Prime Video Officially Finds Its Next Sci-Fi Franchise To Compete With Blade Runner & Neuromancer
Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020.
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While Blade Runner 2099 and Neuromancer are set to be two of the biggest cyberpunk streaming shows of all time, Prime Video has another entry into the sci-fi subgenre that could go toe to toe with either of these giant franchises if handled correctly. It’s a great time to be a fan of sci-fi TV, and an even better time to be a fan of cyberpunk shows. Streaming services are currently making a major investment in the cyberpunk subgenre specifically.
Sadly, Netflix’s underrated cyberpunk series Altered Carbon arrived too early to cash in on this trend, as did Prime Video’s criminally canceled one-season wonder The Peripheral. However, fans of the genre need not mourn these shows for too long, since some of the most famous cyberpunk stories ever are on their way to the small screen. Prime Video’s upcoming spinoff series Blade Runner 2099 sees Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer star in the long-awaited follow-up to Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049.
Meanwhile, Apple TV’s Neuromancer is set to finally bring author William Gibson’s iconic 1984 novel of the same name to the screen after decades of failed attempts and canceled adaptations. Since Gibson wrote the source material for The Peripheral and Neuromancer influenced The Matrix movies, it is safe to say that Apple TV’s show is one of 2027’s most exciting sci-fi releases. That said, Prime Video’s upcoming Robocop reboot shouldn’t be underestimated when it comes to cyberpunk shows with serious potential.
Robocop Done Right Could Be One Of Streaming's Best Sci-Fi Shows
Prime Video’s upcoming Robocop reboot will be produced by James Wan and Blumhouse Atomic Monster, with Moonhaven’s Peter Ocko acting as its showrunner. The co-creators and co-writers of 1987’s original Robocop, Michael Miner and Ed Neumeier, are aboard the reboot as executive producers, meaning the series will have some creative links to director Paul Verhoeven’s movie. Infamously gory and over-the-top, Verhoeven’s original Robocop was a gruesome and pitiless satire of corporate corruption and militarized policing.
Although Verhoeven’s Robocop was a hysterical, brutal satire of Reagan-era ‘Law and order’ policies, the franchise lost its way as the series continued. The live-action Robocop sequels were neither as clever nor as impactful as the original, and the less said about the franchise’s two animated children’s shows, 1988’s Robocop and 1998’s Robocop: Alpha Commando, the better. Suffice to say, if Prime Video’s Robocop show wants to compete with cyberpunk shows like Netflix’s Altered Carbon or Apple TV’s Neuromancer, the franchise needs a complete creative overhaul.
The assembled creative team outlined above does seem to bode well for the reboot, but this isn’t the first time that a seemingly promising Robocop reboot was proposed. 2014’s Robocop remake came from Narcos producer José Padilha, but the dour, downbeat movie lacked the finesse and campy comic relief of Verhoeven’s wilder original. With any luck, Prime Video’s reboot will avoid this pitfall.
Sci-Fi Fans Will Be Spoiled For Choice Over The Next Couple Of Years
Robocop has the potential to be one of the most exciting cyberpunk shows ever if the Prime Video series can take the visceral, intense action of Verhoeven’s movie and marry it to a longer runtime and the more immersive storytelling of streaming shows. However, the series will still face stiff competition from its competitors, Blade Runner 2099 and Neuromancer, and that’s just within the cyberpunk subgenre.
There is no shortage of exciting sci-fi shows on the way in the years to come, from The Expanse’s long-awaited follow-up The Captive War to the Escape from New York reboot series. Add in Alien: Earth creator Noah Hawley’s hotly anticipated take on the Far Cry video game franchise, and it’s clear that there will be plenty of compelling, big-budget sci-fi shows for viewers to choose from in the next couple of years. Thus, Robocop will need to outdo more than just Blade Runner 2099 and Neuromancer when the reboot arrives.
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