Another day, another exciting Netflix development. Which means it's likely there's going to be a lot more binge-watching and staying up far too late when there's work the next day because we have no self-control anymore. Especially when it comes to action-packed, dystopian sci-fi shows - like you see in the trailer for Altered Carbon below:
Credit: Netflix
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Looks pretty awesome, right? Let's hope it is. The series is based on the 2002 book of the same name which was written by science fiction novelist Richard K Morgan.
Set 300 years in the future and on the planet Harlan's World, the basic premise is that technology has advanced so much that humans can now download their consciousness to be later implanted in a new body. Which essentially makes them immortal.
That would sound kind of great if you were somehow able to choose which body you could come back as, but it doesn't seem to work that way. Not for ex-soldier Takeshi Kovacs, however, who's brought back to life by a wealthy man called Isaac Bancroft after 250 years.
Imagine the culture shock of your poor consciousness waking up and suddenly being almost three centuries in the future. It'd probably really screw you up.
Not that Kovacs (played by Joel Kinnaman) has time to ponder how the world has changed since he shuffled off this mortal coil - he has to solve Bancroft (Antonio Marziale)'s attempted murder. He's owned by Bankcroft Industries, you see.
We're not sure why Bancroft couldn't use somebody who was already alive instead of resurrecting poor Kovacs into virtual slavery, but we'll presumably discover this as the series unfolds.
But by the looks of the trailer, we're in for a hair-raising ride that incorporates all the best aspects of dystopian story-telling. Netflix has described the series as an 'intriguing story of murder, love, sex and betrayal' and really, what more do you need?
The book won the 2003 Philip K Dick Award for Best Novel, so we can only hope the series does it justice. Judging by the trailer, we think it might just live up to those expectations. If it does, we're sure that Broken Angels and Woken Furies (Morgan's other two books featuring Kovacs) will also be - to coin a phrase - Netflixed.
Featured Image Credit: NetflixTopics: TV and Film, Netflix, Streaming