An upcoming cyberpunk show on Apple TV has the potential to become the Lord of the Rings for science fiction. Considering how the Lord of the Rings franchise still defines the absolute peak of fantasy in both literature and on the screen, calling an upcoming show the "Lord of the Rings of sci-fi" might come off as a tall claim.
However, the claim makes a lot more sense when one considers that Apple TV is adapting William Gibson's Neuromancer, which is one of the most seminal sci-fi books of all time. Published in 1984, Gibson's Neuromancer has aged incredibly well like J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
Even after four decades since its publication, Neuromancer almost feels prophetic because of how well it managed to foresee the future. Interestingly, Neuromancer was also largely considered "unadaptable" for a very long time. This, however, is finally about to change as Apple TV's promising take on the book has the potential to change sci-fi forever.
When Peter Jackson adapted The Lord of the Rings for the big screen, he treated the Middle-earth stories as lived-in, historical epics. The seriousness and commitment with which the movies were approached is still reflected in them after all these years, as they have only gotten better with time. If Neuromancer's adaptation is approached with the same commitment, it could serve as a defining moment for science fiction.
Movies and shows falling into the cyberpunk subgenre are often weighed down by campy aesthetics and predictable plot lines. Even some of the better cyberpunk adaptations, like Ghost in the Shell and Altered Carbon, have struggled to stay true to their source material and often watered down their original stories. For obvious reasons, Apple TV's Neuromancer adaptation will also take many creative liberties.
Considering the complex nature of William Gibson's prose in the book, it would almost be impossible to deliver a direct book-to-screen adaptation. However, like the Lord of the Rings movies, Neuromancer has the perfect opportunity to establish a solid blueprint for future cyberpunk adaptations by showing that, despite being difficult to adapt, Neuromancer can get a worthy screen adaptation.
Neuromancer benefits from the fact that it has been picked up by Apple TV. The streaming service has done an incredible job of adapting high fantasy and sci-fi books like Foundation, Dark Matter, and Silo. Apple TV is also known for being more patient with its original shows as it avoids canceling its series based on unfair metrics.
Cast members from Neuromancer have also consistently established that the show honors the source material, and even William Gibson has been actively involved with its development. With so much going in Neuromancer's favor, it is hard not to believe that it could become one of the best things that has happened to sci-fi in decades.
Beyond Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies, the franchise has also been enjoying immense success on the small screen. Many viewers and fans of the franchise were initially skeptical about its small-screen potential because the movies established that Middle-earth stories thrive on a scale and cinematic grandeur that seemed impossible to replicate on TV.
Yet, shows like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power have proven time and again that, with enough ambition and budget, even Tolkien's vast world can be successfully expanded beyond the confines of the big screen.
Small-screen adaptations often have a limited budget, but they benefit from their longer runtimes. Owing to this, "unadaptable" material, like Neuromancer, which involves dense, stream-of-consciousness world-building, has a better chance of landing when spread across multiple episodes instead of being compressed into a two-hour feature.
Given how Apple TV's Neuromancer does not even have a proper trailer yet, it may be a little too soon to predict how it will turn out. However, its source material's influence and Apple TV's successful streak in the sci-fi genre suggest that, if all goes well for the series, it could become as big as the Lord of the Rings franchise.
Neuromancer is a sci-fi thriller television series based on the novel by William Gibson. The series follows a super-hacker named Case who, with the help of his assassin partner Molly, prepares for one of the biggest heists in history when they target a massive corporation.
