One of the most anticipated shows on Apple TV belongs to the cyberpunk subgenre and is based on a book that changed the sci-fi genre forever.
Apple TV has consistently grown its sci-fi catalog in the last couple of years and most of its additions to the genre have surprisingly been incredible. Be it dystopian shows like Silo or space operas like For All Mankind, Apple TV has delivered one sci-fi hit after another. While a few sci-fi shows on the streaming service have struggled to leave their mark, its upcoming cyberpunk series is bound to be incredible.
The upcoming Apple TV sci-fi show in question benefits from its solid source material, which is considered one of the most seminal books in the genre.
Apple TV’s Upcoming Cyberpunk Series Adapts William Gibson’s Neuromancer
Apple TV’s sci-fi line-up of upcoming series includes some incredible returning shows like Severance, For All Mankind, Foundation, Silo, and Dark Matter. When it comes to new shows in the genre, its take on William Gibson’s Neuromancer seems far more ambitious and hype-worthy than anything the platform has attempted before.
Even before Neuromancer was first published in 1984, fragments of the cyberpunk subgenre could be found in several sci-fi stories, especially in the works of Philip K. Dick. However, it was yet to etch its own concrete identity.
William Gibson’s Neuromancer proved to be a groundbreaking addition to the sci-fi genre because it culminated all the key elements that define cyberpunk today. Long before the World Wide Web was a thing and personal computers were in every household, Gibson coined the term “cyberspace” and described it as a “consensual hallucination.”
Even his portrayal of humans “plugging into the matrix” gradually became one of the most common narrative devices in sci-fi, adopted by many iconic movies like The Matrix and Ghost in the Shell.
Gibson also gave a more gritty portrayal of the future by depicting a neon-soaked world driven by high-tech and low life. Even Neuromancer‘s opening line that merely describes the “sky above the port” has now become one of the most iconic openers in sci-fi history because of how relevant it feels and how perfectly it captures cyberpunk’s true essence.
“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”
Over the years, Neuromancer‘s influence on the sci-fi genre has been so pervasive that almost every iconic sci-fi flick or show seems like its subset. If one reads it today, almost everything about it would feel familiar and even nostalgic because several other stories from the genre have consistently borrowed its best elements and rehashed them in varying forms.
Since William Gibson’s Neuromancer serves as the foundation for Cyberpunk, it is hard not to look forward to its first major on-screen adaptation on Apple TV.
Neuromancer Was Considered “Unfilmable” for A Very Long Time
Despite being the “holy grail” of Cyberpunk storytelling, Neuromancer has surprisingly not received even one major adaptation in the last four decades. One of the biggest reasons behind this is that it was largely “unfilmable.” William Gibson’s prose in the book throws a reader right into his world. He never bothers explaining all the complex terminologies he brings to the table and allows viewers to figure things out themselves.
It is nearly impossible to understand everything in William Gibson’s Neuromancer after reading it once because the novel refuses to hold the reader’s hand at any point.
A direct book-to-screen adaptation would likely struggle under the weight of the source material’s conceptual density. Even capturing it accurately in the visual medium would require a massive budget. Similarly, oversimplifying or over-explaining each element in the source material would risk diluting the sense of mystique and intrigue it instills in a reader.
Apple TV‘s take on the cyberpunk novel seems like a massive risk because of how “unfilmable” it has always seemed. Considering the streaming service’s history of successful sci-fi shows, though, it is hard not to be hopeful that it will get Neuromancer right.
Neuromancer
- Network
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Apple TV+
- Showrunner
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Graham Roland
- Directors
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J.D. Dillard