Apple TV’s "Unfilmable" 10-Part Sci-Fi Show Is Already Making The Matrix Look Small

While The Matrix was one of the defining movies of the 1990s, with a legacy that continues today, Apple TV's upcoming sci-fi show is already making it look small. Apple TV has a long track record of creating successful TV shows from "unfilmable" source material, with the best sci-fi TV series on Apple TV including an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's Foundation, one of the most complex sci-fi novels of all time. This approach has redefined the streaming platform, making it a growing rival for giants like Netflix and Prime Video, which have a habit of canceling promising sci-fi series.

Foundation might once have been considered the most ambitious sci-fi TV show to be adapted for Apple TV, but the platform is taking things a step further, with one of the greatest sci-fi novels ever written. William Gibson's Neuromancer is arguably the founding work of cyberpunk, with the author coining the term "cyberspace," and influencing countless other sci-fi projects. Virtually all of the best cyberpunk TV shows, books, and movies of all time have their roots in Neuromancer, including The Matrix, the world of which is about to look tiny compared to the upcoming series.

Apple TV's Neuromancer Is Coming At The Perfect Time

There are some perfect cyberpunk anime TV shows, but the live-action shows have not been so well-received. Dollhouse was extremely ambitious, exploring the concepts of memory and free will through Eliza Dushku's character, Echo, yet it was canceled due to low viewership. Westworld's combination of the Western and cyberpunk genres fascinated viewers, but the show lost its way and was canceled just before it had the chance to come full circle. Altered Carbon, arguably the best live-action cyberpunk show in recent years, gave us a perfect first season, before an unnecessary second one that soured its legacy.

With Altered Carbon having no worthy successor and the door open for a new cyberpunk TV show, Apple TV's Neuromancer is coming at just the right time. Before Apple TV began to distinguish itself as the definitive home of sci-fi, it is likely that Neuromancer would still be considered unfilmable. This is an understandable assumption due to the novel's lack of explanation, rapid-fire pacing, and use of jargon that, at the time of publication, was not part of the pop culture lexicon. However, one movie has set the groundwork for Neuromancer, and that is The Matrix.

The World Of Neuromancer Is Going To Make The Matrix Feel Tiny

The Matrix had to come before Neuromancer, as the movie set up a very similar world to the one in William Gibson's cyberpunk masterpiece. While Neuromancer thrusts us into the world of cyberspace and the internet, before the internet truly existed, without much buildup or explanation, The Matrix moves at a slower pace. The performances of Keanu Reeves, Hugo Weaving, and The Matrix's cast are so good that it is not immediately obvious that much of the original movie consists of worldbuilding. This aspect barely exists in Neuromancer, but The Matrix provides a familiar framework.

With the concepts of cyberspace, data stealing, and hacking being less of a mystery to us than William Gibson's original audience, the series is not only likely to be a success, but it is going to make The Matrix feel very small indeed. The nature of the matrix itself is the center of all the movies in The Matrix franchise, yet it is only a tiny part of Neuromancer's expansive universe, which is the first of three books in the flawless sci-fi trilogy, Sprawl, which also has three accompanying short stories set in the same world.

The trailer for Neuromancer is already intriguing, perfectly capturing the cyberpunk aesthetic, with moments that will feel familiar to fans of The Matrix, while establishing a new identity for itself. The ten-part TV series is only going to adapt the first book in the Sprawl Trilogy, leaving space for Neuromancer to get three seasons to really do the story justice. With William Gibson working as an executive producer on the show, and the trailer giving hints that the world is set to expand further, Neuromancer may be about to change the game for Apple TV, and for the cyberpunk genre.