Netflix has released the first full-length trailer for its upcoming new expensive sci-fi series, Altered Carbon. It doesn't expand much on what you can expect on the story front, instead filling two minutes with a series of punches and gunfights.
The new trailer retreads the premise of Richard K. Morgan's novel for those who didn't see the teaser, telling us that people can transfer their consciousness from one body to another, if they can afford it. "Your body is not who you are," a character says off-screen, "you shed it like a snake sheds its skin."
The protagonist Takeshi Kovacs wakes up in a new body, played by Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad), 250 years after he was put to sleep. His new "sleeve", as host bodies are called in the world of Altered Carbon, has been sponsored by the richest man on Earth, Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy).
Bancroft has a mission for Kovacs: to solve a murder. "Whose?" Kovacs asks, to which the wealthy man replies: "Mine." If that's confusing, Bancroft is interested in finding out who killed his former sleeve, in a world where death has no meaning for the rich.
The rest of the trailer is heavy on action, while showcasing more of its Blade Runner inspirations in its production design, right from the neon-lit dystopia to the flying police cars. Hopefully, Altered Carbon will be able to tackle its core ideas in a meaningful way, and not just deliver a stylish yet generic, soulless action romp.
The first season of Altered Carbon is out February 2 on Netflix.
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