It’s always great to have another sci-fi series to try on, but it’s even more fun to see what actor David Dastmalchian has prepared for us next. After the sci-fi/superhero Ant-Man movies, the Batman movie The Dark Knight, and a brilliant turn in the horror flick Late Night with the Devil, audiences can count on Dastmalchian to supply us with surprising characters with each new series or film. That’s going to be a concerned human in an adaptation of a series of novellas in the AppleTV+ streaming series Murderbot. Dastmalchian doesn’t play the star robot, a “SecUnit” that looks like Kevin Smith and Phil Hester’s DC Comics character Onomatopoeia and sounds like it’s related to Anthony Hopkins’ rogue robot in Rebel Moon. That role goes to genre favorite Stellan Skarsgård’s son Alexander Skarsgård.
The show looks like its production design is pulled from Cowboy Bebop and Blade Runner, and it features guest roles for John Cho, Clark Gregg, and more. It comes from creators Paul and Chris Weitz–Chris co-wrote Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. And it’s a comedy.
Check out the trailer for Murderbot:
Press materials call Murderbot an android but also say it is organic. So which is it–is it a borg or not? Find out next month. Look for Murderbot beginning on AppleTV+ May 16, 2025.
C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg
