Netflix's Expensive Sci-Fi Original Altered Carbon Gets First Teaser Trailer

Netflix has released the first teaser trailer for its extravagant new sci-fi cyberpunk series Altered Carbon, which is based on Richard K. Morgan's 2002 novel of the same name. It stars Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad) as Takeshi Kovacs, a former soldier part of an elite interstellar group who's brought back to life to solve the murder of a rich man.

In the world of Altered Carbon, which is set more than 300 years in the future, technology allows people to transfer their consciousness into another body. This has allowed those with extreme wealth to live nearly forever, passing from body to body. Laurens Bancroft, the man who hires Kovacs, is one such individual.

He tasks the soldier with investigating the murder of Bancroft's previous self, before he transferred himself to his current body. As with any good mystery, Kovacs' own past is somehow tied to the murder, which the first season of Altered Carbon – a total of 10 episodes – will explore.

It's evident from the teaser that the creators have been heavily inspired by the likes of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (just look at that flying police cruiser), and even introduces a corporation – Psychasec – that riffs on Tyrell Corporation; except it provides host bodies instead of fully-functional androids.

"The danger of living too many times," Kovacs says at the end, "you forget to fear death." Kinnaman is a controversial choice to play the protagonist, given the character is of Japanese and Eastern-European descent in the books, and Kinnaman is neither.

But if the show does take off with viewers, there are more books in Morgan's trilogy following Altered Carbon: Broken Angels, and Woken Furies. It'll need to really click though, considering the show is one of Netflix's most expensive series with an estimated budget of $6-7 million per episode.

Altered Carbon arrives on Netflix February 2, 2018.

Altered Carbon images

Will Yun Lee, and Dichen Lachman in a still from Altered Carbon
Photo Credit: Netflix

Martha Higareda in a still from Altered Carbon
Photo Credit: Netflix

Joel Kinnaman, and James Purefoy in a still from Altered Carbon
Photo Credit: Netflix

Martha Higareda, and Joel Kinnaman in a still from Altered Carbon
Photo Credit: Netflix

Joel Kinnaman in a still from Altered Carbon
Photo Credit: Katie Yu/Netflix

Joel Kinnaman in a still from Altered Carbon
Photo Credit: Netflix

Renée Elise Goldsberry in a still from Altered Carbon
Photo Credit: Netflix