Apple is making a Neuromancer series — here's why it matters

Back in February 2024, it was revealed that Apple had secured the rights to adapt Neuromancer, the seminal sci-fi novel by Canadian author William Gibson. Recently, the company unveiled the project’s first teaser and officially announced that filming has begun. The idea of a big-budget TV show based on Neuromancer is undeniably intriguing: the original novel is the quintessential work of cyberpunk, a genre-defining masterpiece that shaped its rules and deeply influenced dozens of movies and video games. Let’s explore why this book is so important — and what challenges the creators of the series might face.

The events of Neuromancer take place sometime between the 2110s and 2130s — Gibson deliberately leaves the exact date vague. The book’s setting fully embodies the essence of cyberpunk, best described by the phrase “high tech, low life.” In Gibson’s future, humanity has achieved staggering technological progress, but society has become even more fractured.

In Neuromancer, the line between human and machine has blurred — bodies can be modified or entirely replaced, and the very concept of identity becomes fluid, since consciousness can be copied. Nation-states have lost their power, and the world is ruled by megacorporations: corporate mafia syndicates and ultra-rich family dynasties make the rules. Those not part of this new power structure are left as outcasts. Yet many of these marginalized street-dwellers don’t sit idly by: they embrace anarchism and look for ways to sabotage the system — and make a buck while doing it.

One of the best ways to hurt these omnipotent conglomerates is by hacking their systems in cyberspace. When William Gibson wrote the novel in 1984, the internet barely existed, at least in a form recognizable today. Still, he accurately predicted the global importance of digital networks. In the book, the so-called Matrix is an even more impressive creation: a city of light, shapes, geometry, and data. Users literally jack into it using neural implants. Those most adept at navigating this space become “console cowboys” — elite hackers who steal classified information from the powerful.

One such console cowboy is the novel’s protagonist, Henry Dorsett Case. Once a top-tier hacker, Case made a fatal mistake — he stole from his employer. As punishment, his nervous system was damaged, making it impossible for him to access the Matrix. He hits rock bottom, scraping by on the fringes of a Japanese megacity, peddling scraps and numbing his despair with drugs. This kind of antihero from the slums would go on to become a staple of cyberpunk — a genre that focuses not on superheroes, but on broken people with shady pasts.

Case gets a shot at redemption when he’s contacted by a mysterious man named Armitage, who offers to fix his body — in exchange for completing a dangerous mission. To do so, Case must team up with the mercenary Molly, whose body is enhanced with cybernetic implants: mirrored eyes, heightened reflexes, and retractable blades in her fingers. The deadly woman becomes his partner and bodyguard in the real world, while he returns to the Matrix.

If all of the above sounds familiar, it’s because Neuromancer has inspired just about everyone — and you’ve probably seen its ideas before. Gibson’s novel was the first to win the sci-fi “triple crown” — the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Award — and sold over 6 million copies. It became a sort of manifesto for a rapidly digitizing world. Unsurprisingly, the book’s themes and aesthetics have seeped into countless movies, shows, anime, tabletop games, and video games. Sometimes, creators even quote Neuromancer directly — borrowing entire elements without much alteration.

You can see Gibson’s fingerprints all over The Matrix film series — dual realities, neural interfaces, and consciousness in the digital realm. The same is true of the manga and anime Ghost in the Shell, where concepts like mind uploads and souls in machines are central themes.

Many video games carry Neuromancer’s influence so deeply that they use terminology Gibson invented. For example, Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk (which later became Cyberpunk 2077), borrowed terms like "cyberdeck" and "ICE" (Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics that can injure or kill hackers). The same is true of the creators of the tabletop game Shadowrun.

It’s not that Gibson invented every element of cyberpunk — but he was the first to unify them all into one cohesive work. Before Neuromancer, cyberpunk was a scattered aesthetic. He gave it form and voice.

And yet, the very fact that Neuromancer has been so thoroughly mined for inspiration creates a unique paradox: for the average viewer, the series might not feel revolutionary. In fact, it could come across as derivative — as if it’s copying ideas from other, more recent sci-fi works. Let’s be honest: many people don’t realize that Neuromancer started it all.

No one is surprised by gloomy neon megacities after Blade Runner 2049. Nor by brain-jacking into a digital Matrix — not after four Matrix movies. And virtually all of Neuromancer’s key themes are present in both seasons of Altered Carbon, a Netflix series based on a different but equally iconic set of cyberpunk novels. Some may even assume Gibson’s work is just ripping off Altered Carbon.

Of course, none of this means Neuromancer is arriving too late or that it doesn’t deserve a proper screen adaptation. On the contrary — one of the most influential science fiction books of all time deserves it more than most. But Apple will have to work hard to differentiate the series just enough so it creates a “wow” factor — at least visually — and stands out from the crowd of similar shows.

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The series is still a long way off, so now’s the perfect time to read the source material. Neuromancer is a stunning novel that’s only grown more relevant with time. It’s fascinating to see which of Gibson’s predictions have come true, which haven’t, and which still might. In many ways, we already live in a cyberpunk age. But Neuromancer remains a vital reminder: technological progress means little without social progress alongside it.

What about you? Are you excited for Apple’s take on Neuromancer? Let us know in the comments.