After years of us screaming from the rooftops that it was inevitably going to happen, Apple’s getting into the Murderbot business at last. Variety reports that the studio/tech company has just picked up a TV adaptation of Martha Wells’ Muderbot Diaries series of sci-fi novels, with Alexander Skarsgård starring as the titular half-human security robot.
Anyone who’s read Wells’ series of swift-moving, emotionally resonant novels and novellas—including your humble Newswire writer, who may, in fact, have been up too damn late last night finishing System Collapse—will know that the “Murderbot” naming is actually ironic; the cyborg in question, who breaks free of its programming rather than continue to be a tool of corporate oppression, adopts the name sarcastically as a comment on humanity’s attitudes toward its kind. (It’s actually scrupulously focused on keeping the people it loves safe, with a minimum of murders—when it’s not busy bingeing TV shows and films.) It’s a catchy name, though, reflecting one of the series’ major strengths: Wells’ first-person narration as Murderbot, which is sarcastic, endearing, and capable of delivering some serious emotional weight; it’ll be interesting to see how the series adapts those portions, because a big part of the reason the books work is how totally grounded they are in the characters’ perspective, even as it gets up to all sorts of violent, futuristic space action.
Skarsgård, for his part, has had a pretty busy year: He kicked off 2023 with an eye-catching guest star role as the “villain” in the final season of Succession. (Villain in quotes because it’s kind of like calling out the biggest rat in a swarm.) He followed that up with roles in Michael Shannon’s directorial debut, Eric Larue, and a starring part in Kate Winslet biopic Lee. We’ll be honest and note that he’s not the first person who comes to mind when we envisioned seeing Murderbot on the screen—many of the actor’s more memorable roles have a certain inherent swagger to them that feels antithetical to the character’s whole vibe—but he’s also an interesting, nuanced performer, so it’ll be exciting to see what he does with it.
The Murderbot series is being developed by Paul and Chris Weitz, the sibling duo who previously made Mozart In The Jungle for Amazon.