Apple TV+ has quietly become a haven for sci-fi lovers. From the haunting beauty of Silo, to the existential dread of Severance and the high-stakes politics of Foundation, the iPhone maker’s streaming service is out here building a sci-fi empire, one prestige TV series at a time. And next month, Apple is set to add yet another such show to the pile — this new one being about the most antisocial, sarcastic, and unexpectedly endearing robot you could possibly imagine: Murderbot.
Yes, that Murderbot. The one from Martha Wells’ beloved Hugo- and Nebula-winning book series The Murderbot Diaries, the security unit that hacked its own governor module so it could be free … not to lead a robot uprising or anything dramatic like that, mind you, but so it could be left alone to binge-watch soap operas and ignore humans as much as robotically possible.
Coming on May 16, this new series from Academy Award nominees Chris and Paul Weitz follows that part-human, part-machine security unit tasked with protecting a team of researchers on a distant planet. But there’s a twist.
The bot is actually self-aware, emotionally conflicted, and, most importantly, not especially fond of people. And despite its aversion to socializing, Murderbot’s mechanical misanthrope gets pulled into increasingly dangerous missions — ones that force it to confront not just rogue AI and corporate corruption, but the messiness of being kind-of-sort-of human. “Played by (Alexander) Skarsgård,” Apple explains, “Murderbot must hide its free will and complete a dangerous assignment when all it really wants is to be left alone to watch futuristic soap operas and figure out its place in the universe.”
It’s action-packed, darkly funny, and surprisingly moving, a genre blend that hits the sweet spot between high-stakes space thriller and emotional character study. If the books are anything to go by, the show will balance thrilling set pieces with introspective moments, dry wit, and a whole lot of heart. Or, whatever the robot equivalent of heart is.
What’s also exciting is how Murderbot fits into the growing Apple TV+ sci-fi pantheon.
While other streamers are busy pumping out endless reboots and franchise spin-offs, Apple TV+ keeps investing in original, character-driven sci-fi that actually has something to say. Think For All Mankind’s alternate space race, Invasion’s eerie global alien drama, Constellation, Foundation, and Silo. The list keeps growing, and Murderbot is poised to slot right in, bringing a fresh, gritty, and emotionally intelligent edge to the lineup.
“Apple TV+ singlehandedly keeping sci-fi alive!” one fan raves in the comments section of the Murderbot trailer, which you can check out below.
