matter” returns at 10/9c July 1 on Syfy.

From Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie (“Stargate” franchise), “Dark Matter” tells the story of the crew of the derelict space ship Raza. The six of them, along with an android (Zoie Palmer), wake up from stasis not knowing who they are or how they got on the ship. They give themselves numbers since they don’t remember their names.

When Season 1 ended, most of the Raza crew had been arrested by the Galactic Authority. They had figured out who they were in the past—and most of them didn’t like what they learned. Let’s just say they were not nice people.

Two (Melissa O’Neil), Three (Anthony Lemke), Four (Alex Mallari Jr.) and Five (Jodelle Ferland) are being held in a maximum security facility on Hyperion-8 as Season 2 begins, the two teasers show. It doesn’t appear One (Marc Bendavid) is with them. Then again, which One would it be?

Six (Roger Cross), revealed to be a former Galactic Authority officer in Season 1, apparently has rejoined the police unit. In the latest teaser, Five slaps him when she sees him in uniform. (I have my suspicions Six is playing the long con to free his newfound friends.)

Mike Dopud, who has appeared in three “Stargate” series, plays prison boss Arax Nero. “You need to understand the way things work,” he says in the new teaser.

So where is the android? She’s really let her hair down off the Raza, it seems. She’s drinking and fighting in a tavern. But is that really the android, or the woman upon whom she was based? (I’m totally guessing on this.) 

So many mysteries!

We also see Four in a katana fight with Misaki Han, the new shireikan, or commandant, of the Imperial Royal Guard of Ishida. She filled the position after Four killed the former shireikan and his mentor, Akita Masahide.

“She’s Trouble!” Mallozzi said of Misaki Han in an email today. “Please not the capital T.”

The new shireikan is being played by yet another recurring cast addition,”Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” actress Ellen Wong.

“Dark Matter” picked up two new regular cast members for Season 2, and we see one of them in the trailer. Melanie Liburd, who was just introduced on “Game of Thrones” this week, stars as the mysterious Nyx Harper. The Raza crew members meet the “kick-ass loner with a chip on her shoulder”—as Mallozzi called her—in prison. In the latest teaser, she knocks Three on his butt—no doubt deservedly.

Shaun Sipos plays Devon, a down-on-his-luck surgeon who has a dark past. He should fit in well with the Raza crew.

Back to that new teaser. After sweet little Five tells someone to “Kill them all,” it leaves us with this message, “The past is dangerous. The present is deadly. The future is dark.”

You can watch Season 1 at syfy.com or on Netflix. Watch an earlier Season 2 teaser below.

For more Dark Matter, visit Mallozzi’s blog