By Désirée Guzzetta
In the new sci-fi series, “Salvage Marines,” which can be seen on Popcornflix, wars are fought not for nations, but corporations. Samuel “Sam” Hyst (Casper Van Dien) is saddled with life debt, something he doesn’t want to pass on to his unborn child. With his best friend, Ben “Tak” Takeda (Peter Shinkoda), he signs up for a two-year stint in the R.E.A.P.E.R.S., or Salvage Marines, who take on dangerous missions in the name of corporatism.
Once in training, Sam and Tak realize not only are they the oldest recruits, but that there’s a chance that instead of working off their life debt, they may incur even more. For Sam, there’s also temptation in the form of Jada (Jennifer Wenger), a younger recruit who wants to escape her own problems. The series also stars Linara Washington as Sam’s pregnant wife, Sura, and Armand Assante as Kelkis Morturi, a corporation overlord who shows up as a hologram seemingly everywhere on Sam’s homeworld exhorting everyone to keep working.
The Nerd Element had a chance to participate in a roundtable at San Diego Comic-Con with “Salvage Marines” stars Van Dien, Wenger, and Shinkoda. The trio happily chatted with reporters about their new show, their personal relationships, and for Van Dien (prompted by a question from The Nerd Element), the four stages of an actor’s career.
