Murderbot is going through it in the first trailer for Apple’s sci-fi series
For a being named Murderbot, the star of Apple’s next sci-fi show is surprisingly relatable. The show — which is also called Murderbot — just got its first trailer, and it sets up the titular lead, played by Alexander Skarsgård, who has just become sentient and is, well, struggling. The bot is forced to hide its free will, and does typical human things like watching too much TV and avoiding eye contact, while also risking itself to protect a research team on a dangerous alien planet.
From the trailer, Murderbot — which is based on The Murderbot Diaries series of novels by Martha Wells — looks like a playful addition to Apple’s growing science fiction lineup, which includes the most recent seasons of Severance and Silo. Also in the works is an adaptation of William Gibson’s cyberpunk classic Neuromancer. In fact, it’s shaping up to be a busy period for streaming sci-fi: the animated anthology Love, Death, and Robots returns to Netflix in May, while Hulu is getting an animated Predator film in June.
Murderbot’s first season will span 10 episodes. The first two will start streaming on May 16th, with subsequent episodes dropping on Fridays.