Does Apple TV+ still count as a fledgling streaming service? Surely not at nearly the five-year mark, but it could use more sci-fi, that’s for sure, because Apple TV+ nearly always nails that genre, from Silo to Severance to Sunny. Well, more sci-fi is what you shall receive with a Skarsgård to keep the alliteration strong in this paragraph.
Mr. Alexander Skarsgård, to be precise, will be joining this streamer’s sci-fi collection. He’s also been bouncing all over TV lately between Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Stand, Succession, and Big Little Lies, and now, he will both star in and executive produce the adaptation of a bestselling and award-winning series of sci-fi books, so let’s get down to business on what to expect.
Plot
We skipped mentioning a few more Apple TV+ sci-fi series ^^^ and cannot go further without alluding to For All Mankind, Foundation, Invasion, and Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters. How will Murderbot rank among them? We obviously cannot predict this yet, but Martha Wells’ The Murderbot Diaries books are regarded as a spectacular example of worldbuilding and span seven books (including novellas and full-length novels) as well as short stories. So, if a first season goes well, there will be plenty more source material.
Skarsgård will portray the lead, known as (you guessed it) “Murderbot,” who would much rather chill out and watch soapy TV shows than act on homicidal directives, as confirmed by the Apple TV+ synopsis:
“Murderbot” is an action-packed sci-fi series, based on the award-winning books by Wells, about a self-hacking security android who is horrified by human emotion yet drawn to its vulnerable “clients.” Murderbot must hide its free will and complete a dangerous assignment when all it really wants is to be left alone to watch futuristic soap operas and figure out its place in the universe.
Cast
In addition to the leading man, expect to see a wide array of other bots and augmented humans. As Deadline reports, the first season cast will include Tamara Podemski (as Bharadwaj), Tattiawna Jones (as Arada), Sabrina Wu (as Pin-Lee), and Akshay Khanna (as Ratthi).
Release Date
That would be a nebulous subject. Apple TV+ did publicly announce the series in late 2023. Casting news was still unfurling this past March, and sci-fi does tend to require plenty of post-production time for effects, so late 2025 would be optimistic, and 2026 sounds more realistic.
Trailer
Dream on. However and since we’ve already mentioned this recent A-Skars appearance, please enjoy his squirrelly appearance in Mr. & Mrs. Smith.