Originally released in August 1997, the beloved cult horror flick Event Horizon has infiltrated the wild world of licensed comics. Starting with 2025’s prequel, Event Horizon: Dark Descent, writer Christian Ward has been establishing new canon for the long-neglected fan favorite. After the success of that venture, Ward is now teaming with artist Rob Carey to rocket us 200 years into the future with Inferno.
The new series is set to follow the fallout when a billionaire funds a private fleet to plunder the Event Horizon, tapping into modern-day wealth disparity while continuing the lore of the film. Dark Descent was both critically acclaimed and a financial hit, making this continuation an easy sell for Paramount and comics company IDW. Beginning with Dark Descent, Ward has been clear he has plenty of plans for Event Horizon should Inferno warrant another follow-up from the publisher.
In his capacity as writer, Christian Ward has a habit of taking on ambitious projects. Before he started writing comics, he teamed with Matt Fraction on the stunning, cosmic reimagining of The Odyssey, titled ODY-C. He also worked with G. Willow Wilson on her sci-fi epic, Invisible Kingdom, moving on to superhero stories with series like Black Bolt and Thor. Ward teamed with artist Tristan Jones for Dark Descent and provided a few pages for the finale.
Ward has become well-known for playing around in the horror genre, with offerings like the grim Batman: City of Madness and the creator-owned vampire tale Blood Stained Teeth with artist Patric Reynolds. Though he is not doing interior art for this new series, he’s providing stunning covers for Inferno, ensuring that fans of his eye-catching art will have something to tune in for.
According to an interview with AIPT, Ward’s pitch for the Event Horizon universe was more of a “roadmap” than a traditional pitch. It detailed how the story could continue. While Dark Descent provided a backstory for the original film, Inferno promises to provide a good deal of distance from what came before, rocketing us into the far-flung future to follow new characters, with a larger emphasis on tech and action sequences to play to artist Rob Carey’s strengths.
“I wanted to distance myself from the film a little bit and tell our own story,” Ward told AIPT. “I didn’t want it to feel like Dark Descent 2. I wanted it to feel like its own thing.”
The original film is beloved for adding twists to classic genre tropes; for instance, moving traditional images of Heaven and Hell into deep space. It features inventive storytelling, such as the inclusion of the mysterious Gravity Drive that opens interdimensional portals. Making a tried-and-true premise seem brand new is a big part of why the original holds up.
Having an established horror creator who has a solid game plan for expanding the franchise is nothing short of a dream come true for long-time fans. After decades in limbo, with a potential Prime Video series seeming to be on indefinite hold, Event Horizon deserves a steady creative hand, at least for the time being. It looks like Christian Ward is more than up to the task.