Murderbot is not a horror series. It’s sci-fi action comedy, no matter what the name implies — a new trailer for the upcoming Apple TV+ series makes that clear. And the trailer also shows that the plot sticks close to Martha Wells’ award-winning novels.
Watch the trailer for Murderbot season 1 that debuts in May to see for yourself:
Murderbot isn’t a murderous bot
The name Murderbot implies a relentless killing machine. Do not expect a Terminator in the upcoming Apple TV+ series. At all. The lead character calls itself Murderbot because it hates killing people even though killing people is part of its job. And it’s very good at its job.
The Murderbot Diaries is a collection of seven novels/novellas about an android — part robot, part human — built to provide security in very dangerous situations. Wells’ action-packed bestsellers follow the android as it breaks the programming that forces it to kill and goes freelance as a security specialist.
“I am a security unit or SecUnit. I was built to protect and obey humans… and humans are idiots,” says the android played by Alexander Skarsgård in the new trailer. “And now that I’ve hacked my programming, I can do whatever I want as long as they don’t find out.”
Again, that might sound a bit ominous, and the humans in the series are all terrified of the idea of a rogue SecUnit. But what the android in the series wants to do is watch soap operas on TV and never talk to any humans at all. Nevertheless, it keeps getting involved in situations in which it protects vulnerable people from monsters and criminals.
Screenshot: Apple TV+
Martha Wells’ book series — and the Apple TV+ series — is somewhat reminiscent of classic Western films starring Clint Eastwood. The main character is haunted by a violent past but now uses skills developed through violence to help innocent people.
But while there’s loads of action, the trailer for the Murderbot series shows plenty of humor too. And that’s also true of the original books.
Watch the trailer to see for yourself:
Plenty of awards to go around
Multiple books and novellas in The Murderbot Diaries series won Hugo and Nebula awards. It could have won even more, but Wells keeps turning down award nominations.
The Apple TV+ series stars Alexander Skarsgård, who won Emmys, Golden Globes and SAG awards for roles that include Succession, Big Little Lies and True Blood.
The ensemble cast also includes Noma Dumezweni (Presumed Innocent), David Dastmalchian (Oppenheimer), Sabrina Wu (Joy Ride), Akshay Khanna (Critical Incident), Tattiawna Jones (The Handmaid’s Tale) and Tamara Podemski (Outer Range).
The adaptation was done by Oscar nominees Chris and Paul Weitz (About a Boy, Mozart in the Jungle).
Murderbot season 1 premieres in May
The 10-episode Murderbot season 1 makes its global debut on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes on Friday, May 16, 2025. These will be followed by new episodes every Friday through July 11.
Watching comes with a subscription to Apple TV+. The service is $9.99 per month (currently $2.99!) with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle.
And Apple’s streaming video service also includes a library of drama, comedies, musicals, children’s shows, nature documentaries, etc.
Via: Apple
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
