Manifest at Comic-Con 2018: Everything we learned about the new NBC series

San Diego Comic-Con 2018 treated attendees to an advance screening of NBC’s fall freshman series Manifest. After that, the cast and showrunners discussed what to expect in the first season.

San Diego Comic-Con 2018 has been exciting for those looking forward to new shows. NBC’s Manifest was no exception. The panel started with an advance screening of the pilot episode, letting fans know exactly what they’re in for. Let me tell you from watching the pilot through my screeners that this is going to be a series you want to watch, especially if you’re fans of LOST or The Crossing.

After the screening, the cast and creatives took to the SDCC panel to answer a few questions and discuss the first season, which airs this fall. Once Upon a Time star Josh Dallas had previously described the series as LOST meets This Is Us, but what did he have to say about the mythology?

There wasn’t too much time for questions in the hour-long panel, with 40 minutes of it taken up with the screener, but there were some juicy elements.

The question for the season

According to the panel, the big “battle” for the season is faith vs. science. For those who haven’t heard, Manifest is about a plan that goes missing. Five years later, it returns but for those on board the plane, no time has passed at all. Of course, for those on the ground, five years has meant a lot of changes and they’re shocked to see that their family members and friends haven’t changed one bit.

This is where the LOST part comes into it. There’s this big question about what has happened to those on the plane. The idea of faith vs. science will drive the series.

Relationships will be meaningful

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Developing characters and connections is difficult, but Manifest is going to push the boundaries. The relationships will be meaningful. This is an important part of making a successful show, so I’m glad to hear that. It is something you see in the pilot and you can see it on the stage between Dallas and Melissa Roxburgh.

What will be interesting is how the relationship dynamics change. How do the two young siblings react with the big change five years makes? What’s going to happen as parents see their grown children for the first time or grandparent see younger children as they were five years ago?

Fans have a title

One question for fans is what the name of the fans will be. After all, Supernatural fans are known as the SPN Family, Once Upon a Time fans are Oncers, and Timeless fans are Clockblockers. What about Manifest?

Josh Dallas called fans Manifesters. This was a suggestion earlier on social media, so I’m down with that.

There is an endgame

Most importantly, showrunner and creator Jeff Rake has an endgame for the season. More showrunners seem to be learning from the mistakes of LOST with that one question that constantly pushed the series. The Crossing certainly did that, even if it was unfairly canceled after one season. Hopefully, Manifest will get a better chance.

The big question is definitely going to be what happened on the plane. Hopefully, the endgame is mystery solved and a set up for another mystery.

Next: Josh Dallas gets another show where time stands still

Did you get to see the Manifest screener? If so, what did you think? Are you looking forward to the fall drama? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Manifest premieres on September 24 on NBC.