Apple TV’s New 10/10 Cyberpunk Hit Is the Perfect Altered Carbon Replacement

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In August 2020, Netflix surprised and disappointed many fans by canceling the futuristic series after two seasons and an animated spin-off film. The show, originally based on a 2002 novel by Richard Morgan, featured Joel Kinnaman in the first season and Anthony Mackie in the second. A key element of the show was the ‘stack’ – a brain implant that allowed people to back up their consciousness. This created a form of immortality, as a person’s saved consciousness could be transferred to a new body if their original body was destroyed.

Altered Carbon was generally well-received, with critics highlighting its imaginative world and stunning visuals. However, it was a costly show for Netflix, and its complex themes – exploring virtual reality, gender, and the blending of humans and technology – may have been too challenging for a broad audience. Now, a new series is in production that could fill the void left by Altered Carbon, and it’s being funded by Apple TV. This upcoming show is based on a groundbreaking 1985 novel by cyberpunk author William Gibson and has the potential to become your next favorite series.

Without Neuromancer, Altered Carbon Wouldn’t Exist

Cyberpunk is a distinct type of science fiction, and many believe William Gibson essentially created it with his stories before he published Neuromancer. While often associated with the film Johnny Mnemonic, Gibson actually wrote a story with the same title a year earlier, demonstrating his pioneering role in the genre.

That story, which unfortunately became a bad movie starring Keanu Reeves in 1995, introduced many of the core concepts that would later be explored in Neuromancer.

William Gibson’s stories were strongly inspired by classic film noir and the tough detective novels of the mid-20th century. He often explored the complex and sometimes unsettling idea of humans and technology becoming increasingly connected, like through implants and other body modifications.

A growing worry was how cities were becoming overly focused on business and profit. In these future cities, people were often hiding from huge, powerful corporations that didn’t treat ordinary citizens very well.

Watching Altered Carbon, it’s really obvious how much Richard Morgan admired Neuromancer. It’s not just a copy, though! So many of the stories I love, like Ghost in the Shell and Akira, clearly took inspiration from William Gibson’s work, and Altered Carbon feels like it’s part of that same tradition.

His impact on the genre is so significant that it’s nearly impossible for any author to avoid being influenced by his work, even if they try. For instance, while authors like Morgan have tried to create their own unique take on cyberpunk in their books and TV shows, the core ideas are still clearly visible.

The story follows Takeshi Kovacs, an ex-soldier and mercenary, as he investigates the murder of Laurens Bancroft, a very wealthy man in the futuristic city of Bay City. The unusual part is that Bancroft actually hires Kovacs to solve his own murder, because Bancroft is a ‘Meth’ – someone who has achieved a form of immortality by backing up their consciousness.

He’s incredibly rich and powerful, able to essentially ‘upgrade’ himself whenever he wants. He does this by creating copies of his mind and storing them remotely – think of it as a backup in case something happens to his physical body. The story clearly draws from classic detective fiction, explores the blending of people and technology, and shows a skepticism towards the ultra-rich.

Neuromancer’s Cyberpunk Themes Should Appeal to Altered Carbon Fans

Ideally, fans of William Gibson’s books would enjoy the similarities between Altered Carbon and his writing. These connections actually make Neuromancer a perfect choice for anyone looking for more stories like the ones following Kovacs.

The world might be more receptive to cyberpunk stories now than when Altered Carbon first came out, especially with the huge popularity of the Cyberpunk 2077 video game. Games like Detroit: Become Human and shows like Westworld have also explored similar ideas. It’s possible Altered Carbon paved the way for Neuromancer to finally take off – and that moment has been a long time coming.

While the recent film adaptation is the first successful movie based on Gibson’s work, people have been trying to adapt his novels for the screen since the early 2000s. Initially, music video director Chris Cunningham and musician Aphex Twin collaborated on a script that Gibson fully supported. However, the project fell apart when the studio wouldn’t grant Cunningham complete creative freedom and final say over the film.

Several other directors, like Tim Miller (known for Deadpool), Chuck Russell (The Mask), and Vincenzo Natali (Splice), also worked on the project, with Natali having Mel Gibson’s complete backing. Offers were made to Mark Wahlberg and another actor, but ultimately, those attempts didn’t work out.

Apple didn’t announce its 10-episode series adaptation of Neuromancer until February 2024. The series, created by Graham Roland (known for Jack Ryan) and JD Dillard (Devotion), then faced another significant delay before a set video in July 2025 confirmed that production had finally begun.

What Do We Know About Apple TV’s Neuromancer?

Based on the classic novel, the new film Neuromancer features Callum Turner (known from Masters of the Air) as Case, a troubled hacker. He joins forces with Molly, a skilled and dangerous assassin with cybernetic eye enhancements (played by Briana Middleton from Sharper), to attempt a risky robbery from a powerful corporation in the Japanese city of Chiba.

Case and Molly are after a special chip—a ROM Module—that holds the digitally preserved mind of Case’s former teacher, a famous hacker. They quickly realize they’re in over their heads as they get tangled up in a dangerous world of corporate secrets and advanced artificial intelligence. It’s a high-tech story of hacking, cybernetic enhancements, and digital consciousness – think Altered Carbon, but with its own unique spin.

The series features rising stars Turner and Middleton, alongside established actors like Mark Strong (known from Kick-Ass) as the enigmatic Armitage, Clémence Poésy (Tenet) as Marie-France Tessier, Joseph Lee (Beef) as Tessier’s bodyguard Hideo, and Emma Laird (Mayor of Kingstown) as Linda Lee, the partner of one of the main characters. Peter Sarsgaard, Dane DeHaan, Max Irons, and Marc Menchaca also join the impressive ensemble cast.

JD Dillard, known for directing episodes of Jordan Peele’s Utopia and the horror movie Sweetheart, will direct the pilot episode.

We don’t have a release date or trailer for the upcoming show Neuromancer yet. Still, the significant investment in the series is promising, especially considering Apple TV+’s track record with quality sci-fi like Foundation, For All Mankind, Invasion, and Severance. It seems like the perfect place for Neuromancer to land.

However, there’s a potential issue that could prevent Neuromancer from becoming the next big hit like Altered Carbon, as many fans hope. This problem isn’t necessarily something Apple can fix, but it often arises when adapting stories that were previously thought impossible to adapt for the screen.

Because Neuromancer is such an influential and widely copied work – appearing in TV shows, books, and video games – some newer audiences might mistakenly think it borrowed ideas from those sources, rather than the other way around.

Gibson’s novel features a character named Case who enters a virtual reality called the ‘matrix,’ an idea that heavily inspired the popular sci-fi/martial arts franchise. The creators of the franchise have always acknowledged Gibson’s influence, but viewers unfamiliar with Neuromancer might not realize this connection. It remains to be seen if this lack of awareness will impact how the show is received.

Apple TV+ is making a 10-part series based on Neuromancer, and it’s expected to be released in late 2026. You can currently watch all two seasons of Altered Carbon on Netflix.

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2025-11-25 21:39