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The Hindu
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
‘Murderbot' series review: Alexander Skarsgård shines in science fiction comedy
Science fiction can be action-filled, thought provoking and fun as Murderbot proves conclusively. Alexander Skarsgård is hilarious as the titular character, whether he is watching endless reruns of his favourite space opera, The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, trying to avoid eye contact with his human clients or ruefully admitting to having been 'infected by an empathy virus by my clients.' Based on Martha Wells' award-winning science fiction series, The Murderbot Diaries, tell of a cyborg, a 'SecUnit' who disables its governor module but hides among human clients so as not to be found out and terminated. Muderbot (English) Creator: Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Noma Dumezweni, David Dastmalchian, Sabrina Wu, Akshay Khanna Episodes: 10 Runtime: 22-34 minutes Storyline: In a high-tech future, a rogue security robot secretly gains free will. To stay hidden, it reluctantly joins a new mission protecting scientists on a dangerous planet, even though it just wants to binge soap operas Murderbot follows the events of 2017's All Systems Red, the first instalment of the series. In the far future where most people are indentured labour for corporate entities, a research team led by Ayda Mensah (Noma Dumezweni), reluctantly hire Murderbot, (it seems too much like slavery) as required by their insurance. Mensah is the President of Preservation Alliance, which is outside the blood-sucking influence of the hyper-capitalistic Corporation Rim. Mensah and her team, which includes Gurathin (David Dastmalchian) an augmented human and tech expert, scientist and legal expert, Pin-Lee (Sabrina Wu), wormhole expert, Ratthi (Akshay Khanna), geochemist, Bharadwaj, (Tamara Podemski) and biologist, Arada (Tattiawna Jones) wish to treat Murderbot as a member of their team and not as a piece of equipment. Murderbot would much rather be left to consume media than sit around with the humans and make eye-contact. Each member of the team has a different reaction to Murderbot. Gurathin is suspicious right from the beginning and tries to engage Murderbot in conversation to get it to trip up. When Gurathin asks Murderbot about its feelings, Murderbot honestly replies with 'I don't know what it is like to not be me.' Ratthi is a huge fan, while Mensah wants to be fair but she is also protective of Murderbot, whom she perceives as not having any rights or agency. Murderbot has some corrupted memories of an earlier job gone wrong with many casualties. It does not know if it was responsible for the deaths or whether it was ordered to kill. When Bharadwaj and Arada are attacked by massive centipede-like creatures, who seem distant cousins of Dune's sandworms, on the expedition, they realise the maps given to them by the Corporation Rim is incomplete. The more Mensah and team uncover, the more complicated things become. There is another team exploring the other side of the planet Mensah and team are on, who come to a sticky end, except for Leebeebee (Anna Konkle), who asks rude questions about Murderbot's genitalia (it has none as it is not a sex bot). The shadowy corporate entity, GrayCris seems to have its fingers in many pies including the hunt for alien remnants which this particular planet seems to have a lot of. The sets are well thought out — not grand so much as practical and lived in, just like the costumes. For epic, sci-fi scope, there is Sanctuary Moon with the doomed love story between John Cho's Captain Hossein and the Nav Bot (DeWanda Wise). Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz who have given us comic gems like American Pie and About a Boy, have delivered perfect, short (24 minutes!) bite-sized entertainment that makes us think. With Murderbot being renewed for another season, hopefully the all-knowing sarcastic ART will make an appearance. Murderbot is currently streaming on Apple TV
USA Today
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Murderbot is the latest in successes for Apple TV+
The brotherly writer/director/producer combination of Chris and Paul Weitz came into their most recent project, Apple TV+'s action comedy Murderbot, in the most straightforward way. "Paul just found it in the bookstore," Chris Weitz said in an interview with For The Win. "Yeah, I liked the cover of the book," Paul Weitz said with a laugh, referencing the The Murderbot Diaries series written by Martha Wells. "For me, if there are numerous books in a series, there's got to be something pretty great about at least the initial books. ... The character was so distinct and such a unique literary character with its kind of roots in other literary characters." From there, Paul sent it to Chris, and the About A Boy directors were off and running. The first season of Murderbot -- which stars Alexander Skarsgård in the titular role -- comes to a close on Friday, July 11, but the series has already been picked up for a second season. In the show, Murderbot (Skarsgård) is a security droid that is secretly able to hack his own system and gain a consciousness. Despite only wanting to watch his reality shows, Murderbot is forced to provide security for a group of scientists and attempt to hide his humanity to stay alive. Adapting the book into a 10-episode series was easier than expected for the Weitzes, thanks to the source material and the author. "We knew there was nothing that we wanted to change or take out of the books," Paul Weitz explained. "For a 10-episode series, we had to add some stuff. But luckily, we had access to Martha Wells, so we could bounce ideas off her, and occasionally she would give us ideas for stuff that wasn't in the books." Chris Weitz agreed, but knew there was pressure in taking on a project with source material: "There's a tremendous responsibility, both to the the author, whose whose world you are playing in, and to the fans who are deeply devoted to the books." The first season has a 96 percent rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, joining highly rated Apple TV+ programming like Slow Horses (98 percent), Black Bird (98 percent), Pachinko (97 percent), Severance (95 percent), The Studio (93 percent) and Ted Lasso (90 percent) with stellar reviews. In a day and age where artificial intelligence is becoming more and more common, Chris Weitz liked the approach and questions about morality that a show like Murderbot can bring to the forefront. "We're used to robots wanting to become more human and to experience human emotions," he said. "Murderbot has absolutely no interest in being human or in dealing with all of the mess of humankind. It takes an interesting angle on AI, which is that we don't necessarily need to see it in terms of whether it's angelic or demonic, but that it have its own sort of form of personality and personhood." All episodes of Murderbot are now streaming on Apple TV+.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Murderbot is the latest in successes for Apple TV+
The brotherly writer/director/producer combination of Chris and Paul Weitz came into their most recent project, Apple TV+'s action comedy Murderbot, in the most straightforward way. "Paul just found it in the bookstore," Chris Weitz said in an interview with For The Win. "Yeah, I liked the cover of the book," Paul Weitz said with a laugh, referencing the The Murderbot Diaries series written by Martha Wells. "For me, if there are numerous books in a series, there's got to be something pretty great about at least the initial books. ... The character was so distinct and such a unique literary character with its kind of roots in other literary characters." From there, Paul sent it to Chris, and the About A Boy directors were off and running. The first season of Murderbot -- which stars Alexander Skarsgård in the titular role -- comes to a close on Friday, July 11, but the series has already been picked up for a second season. In the show, Murderbot (Skarsgård) is a security droid that is secretly able to hack his own system and gain a consciousness. Despite only wanting to watch his reality shows, Murderbot is forced to provide security for a group of scientists and attempt to hide his humanity to stay alive. Adapting the book into a 10-episode series was easier than expected for the Weitzes, thanks to the source material and the author. "We knew there was nothing that we wanted to change or take out of the books," Paul Weitz explained. "For a 10-episode series, we had to add some stuff. But luckily, we had access to Martha Wells, so we could bounce ideas off her, and occasionally she would give us ideas for stuff that wasn't in the books." Chris Weitz agreed, but knew there was pressure in taking on a project with source material: "There's a tremendous responsibility, both to the the author, whose whose world you are playing in, and to the fans who are deeply devoted to the books." The first season has a 96 percent rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, joining highly rated Apple TV+ programming like Slow Horses (98 percent), Black Bird (98 percent), Pachinko (97 percent), Severance (95 percent), The Studio (93 percent) and Ted Lasso (90 percent) with stellar reviews. In a day and age where artificial intelligence is becoming more and more common, Chris Weitz liked the approach and questions about morality that a show like Murderbot can bring to the forefront. "We're used to robots wanting to become more human and to experience human emotions," he said. "Murderbot has absolutely no interest in being human or in dealing with all of the mess of humankind. It takes an interesting angle on AI, which is that we don't necessarily need to see it in terms of whether it's angelic or demonic, but that it have its own sort of form of personality and personhood." All episodes of Murderbot are now streaming on Apple TV+. This article originally appeared on For The Win: Murderbot is the latest in successes for Apple TV+
Gizmodo
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Alexander Skarsgård Ruined Multiple ‘Murderbot' Finale Scenes by Crying
Season one of Murderbot wrapped up in a way that was sad yet hopeful—read io9's recap here—with the underlying joy for fans that the Apple TV+ series will be returning to adapt more of Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries stories. And Alexander Skarsgård, who plays the title character, felt plenty of human emotion welling up while he was portraying the self-aware robot in the finale. Speaking to Collider, the actor, who's also one of Murderbot's executive producers, spoke about the scene, in which his character shares a moment with Gurathin—his foe turned ally played by David the very end of episode 10, 'The Perimeter,' Murderbot decides it needs to strike out on its own, rather than accept the help of the human team it's been working with—and protecting from certain murder—all season. Instead of saying 'good-bye,' Murderbot reverts to a phrase it repeated over and over during its term of service. 'To have that scene with David and to say, 'I need to check the perimeter,' just felt very emotional because we all became very close over the course of those six months of shooting the season,' Skarsgård said. 'Obviously, when you do a show, you don't know if you're going to get picked up for a second season, so you don't know if you're going to have an opportunity to come back and do it all again, or if this really is goodbye. So, it was a very emotionally charged moment. Murderbot obviously doesn't cry, but I was really struggling.' 'Often, as an actor, you try to get those tears, but this is very much the opposite, where I was desperately trying to keep them in. I blew a couple of takes because I started crying—because it really got to me, that moment with David. It really moved me.' As we now know, Murderbot will be back for season two—though given we see the main character departing for adventures unknown after bidding farewell (in his own way) to Gurathin, it's likely a new supporting cast will come aboard as part of that. You can (and should!) watch Murderbot season one on Apple TV+. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Metro
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
'Wildly entertaining' series with 97% Rotten Tomatoes score gets second season
Fans and critics have been raving about Apple TV+ series Murderbot, and season 2 has already been confirmed. The hit sci-fi show, which is adapted from first novel in Martha Wells' The Murderbot Diaries series, already boasts a 97% Totten Tomatoes score so it's no surprise that bosses were keen for another run. The season 1 finale hit the streamer earlier today, but Apple TV+ had already announced future plans on Thursday evening. 'Murderbot will return for season 2, whether it likes it or not,' the streamer wrote on Instagram alongside a shot of Alexander Skarsgård in character. Earlier in the first season, Murderbot (Skarsgård) becomes autonomous and has to keep its self-awareness a secret as it deals with humans in everyday life. The security robot is tasked with guarding his PreservationAux human clients as the do-gooders are on a dangerous mission. However, in an incredibly relatable move, he'd rather be binge watching futuristic soap operas and getting to grips with sudden emotions rather than trying to hide his newfound sentience. The description for the finale on Apple TV+ teases: 'At the Corporation Rim, PresAux presents a radical request.' While there's no word on when Murderbot will be back for season 2, everyone involved is excited for the future. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video There are seven novels to date, meaning there's a wealth of source material to explore. Showrunner siblings the Weitz brothers said in a joint statement: 'We're so grateful for the response that Murderbot has received and delighted that we're getting to go back to Martha Wells's world to work with Alexander, Apple, CBS Studios and the rest of the team.' And Matt Cherniss, head of programming for Apple TV+, added: 'Chris, Paul, Alexander and the entire Murderbot team have delivered a brilliantly original, addictive, witty and vibrant adaptation that has captured the imagination of audiences everywhere. 'We can't wait to unveil what's next for Murderbot and, of course, Sanctuary Moon in season two.' Fans will be overjoyed with the news, after viewers instantly fell in love with Skarsgård's character – and the show – as a whole. After the first episode dropped in May, @Bella1L1 wrote on X: 'Just finished episode one of Murderbot on Apple TV and I, too, would like to ignore humans and binge soap operas in peace. Murderbot is my spirit droid.' Critic Sarabeth Pollock called the series 'a wildly entertaining blend of sci-fi, comedy and camp,' and said Skarsgård was 'in his element' as the lead character. Did you watch Murderbot season 1? Yes, I can't wait for season 2! Not yet, but I'll catch up! The cast also features The Dark Knight and Late Night With The Devil actor David Dastmalchian, comedian Sabrina Wu, and Doll Factory star Akshay Khanna, alongside Tamara Podemski and Tattiawna Jones. More Trending While it's too soon to know who'll be returning, Skarsgård himself is a given, and he's clearly a big fan of the role. Back in April, he told Empire: 'I found Murderbot more relatable than most characters I've ever played. There's a social awkwardness, or just trying to figure out how to fit into a group.' View More » Murderbot is available to stream on Apple TV+. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Ryan Reynolds' forgotten 90s TV series finally streaming in the UK MORE: Netflix renew drama watched for 331,000,000 hours – I can't understand why MORE: Netflix fans are obsessed with 'perfect show' after bingeing all 10 episodes
