Summary
- Murderbot is an Apple TV+ sci-fi comedy-thriller based on Martha Wells’ book series.
- The show features a talented cast and directors, including Alexander Skarsgård and Chris & Paul Weitz.
- Murderbot offers a comedic take on the sci-fi genre with an intriguing mystery and potential for future seasons.
Looking for a new sci-fi watch to fill the Severance-shaped hole after the explosive season two finale? Well, look no further, as the upcoming Apple TV+ sci-fi comedy-thriller Murderbot is sure to pique the interest of genre fans. With similar themes and corporate settings — including an employee uprising, futuristic biotech, and another mysterious corporation known only as “the company” — there’s certainly plenty of connective tissue.
Based on Martha Wells’ bestselling sci-fi book series Murderbot Diaries, Murderbot is the next in a long line of adaptations to hit the streaming service. Hit shows such as Silo (based on Graham Yost’s trilogy of Wool, Shift, and Dust), Foundation (based on Issac Asimov’s iconic series) and Slow Horses (based on Mick Herron’s spy series) have proved some of Apple TV+’s best television shows yet.
For those who want to find out more about the upcoming sci-fi adaptation, here’s everything we know about Murderbot.
Murderbot’s Cast & Directors
- Directed by Chris & Paul Weitz
- Alexander Skarsgård as Murderbot
- David Dastmalchian as Gurathin
- Noma Dumezweni as Mensah
- Sabrina Wu as Pin-Lee
- Akshay Khanna as Ratthi
- Tattiawna Jones as Arada
- Tamara Podemski as Bharadwaj
About a Boy and Mozart in the Jungle Oscar-nominee directors Chris and Paul Weitz are at the helm of Apple TV+’s latest adaptation. In fact, the Weitz brothers not only directed the series, they also wrote and produced it under their Depth of Field banner.
Emmy Award-winner Alexander Skarsgård, who has played an incredible array of character roles, including a vampire in True Blood, a Viking in The Northman and several clones in Infinity Pool, will soon be adding an android to his CV. He plays the titular Murderbot, a “SecUnit” security agent hired to protect the PreservationAux survey team. Noma Dumezwani will play Dr. Ayda Mensah, the planetary leader of the Preservation Alliance and also Murderbot’s favourite human. Oppenheimer star David Dastmalchian is set to play Gurathin, a scientist and another member of the PreservationAux survey team. He’s an augmented human who is highly suspicious of Murderbot, and he tries to convince the rest of the survey team that they can’t trust him.
The remaining Preservation scientists include Tattiawna Jones and Sabrina Wu, who play Arada and Pin-Lee, along with Tamara Podemski and Akshay Khanna, who play Bharadwaj and Ratthi.
What Is Murderbot About?
Set in a futuristic and capitalist space-faring society, Murderbot follows the titular “SecUnit” cyborg security guard as he’s hired to protect a crew on a scientific expedition to an alien planet. Despite being built to obey and protect humans, the self-titled android believes humans are jerks. So he’s devoted all of his spare time to successfully overriding his governor module.
The thing is, he doesn’t really know what to do with himself now he’s free, but he does really like binging his favorite futuristic soap operas, particularly The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon. But when a dangerous encounter on an alien planet draws him closer to the scientific crew, he begins to develop inconvenient emotions and connections with humans, which make him uncomfortable.
Apple TV+’s Highest-Rated Series Is The Anti-Severance
Mythic Quest serves as a feel-good respite following Severance’s bleak allegorical themes.
Murderbot is a much more comedic slice of sci-fi than Severance and Silo, featuring hilarious narration from the titular android. Yet there’s still an intriguing mystery at its heart, as the SecUnit appears to be haunted by a mysterious past expedition. The crew also discover key information has been missing from their survey packet of the planet — who deleted it, and why?
There are currently seven books in Martha Wells’ sci-fi series, so there’s plenty of source material for future seasons if Murderbot proves a success with fans.
First-Look Images & Release Info
Apple TV+ has so far only released two first-look images from the upcoming show, spotlighting Alexander Skarsgård in the full SecUnit costume, giving fans a glimpse at Murderbot’s overall look and design. With a sleek but patterned gray and black protective outerbody suit, coupled with a futuristic full-face helmet sitting somewhere between The Suicide Squad’s Deadshot and Robot in Lost in Space, the android certainly looks like he means business.
He’s clearly taken quite a bit of damage in the first still , with distinct scratches on the chest plate. In the second still, showing the titular character’s face beneath the mask, he looks rather disgruntled at something or someone. He clearly just wants to be left alone to watch the next The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon episode.
Comprising a 10-episode series, Murderbot will make its debut on streaming service Apple TV+ on Friday, May 16, 2025, with the first two episodes. Following the two-episode season premiere, new episodes will be released weekly every Friday through to the season finale on July 11.
- Release Date
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May 16, 2025
- Network
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Apple TV+
- Showrunner
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Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
- Directors
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Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
- Writers
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Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
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Alexander Skarsgard
Murderbot
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David Dastmalchian
Gurathin
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