Apple TV’s ‘Murderbot’ Trailer: Looks Great But Too Cheerful?
The trailer for Murderbot just came out, and it looks pretty awesome. I wrote about how great All Systems Red was a couple of years ago. Martha Wells’s whole Murderbot series is a lot of fun—at least, I assume it is—I have only read the first few books.
My main criticism of the books was that they are quite short for the price. But the stories are great and worth it. You can read my review of All Systems Red here. tl;dr – I bloody loved it.
Here’s a very short summary: Future space exploration is run by competing corporations. When prospecting or exploring, groups hire security robots. These robots are brutal and lethal, but their capabilities and actions are limited by programming. The story revolves around one unit that has broken its programming and is experiencing an ongoing existential crisis. It now spends its time watching soap operas, reluctantly saving humans, and aggressively pretending it doesn’t care about either.
Well, the trailer dropped recently, and I have to say it looks great.
What I liked
It looks superb—as in, it could be a film. The effects and overall look were spot on for what I had imagined. The Murderbot unit looks great, and the gritty vibe of future corporate space exploitation is perfect for what I remember from the books.
The inner monologue/voiceover is pretty accurate. The Murderbot is supposed to be a bit weary, disinterested, and fed up with humanity. (I know how it feels.)
Despite the Murderbot being pretty much androgenous in the books, I don’t have any beef with how it looks in the trailer. Plus, Alexander Skarsgård is a superb actor, so I am not going to be churlish and complain. It doesn’t really matter.
The action scenes are great, and the Murderbot seems suitably dangerous. I can’t wait to see more.
But is the trailer too cheerful?
I have read some comments that people find the trailer too comedic. I agree and disagree. The first book was pretty lighthearted at the start, in a deadpan and sarcastic kind of way—basically, most of the bits that are shown in the trailer.
It is hard to tell what books are included, but from the trailer, I would guess all of All Systems Red and, from the miners scene, some of book two. This is the first trailer, so the focus will likely be on the first few episodes. But I reckon all of All Systems Red and Artificial Condition (books one and two). There might also be some minor bits from following books.
The Murderbot trailer
In summary, I am a big fan of the trailer. It does what I hoped, and I am excited. I am easily excited by trailers, though, so we’ll see.
Murderbot premieres on the 16th of May 2025 on Apple TV+. (Apple TV+ is brilliant at the moment.)
You can check out the books here. Don’t forget to check the audiobook prices, too.
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