Why Deadpool Fans Will Love Other Space - Exclusive
Before Karan Soni was driving Deadpool around, he was captaining the UMP Cruiser as Stewart Lipinski on Other Space, the eight-episode Yahoo! Screen series from 2015 that never quite got the attention it deserved. Like Deadpool, the show features a heavy dose of ridiculous shenanigans and crass situations — and, of course, it stars the actor who brought Deadpool's dope, taxi-driving sidekick Dopinder to life.
Now, Other Space is getting a second life on the sci-fi-centric streaming service DUST, and Soni and series creator Paul Feig couldn't be more excited for the show to reach a wider audience (and maybe clinch a second season). Soni spoke with Looper in an exclusive interview to dish on what makes Other Space special, and why Deadpool fans need to binge the show when it debuts on DUST.
Other Space touts a clutch cast
Given that Other Space didn't have the widespread release the team hoped for, most people tuning into the show will be fresh-eyed new fans. A big draw to Other Space for incoming viewers? According to Soni, it's the series' cast.
"If you missed watching the first time, I would say that since the first time the show came out, a lot of the cast members have gone on to do some very cool other projects," he said. "I would say to people that are new to the show, check it out — because probably one, two, or more of your favorite guest stars from some other show are on this show together. And they're very funny."
Deadpool fans will, of course, be thrilled to see Soni on Other Space. Some of the series' other stars include Dave Franco (21 Jump Street) as Chad Sampson, an alien masquerading as the UMP Cruiser's auxiliary deck officer; Eugene Cordero (The Good Place) as Michael Newman, Stewart's best friend and the second officer of the Cruiser; Neil Casey (Ghostbusters) as Kent Woolworth, the Cruiser's science officer; and Milana Vayntrub (This is Us) as Tina Shukshin, the Cruiser's navigator.
"The whole show is really fun, and it was five years ago, so we all look, you know ... The glow up is real, as they say — as someone says," Soni joked. "I think you'll be really surprised by how many of your favorite funny people are on the show together — [on a show] that you didn't even know existed."
Soni also mentioned the positive reaction from people who are just now seeing the show but had never heard of it before. "[That's the] recurring thing from journalists that I've been speaking to, which is really exciting and makes us happy, because we put a lot of work in it obviously," he said. "At the time, we were very proud of it. And then you sort of just file it away in your Hollywood folder of like, 'That was a project that didn't get a second season, but you know, we did the best that we could.' Now to hear people be like, 'Oh, I watched every episode.' That's amazing."
Most actors aren't excited about the lack of production value a project has, but Soni totally got the appeal of the low-budget set. He said, "One of the charms of the first season was sort of that it looked a little janky. Because we didn't have all the money on the planet." He continued, "I kind of love that our show doesn't look like [it could be in a movie]. And so I hope that if it comes back, it stays [true to] those things."
If you loved Dopinder in Deadpool, you'll dig Stewart on Other Space
When Soni snagged his role in 2016's Deadpool, he was fresh off Other Space. The actor was so exhausted from filming such long days that his portrayal of Dopinder almost didn't happen. As he explained, "[Deadpool] was the first audition I did after we finished filming Other Space — and I almost didn't go because I was so burnt out from Other Space by the end, doing six-day weeks."
Luckily for Deadpool fans, Soni went to the audition anyway, and his experience on Other Space lent itself perfectly to the Deadpool vibe. In particular, one Other Space scene is reminiscent of something bizarre and delightful that could easily happen in Wade Wilson's weird world.
"There were a lot of wild times. There's an episode where I'm having sex dreams about an alien," Soni recalled. "That was quite crazy because I had to make some [raunchy] sounds in front of a lot of people, which was just so, so crazy and very fun." Wade would definitely approve.
Other Space debuts on DUST on August 1. Deadpool fans, you know what to do.