2011’s The Mercury Men delivers a fun, retro-sci fi web series that was made on a tiny budget but is still worth a look.
What Is It?
This web series focuses on dour government worker Edward Borman, who finds himself thrust into the middle of a plot by the Mercury Men (beings of pure light from the planet of… well… Mercury) to pull the Moon into the Earth and destroy the human race. These creatures see humanity as a threat and believe the best way to deal with this danger is to wipe us out of existence. Borman finds himself drafted into action against the Mercury Men by Jack Yaeger of “The League” (led by the mysterious Dr. Tomorrow) as these beings attempt to plant their nefarious gravity engine in the City Building to fulfill their sinister plan.
Aired: Syfy.com, One Season Totaling 10 Episodes
Cast: Mark Tierno, Curt Wootton, Amy Staggs
Crew: Christopher Preksta (Creator/Writer/Director)
Legacy:
This web series offers a fun homage to the old movie serials and also delivers a decent retro-sci-fi entry with some creative visuals.
A Closer Look:
The Mercury Men is a retro-sci-fi web series written and directed by Chris Preksta that harkens back to the old serials from the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s. It began as a short concept film featured at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, and since then, Preksta expanded it into a full ten-episode series (of about six to nine minutes per episode). Preksta made the entire series on a budget of less than ten thousand dollars, but he accomplished a lot with the money he had.
If the plot synopsis above sounds rather hokey, it is, and that’s part of the charm of this series. It throws in plenty of campy fun, just like the serials of old, even if its story does get a bit muddled at times and suffers from many leaps of logic and plot holes. But where this series succeeds is in the look and feel it creates with its stylized throwback visuals. It’s filmed in black and white, lending to its movie serial homage, and features plenty of retro-future technology for good measure. The special effects are actually quite good—much better than you would expect from a web series made on such an economical budget (it even won an IAWTV award for sfx).
But as with many web series, this one has its flaws. Its camp appeal works against it as often as not, with many attempts at humor or winks to the audience seeming to fall flat. And while both Tierno and Wootton are likable and seem to fit their roles, they often vacillate between over-the-top acting and just plain wooden delivery of their lines. Plus, despite emulating the action-packed old movie serials, The Mercury Men can be slow and plodding at times, with several scenes drawn out way too long. Surprisingly, it managed to grab the IAWTV’s Best Directing award, beating out several series that I considered much more deserving (particularly Pioneer One and CELL: The Web Series).
All that aside, conceptually the series works and has potential. This first ten-part serial may suffer from occasional flawed execution, but I stayed with it through to the end and would love to see more adventures of Jack Yaeger, Ed Borman, and Dr. Tomorrow’s League. Call this one a trial run for the concept and a chance to work out the kinks, and it delivers a decent enough sci-fi entry for the web series format.
Cancelled Too Soon?
Yes. Preksta definitely had plans for a second season, as well as comics and other possible venues for the story, but The Mercury Men has not continued beyond its initial ten episodes. It did get some exposure on the Syfy website, where it first received a wide release, but that network has since dropped it and apparently was not interested in funding a second season. The show later moved to Hulu for a while, but that stint did not lead to a continuation either, leaving us with only the one season of The Mercury Men so far.
Should It Be Rebooted?
Yes. There is plenty of potential with this series, and it would be great to see it further explore the universe it established. That may call for a complete reboot, seeing as it has been nearly fifteen years since the web series first premiered, and the actors may have aged out of their roles. Or they could bring back the original cast, along with younger actors, to carry on for future seasons. The show’s Facebook page suggested that more episodes could be in the works back in 2019, so maybe this one will return at some point.
Interesting Fact:
This had been a featured web series on Syfy.com, just like Reise: Kingdom Falling (more on that one at this link), but both have since disappeared from their site, and the network lost interest in the web series format.
Preksta, Wootton, and Tierno had previously worked on the web series Captain Blasto which acted as spoof on the superhero genre.
Where Can You Watch It?
The entire series is available for viewing on YouTube on the MercuryMenFilms channel.
Read More About the Show:
If you produced an independent sci fi/fantasy web series during the 2000s and/or 2010s, please contact us at cultscifi.com@gmail.com with the information about the show. Or if you know of productions from that time, please pass along that information as I am working on a project documenting the rise and fall of this format.
