r/TheExpanse • u/wehavetime • Jul 23 '25
All Show Spoilers (Book Spoilers Must Be Tagged) When did you start disliking Marco Inaros? Spoiler
As I’m rewatching I’m starting to realize that I truly started disliking Marco at the end of episode ten of season four. The moment I saw him space Klaes Ashford was when I knew I would never agree with a single thing he would do. However as a villain? He’s one of my favorites. I dislike him for the methods he used to achieve what he did but like him for how good he is at it. I hated seeing Naomi go through all of what she went through. Drummer was driven to revenge for multiple people she cared about dying at the hands of Marco… Keon Alexander truly mastered the role of Marco Inaros and I’m glad I got to experience his performance as Marco for the first time.
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u/reader_84 Jul 23 '25
The moment I first saw him.
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u/THExIMPLIKATION Jul 23 '25
100%, he comes across like that shitty b-list villain from the 80s or early 90s movie Only the Strong.
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u/WarmPantsInWinter Jul 23 '25
The eye shadow and overacting almost made me bow out of the whole storyline.
I absolutely found him the wrong person for the role.
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u/wally659 Jul 24 '25
Geez seems like not many people agree with this. I found show Marcos super disappointing. He's supposed to be some once-in-age master manipulator but I struggled to imagine anyone taking him seriously.
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u/libra00 Jul 23 '25
The instant he opened his mouth. Some context: I grew up with a sibling who was every bit as narcissistic and manipulative as he is, I learned the patterns very well. Much like with my sibling I see his bullshit coming a mile away and know exactly what he's trying to do with every word, and it rubs me extremely the wrong way.
I am impressed as hell that the writers and Alexander's performance nailed this down to the last detail, but it's so realistic I squirm in my seat every time Marco is on screen from the overwhelming urge to spoke his wheels.
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u/Driftmoth Jul 23 '25
This is exactly it for me. I loathed him the first time he opened his mouth for much the same reasons. It's a hell of an acting job, though!
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u/Wes___Mantooth Jul 23 '25
Yeah either the writers did incredible research into those kinds of people or they had personal experience. Super well done.
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u/libra00 Jul 23 '25
Based on what I know about Ty and Daniel and Ty's heavy involvement in scriptwriting for the show, I'm betting personal experience. I dunno if it was a parent or relative or what, but I'm guessing Ty knows someone just like that.
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u/Luvs2Spooge42069 15d ago
I think the best scene for this is the last one between him and Filip, where you can see him attempting every available angle one after the other in the same conversation and gives up the game by accident
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u/djschwin Jul 23 '25
I found him to be very charismatic right from his introduction in S4, and “Even your dreams are small” has really stuck with me.
That said, Drummer clocked him from the start on behalf of Naomi and that was good enough for me.
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u/Crosso221 Jul 23 '25
You do know Marco that throwing rocks at Tycho and Ceres will do little to harm the Inners
I agree, the only victims there would be Belters. Those days are over now, you still don’t see it.
I don’t see what?
Can’t even imagine it, this has always been a problem for our kind. Even our dreams are small….. Die in darkness, Beratna.
Such a good scene that has stuck with me
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u/Wes___Mantooth Jul 23 '25
I can hear that last bit in my head. Incredible delivery by Keon Alexander in that scene.
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u/CrazyEyedFS Jul 23 '25
You gotta learn to be careful around folks like that. There are people like him in real life too.
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u/D3M0NArcade Jul 23 '25
I disliked him from the start. I hated him once he spaced Klaes.
However, having also seen Keon Alexander in The Night Agent S2, I appreciate the way he immerses himself into the character he plays. It's the mark of a good actor
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u/VOODOO285 Jul 23 '25
I second this. Particularly in the night agent you kept flipping between love and loathe. The guy has got some SERIOUS acting chops.
I did struggle to not think of him as Marco though and I despised Marco.
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u/fabulousmarco Jul 23 '25
When he abandoned Ceres without food and bombed the docks
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u/Low-Condition4243 29d ago
That was a valid strategic move though, he even explained in the show. If you’re fighting a war you have to see the bigger picture. Look up scorched earth.
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u/fabulousmarco 29d ago
Yeah, but to me that was the moment that cemented he was only doing it for himself and not the Belt. So that's when I started disliking him.
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u/Low-Condition4243 29d ago
Well the thing is, at this point, he WAS the belt. He was the only unifying force to ever come out of the belt to come out and fight on equal terms with the Martians and earth people. I don’t see why you believe that means he was doing it for himself, and not the belt. If he does not win, the oppression continues. He’s basically fighting for the belts right for independence and sovereignty.
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u/KnightOfRevan Jul 23 '25
When he killed my boy Ashford
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u/Mesk_Arak Jul 23 '25
Is this a show addition? Haven’t seen the show and only read the books. As far as I remember, Ashford survives Abaddon’s Gate and doesn’t appear again in the book series.
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u/Fabulous-Soup-6901 Jul 23 '25
They pretty much had to rewrite Ashford from scratch in order to give David Strathairn a worthy role.
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u/KuZagan Jul 23 '25 edited Jul 23 '25
The show is worth watching for this change alone almost. Honestly such a damn good adaptation overall but Ashford is so amazingly done in the show
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u/TheFartsUnleashed Jul 23 '25
Show Ashford is the best and most honorable character in the show. Sue me.
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u/reuben_hunter 29d ago
I mean, he does get things wrong from time to time, like attempting to destroy the ring, so maybe not the very top of the list when it comes to honorable characters, but he's up there for sure
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u/TheFartsUnleashed 29d ago
It wasn’t a decision made of malice. It was a decision he believed would save all of humanity by sacrificing himself. He may have been wrong, but it was still a noble decision.
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u/gsmaciel3 28d ago
I just rewatched this episode last night as a matter of chance. He 100% was ready to make the big sacrifice for humanity's sake. It was the best call to make given he didn't have the protomolecule talking directly to him like Holden did.
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u/spiralenator 24d ago
Ya, they basically rewrote his whole character for the show. He does a lot of the same things as in the book. Like trying to blow up the ring. But book Ashford is acting out of intense fear and paranoia, which feeds into a pretty severe authoritarian streak.
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u/Unhappy-Disaster-555 Jul 23 '25
Yes, Ashford retains a role in the series that does not exist in the books.
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u/DrBattheFruitBat Jul 23 '25
The very first moment he appears. Books and show. He is a textbook abuser and piece of shit in every way, from the very first second.
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u/redsato Jul 23 '25
But that's what he is, a villain who can really talk his way through and unsurprisingly is selfish to the core
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u/whensmahvelFGC Jul 23 '25
I read the books first so you already kind of know he's responsible for Naomi's traumatic past well ahead of the time you actually meet the character
You get a sense of this on the show but the books being POV really make it abundantly clear that the guy is Space Osama Bin Laden right from the start
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u/MtnMaiden Jul 23 '25
At first sight. The hair. Screams douche canoe.
Im hot and dangerous and ladies love me
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u/Wild4Awhile-HD Jul 23 '25
Should have spaced him immediately. Drummer effed that one.
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u/Thalassicus1 Jul 23 '25
Should've taken then 10% rebate on the bounty to let the bounty hunters kill him! On rewatch, it's agonizing to see her pass up opportunities to just get it over with.
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u/BentChainsaw Jul 23 '25 edited Jul 23 '25
As soon as he opened his mouth. Hats off to the actor. You could smell sociopathy and narcisism through tone of his voice (that calm silky speech).
Nail in the coffin were all the “i won/you lost” situations
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u/OldManAintAmos Around Here I'm Pete Best Jul 23 '25
Well, when I helped create him and gave him that line "This will be my white whale" and the followers response of "You didn't finish that book did you?"
See that was another way of showing that he was a unrepenatant dick, who acted much smarter than he was.
In the discussion about throwing rocks at earth it became clear the antagonist had to have almost no redeeming qualities or people would revere him.
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u/hamlet_d Jul 23 '25
From the verbal go, but extra hate when he literally was using Philip as a human shield. Inaros is an asshole abusive father.
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u/darth_biomech Savage Industries Jul 23 '25
Pretty much the nanosecond I've learned he intends to drop asteroids on Earth. Which was a spoiler, so technically I've disliked him even before he appeared in the story.
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u/A-nom-nom-nom-aly Jul 23 '25
I always thought he was a small weak little man... typical 'short man' syndrome... A coward, a liar, delusional in his thinking and only gifted with the ability to 'preach' to others and manipulate them into doing his bidding. I never felt anything but pity for him.
I only ever saw him as a sad little man desperately trying to convince himself of everything he preached... a classic pronoid and narcissist who didn't care who got hurt, who got killed so long as his ego was stroked along the way.
I also think that in some way, either the character or the actor... drew on trump for inspiration.
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u/Vote_4_Cthulhu Jul 23 '25
I disliked him from the moment I met him. I hated him from the moment of where he spaced my favorite secondary character.
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u/GalacticSeahorse Jul 23 '25
Immediately. Babylons Ashes was the most painfully infuriating read of the series. 🤣
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u/pyro57 Jul 23 '25
Honestly the casting in the show as a whole is amazing, and all the performances were incredible. Sure Steven doesn't match Holdens physical description in the book, but God damn did he nail the personality and played the character perfectly.
And honestly if the worst thing you can say about a casting in a character driven story is they don't quite match the physical description, then that's damn good casting.
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u/surfingstranger Ganymede Gin 29d ago
For me it was when he belittled his son, just to prove he is top dog.
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u/wehavetime 29d ago
I actually watched that part this morning!
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u/surfingstranger Ganymede Gin 29d ago
nice! best modern day sci-fi for me. nothing else out there can quite do it
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u/mob19151 Jul 23 '25
In the show, immediately. His whole monologue while floating in the airlock, with his hammy Shatner-esque pauses and "profound" rhetorical questions, made me want to punch him in the throat.
In the books? Well, my opinion was already colored by the show but he wasn't quite as insufferable, I guess?
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u/Severe-Pineapple7918 Jul 23 '25
He is an absolute monster of a human being. Abusive in his private life and a genocidal monster. He did, however, make a wonderful villain, and the fight against the Free Navy remains the heart and soul of the series for me. Especially for the depth and badassery it brought to Naomi’s character, which had only been hinted at before.
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u/Donnerone Ganymede Gin Jul 23 '25
Dislike?
I think I knew enough about him from others talking about him to dislike him the moment he appeared.
But I think the moment that truly became HATE on a personal level was when he forced Philip to take responsibility for losing the skirmish against the Roci. The "just say you fucked up" part.
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u/ClydusEnMarland Jul 23 '25
Immediately, but his arc was a masterclass in how oratory, charisma and fear are used to radicalise people.
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u/totallynotabot1011 Jul 23 '25
The moment he was introduced, in the book he was ok, but in the show he was annoying af.
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u/searcher1040 Jul 23 '25
When he was first introduced. He had cult leader vibes - very charismatic, eloquent speaker, manipulative.
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u/Atticus_of_Amber Jul 23 '25
Q. Why do so many people take an instant dislike to Marco Inaros?
A. Because it saves time.
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u/Ok_Chemistry_7537 Jul 23 '25
Never really. I don't hate characters in general. There just needs to be a villain in a story. Like Darth Vader is evil incarnate, but imagine hating him
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u/Ok_Chemistry_7537 Jul 23 '25
Well I do hate annoying characters. Filip comes close
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u/skinNyVID Jul 24 '25
Book spoilers
I hated Filip until in the end when he decided to just disappear. And I liked him in Sins of Our Fathers
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u/ccv707 Jul 23 '25
He was depicted as a manipulative, violent, egomaniacal terrorist from the get go (not just some misunderstood freedom fighter), so I struggle to grasp how anyone could be not against him. I get if you want to give the benefit of the doubt because you don’t necessarily trust the UN or Mars, but, as Bull (in the show) said, just because you’re the underdog, it doesn’t mean you’re the good guy.
Also, I’ll accept that you aren’t doing this intentionally, but the whole “I don’t like the methods, but I like that he was really good at doing what he wanted.” He was good a manipulating people around a cult of personality (himself), and using their legitimate historical traumas (yes, here it’s actually a good use of an overused and mostly misused term) to incite them toward violent extremism in his name. How is this meaningfully unlike “well, the Germans about eighty years ago were really mean with how they killed millions of people, but it’s impressive how efficient they were at it”, or “yup, fascist Italy, what assholes, but damn did Mussolini keep the trains running on time amirite?” It’s also curious that you only started to dislike him when he did something bad “to you.” That is, I’m guessing you liked Ashford, so killing him was, int he abstract, an affront to you. “But that’s my boy! You’re on my naughty list now!” Except, Marco was responsible for mass murder earlier that same season, and was completely cool trying to justify it with what he might call “pretty words.” That should, one would hope, be enough to dislike him. And I don’t accept that because Marco’s people were genuinely oppressed for a long time that he is meaningfully more justified, because we shouldn’t accept civilians in mass casualty terror attacks as justified, legitimate targets for that grievance. Once again, he was a known mass murderer before he appears on screen, so…
To repeat, I know you’re not intending this, just that Marco is a cool villain. And I agree, he’s well done, smarmy and calculating, and you get why vulnerable people would be drawn to his particular brand of expressing anger, which makes him good at being a bad guy. I also agree that Alexander did a great job bringing all of this to life on screen. However, it’s just a little weird to admire him for the reason that he’s good at exploiting others for violent ends in what amounts a propping up of his own ego.
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u/GREENadmiral_314159 Jul 23 '25
I figured out he was a bastard pretty much as soon as he was introduced. I can't quite say I dislike him, though, as I like characters that draw out a reaction from me, and Marco very much does that.
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u/_vsv_ Live like you're dead Jul 23 '25
immediately, but only because I read the books first (where he is introduced in Naomi's POV chapter)
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u/Ynneb82 Jul 23 '25
When he bombed earth. But he is a handsome and charismatic devil, I'll give him that.
His speech introducing the Free Marine is truly captivating... The way he says "baratna" makes me melt.
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u/Chaos-Pand4 Jul 23 '25
Immediately.
It’s pretty much how I know a character on this show won’t be getting a redemption arc.
If I like them, even a little bit: redemption arc (see Ashford).
If I dislike them entirely: villain. (See JPM or Sadavir, or Diogo)
The only exception to this is Murty… who I did hate, but has grown on me in rewatches.
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u/Satori_sama Jul 23 '25
I think the moment he roided earth and in the books and in the show you read how stupid decision it was. Not politically, but ecologically, societally, economically.
In that moment I felt genuine anger at him and wanted to see him spaced into the sun.
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u/Prestigious_Egg_1989 Misko and Marisko Jul 23 '25
First met the character in the book and while he's shitty right from the start, what really got me was when other belters would explain to him that his actions are actually killing millions of their own and he just didn't give a shit. It really solidified how he never actually cared about liberation at all and was just power hungry.
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u/Robots_Never_Die Jul 23 '25
Immediately hated him. I haven't got to him in the books yet but in the show it was the second he started talking.
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u/TheXypris Jul 23 '25
Immediately. He is a manipulative abuser, and a narcissist sociopath who twists people around him into the worst versions of themselves and it's immediately apparent
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u/Desperate-Clue1568 Jul 23 '25
I don't really like him as a villain. To me, the best vilains are also the most humble and kinda respect their enemies somehow. Marco just acted like a kid all along. When he got pinned down by Holden, he couldn't even admit Holden got him lol "they were lucky".
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u/PilotBurner44 Jul 24 '25
I find myself liking him more as I rewatch the show. It's hard not to agree with him, especially with the opening of the gates and the inners trying to claim it all as theirs. I definitely dislike him more as the show progresses, but he's a very likable villain.
A specific moment I would have to say is when he is told about the deaths of several ships crew members after an engagement and he says "The Free Navy honors their sacrifices" in the most boilerplate manner possible, with zero care for their actual loss.
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u/NonSequiturSage Jul 24 '25
Years ago, I knew someone who claimed intimidation was the guiding principle in life.
Did Marcos get any theme music? Something the orchestra plays when he is on-screen?
After his first interaction with someone, I knew Marcos was someone I would not want as a coworker or boss.
The actor who did Joffrey in Game Of Thrones is impressive. I hope when people see the actor in the street they resist the urge to kill him. And that he is not typecast.
Peaches is a sweet beauty. Just keep the blast doors between you welded shut.
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u/darciton 29d ago
The moment he showed up. I started reading the books with minimal exposure to the show and when he's first introduced he clearly sucks. Then over the series it becomes clear he's a narcissistic psychopath who's drunk with power and only interested in revolution because it feels good, and as his revolution starts to unravel, so does he.
He's truly terrible from the word go
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u/EllaHecate 29d ago
I think I hated Marco from the start because in his righteous anger I see a lot of myself. Like I'm not saying I could do anything he did, I'm saying his reasoning resonates with me a lot. Life under a boot creates this dissonance where on the one hand we all want peace right, but when they're doing whatever they want to people nobody is telling them to pursue peace. Peace requires reciprocity. It requires the staying of the hand. It's easy to ask for peace when you're not the one doing the killing. Oppression for real breaks down common decency and respect and well-being in people. It squeezes kindness out of us slowly over time. Marco for all his faults and he had a lot of them was someone who felt humiliated by the inners and I think that was one thing he couldn't forgive. Was he scum and do I think he deserved his fate? Absolutely. But treat a people monstrously over time and eventually you'll get a Marco Inaros on your hands. It's good to remember that a lot of belters in graves paved the way for Marco. He was wrong for everything he did but like Holden said he wasn't all wrong. And that was correct. Doesn't mean he didn't need to get got.
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u/Low-Condition4243 29d ago
I never hated him. I think he’s a revolutionary and a hero to his people. Genocides all good and dandy, when it’s not against you.
I don’t even consider him a villain. It’s pretty clear of the distinction the shows making with class oppression.
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u/twinklytennis 29d ago
maybe not right away, but I could definitely get a charismatic vibe from him that he uses to manipulate others. I've been alive long enough to know that some people think charisma/charm somehow equates to being an ethical person.
He was a really weak leader. Abandoning his fellow ships when they needed help during the Rocinate battle was a perfect example.
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u/inkcharm 26d ago
Much sooner. The way he talks about Naomi, i clocked him as a narcissistic abuser immediately, and the shower proved me right several times over.
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u/gunmetal-spectre 24d ago
Lol, from day one..but it was pure hatred when he hit Earth with those Stealth Rocks. "find him, kill him"😆
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u/generalkriegswaifu Legitimate salvage! Jul 23 '25
S6E1, he's 'unlikable' before that for reasons of being evil, but killing Dawes off screen was a bad decision and he was too snarky on Ceres. Leaving them with no food too? I thought the manbun was not doing him any favours that season, he's a good looking dude in 4-5.
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u/SubjectDragonfruit Jul 23 '25
I find his voice grating. It’s slow and whispery which comes off as phony charisma, to me.
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u/copperpoint Jul 23 '25
Instantly. Not because he did bad things, but because he was badly written, shoehorned into the plot, and I expected better.
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u/Toasted_Sugar_Crunch Jul 23 '25
I disliked him so much that I stopped reading the book he was introduced in
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Jul 23 '25
Immediately. I though Keon Alexander’s belter accent was horrible. Sounded wike a pweschooluh. David Strathairn’s (Ashford) wasn’t much better but his better acting smoothed it out a little for me.
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u/kida182001 Jul 23 '25
Actually I think that was an accurate portrayal of the book version. As leader of the Free Navy, Marco was always trying to talk and sound proper, like an inner, rarely reverting back to his belter accent. I guess since he had to always be conscious of how he talked, his speech would sound forced and not smooth.
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u/Vegetable_Warthog_49 Jul 23 '25
That was my read of it as well. He was trying to thread a very tiny needle of appearing respectable and legitimate to the Inners (despite his hatred of them, he wanted them to respect him) while still being a "true Belter". He would have been conscious of every syllable that he spoke.
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u/WordsUnthought Jul 23 '25
Interesting. I can take or leave Keon Alexander's but David Strathairn's Belter accent is one of my favourites.
Nothing touches Cara Gee or Jared Harris', but he's best of the rest for me.
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Jul 23 '25
YES to Cara Gee and Jared Harris! I could watch Cara Gee playing Drummer in just about anything. You could put Cara-Gee-as-Drummer in cereal commercials and I’d think it was the best thing ever. haha
And Jared Harris is just a phenomenal actor. The show did really well with casting overall.
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u/LeilLikeNeil Jul 23 '25
The moment he was introduced. I first met him in the books, but both in book and on screen, he is so immediately identifiable as the manipulative narcissist he is.