Neuromancer Can Avoid the Mistakes That Killed Altered Carbon

Altered Carbon’s cancellation left a gap for cyberpunk on television. Season 1 was praised for being essentially a beat-for-beat translation of Richard K. Morgan’s first novel, but the series shifted away from the books in its second season and never returned to the source trilogy.

Netflix’s choice to move in a different direction after Season 1 meant much of Broken Angels and Woken Furies never made it to screen, and viewers missed out on faithful adaptations of the later novels. The second season became a largely original storyline rather than a continuation of Morgan’s semi-anthological approach.

Apple TV’s Neuromancer faces a similar challenge. William Gibson’s Sprawl Trilogy and the additional short stories set in that universe provide ample material, and while some changes will be necessary for a modern TV audience, deviating too far from the books risks repeating Altered Carbon’s mistake.

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