Audible Inc., the leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, announced the November 5th launch of Exoplanet, a new Audible Original sci-fi thriller executive produced by #1 New York Times bestselling author Andy Weir (The Martian, Project Hail Mary) and written by acclaimed novelist Benjamin Percy.
The full-cast audio experience stars critically acclaimed actor Anthony Mackie, Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, and Emmy Award nominee John Leguizamo in a propulsive survival story that proves humanity’s greatest threat may be time itself.
When the starship Wild Blue Yonder is torn apart by a quantum anomaly, each surviving crew member crash-lands in a different era on the same deadly exoplanet—hunted, alone, and running out of time. Chief Engineer Jeff Shaw (Anthony Mackie), aided by his virtual assistant (Ray Porter), must battle an unforgiving present, driven by one thing: getting home to his daughter. First Officer Becca Bang (Ariana DeBose) fights to survive a hostile alien past. Science Officer Logan Bowers (John Leguizamo) wakes in a machine-ruled future that shouldn’t exist. But the anomaly wasn’t random. A relentless alien intelligence is feeding on human technology—and it’s been waiting for them across every timeline. Separated by centuries, the crew must find a way to communicate across time itself before this world consumes them all. Blending heart-stopping action with the mind-bending science that Andy Weir is known for, Exoplanet explores what it means to fight for humanity’s future when your own existence hangs in the balance.
In celebration of Audible’s Exoplanet, The Koalition spoke to Ariana DeBose, who plays First Officer Becca Bang, to learn more about mentally and physically preparing for the role, working with Andy Weir, the power of personal survival compared to group survival, being separated by time and space, and more.
Becca is a skilled astronaut who is prepared for all danger, but no one has prepared her for time travel. When Becca awakens to find herself a hostile alien 500 years in the past, there’s a sense of amazement followed by a sudden rush of pure terror with what has happened and what she’s about to face.
“Everything you just described is such a great challenge for me as an actor. So, this [project] was a very easy thing to say yes to. Becca’s an extraordinary character. I think there’s a confidence to her, a badassery of sorts that definitely gives her the ability to think she has everything under control at all times. Like she just got it. But as you say, there are some things you just cannot prepare for. And even the most confident of people have to suddenly think outside of the box. But with that challenge comes some self-doubt and some second-guessing, and when you find yourselves in these situations, sometimes you have to take really big swings and make really big bets. And when you’re 500 years in the past, it’s hard to know what to bet on, but her mentality—she’s very much an airman at heart. She will not leave an airman behind, which are some of the things I found so heartening about her. She will not leave one of her colleagues behind. So, her mission becomes very clear, no matter what it takes, no matter how scared she is; it’s to find a way to help her colleagues and to make sure they survive.”
When Becca arrives in this new world, even before the danger starts, her body immediately knows something is wrong, as she utters “not supposed to be alive right now,” which is something Ariana can relate too. “It’s one of the things that connects me to Becca. I’m very in tune with my body. It weirds people out. But also, I started out as a dancer, so it makes a lot of sense to me. I don’t think it’s an anomaly to be that in tune. I think there are many people who walk through the world with high intuition. I think it’s a strength. I think it’s a good thing. It makes people sensitive. Ultimately for Becca, her sensitivity is the thing that helps her find her way through without it. And without her trusty AI companion, Pewter (voiced by Ray Porter), who knows where the story would have gone? And Pewter is very saucy.”
In Exoplanet, Pewter is the virtual assistant to Chief Engineer Jeff Shaw, who becomes a supporting presence in the present timeline, providing technical support and companionship. “It’s really cool. And you know what’s funny? I did a lot of my sessions on my own, separate from the person who played Pewter. We had an exceptional creative team. Stephen Winter is an exceptional director who was able to take all of these performances and create the world you hear. As far as Becca’s relationship to her Pewter, she functions with Pewter like it’s her sister, and we learn over time there’s a story there. I think being able to relate to an AI companion with the knowledge that this is not a real entity makes it easier. Coming to it as an actor, I’m very human-forward, so it was hard for me to process that in my mind, but I do think we see instances every day where people do use AI companions as real friends and as real confidants. And while it may scare me, if it works for them in a safe way, it’s great.”
“In the context of our story, Pewter is necessary. It’s her lifeline. It gets her through the next day, and I promise you, some of the things that make this story so exciting are that you don’t know what’s going to happen next from episode to episode, which is my favorite type of story to take in.”
Andy Weir describes the story as “the crackle across a five‑hundred‑year gap, the desperation in a voice that doesn’t know if anyone’s still ‘listening'”—the emotional core is the hope and urgency of reaching out across impossible time. The crew’s cross‑era communication becomes the key to survival. They must unite their knowledge and skills from different eras to stop the alien intelligence before it consumes the planet. The story’s emotional payoff is that they succeed in connecting across time, saving humanity, and proving that cooperation — even across centuries — can overcome impossible odds.
Jeff, Becca, and Logan are mutually unaware of each other’s existence at first, their connection forms through time‑spanning signals — the alien threat forces them to attempt to send and receive messages across the 500‑year gap. The relationship is defined by shared survival goals: each knows the others are trying to save humanity, even if they don’t know who they are, and they must coordinate to counter the alien threat.
As a relentless alien intelligence feeds on human technology and has been waiting across all timelines for this very moment, DeBose expertly makes the audience feel every ounce of Becca’s horrific encounters and the emotional weight of decisions that could both kill herself and the others.
“The physical changes to the body are directly reflected in the performance. It makes the performance exceptionally challenging. And I promise you after three or so days of being in the world of Exoplanet, Mother’s vocal cords were very tired. There’s this idea, ‘Oh, you’re just sitting there reading as an actor.’ You are not. You are very physical. The performance for me, even though I was isolated in a booth, was very movement heavy. I was sweating by the end of it. So, the changes to the body, whether that be different exposures or going on the journey of her climbing hills, trying to create paths, are so important because where physicality goes is where the surviving is. That was very, very cool for me to explore.”
“Another thing I love about this story. I think those are the challenges and questions we’re all asking ourselves in the world we live in today. That’s a good thing. It is a good thing to ask ourselves those questions. I do think they go hand in hand in regard to Becca’s journey. In order to help her colleagues, she must survive as long as possible, but I also think knowing that Becca can be an overconfident queen, sometimes she overplays her hand a little too much. As a result, it might put her in peril, and she got to try and reel it back so that she can live to fight another day. We are on an exoplanet, a terraforming exoplanet, which, by the way, is very sophisticated science by Andy Weir, who brought us The Martian. But the ultimate challenge is, or question, rather, ‘When does self-sacrifice become the ultimate choice so that the group can survive?'”
“Being a woman of color, I found that an exceptionally interesting question to explore in the context of the story, because sometimes I do find that we sacrifice a lot. We sacrifice ourselves in order for the group or our communities to thrive. When is that appropriate? When is it not? But I think when it comes to trying to save mankind, be okay with it.”
To learn more about Exoplanet, check out our full interview in the video above. Check out Exoplanet’s trailer in the video below.
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