Netflix to Adapt ‘Altered Carbon’

Travis Newton
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Netflix is making huge strides in its original content lately, and 2016 is set to be a landmark year for them. Today brings the news of another original show making its way to the streaming giant: Altered Carbon.

What the Heck is Altered Carbon?

I was wondering the same thing. Turns out it’s a cyberpunk detective novel, written by acclaimed English author Richard K. Morgan. Set in a dystopian future, characters can have their personalities and memories digitally archived. When a person dies, their entire consciousness can be transferred into a new body, called a “sleeve”. The process is expensive, which means that only the rich can live forever. Catholics refuse to have the procedure done on ethical grounds. The unfortunate side effect is that Catholics become easier targets for murder, because they can’t be resurrected to testify against their killers. Interesting stuff, no?

altered carbon cover

Who’s it About?

Takeshi Kovacs is ex-military, a mercenary, and dead. In the novel, Takeshi’s consciousness is brought out of digital prison and hired to solve the murder of a man named Laurens Bancroft. Thanks to the backup, the Bancroft’s death was only temporary. The trouble is that his personality was backed up 48 hours before his untimely death. Only Takeshi can piece together what happened in those 48 hours and solve Bancroft’s murder.

Shutter Island screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis will write, executive produce, and serve as showrunner. Netflix has ordered 10 episodes of Altered Carbon, so she’s got her work cut out for her. No premiere date has been set, but it’s nice to know Netflix is bringing us some cool cyberpunk.

Travis Newton
Travis Newton is a Fan Contributor at Fandom. He began writing about movies and TV for CHUD.com in 2012, and co-hosts The Drew Reviews Podcast with Fandom Entertainment Editor Drew Dietsch. He’s partial to horror movies, action games, and Irish Breakfast tea.