Does the world need another edgy sci-fi show about robots? In the post-Westworld landscape, and decades after the Cylons, the culture swims in questions about AI. One might think the TV sci-fi genre might not have any more room for bad bots. But that’s simply not true. Thankfully, the next exciting Apple TV+ sci-fi series, Murderbot, is a show about a deadly robot, but it’s unlike any robot series you’ve seen before.
Based on the bestselling and award-winning book series The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, the new Apple TV+ sci-fi series is coming very soon. For fans of smart and funny sci-fi, this will be one show not to miss, and if we’re lucky, will end up running for a long, long time.
Here’s what to know about the release date, cast, and plot for Murderbot.
When is the Murderbot release date?
The sci-fi series Murderbot hits Apple TV+ on May 16, 2025. The show will debut with two episodes on May 16, and then one episode will drop every Friday after that. There will be 10 episodes in all, and the final episode will drop on July 11.
The episodes are quick and punchy, so this one will be easily bingeable.
Who is in the Murderbot cast?
Murderbot stars an ensemble cast, mostly centered on a survey team of peaceful scientists who are sort of out of place in a corporate-run future. They are accompanied by a mandatory security robot called a “SecUnit.” It is the titular “Murderbot,” a self-aware construct who doesn’t want humanity to know that its disabled its “governor module” and, thus, has free will. Here’s who’s playing who:
- Alexander Skarsgård as SecUnit/Murderbot.
- Noma Dumezweni as Dr. Mensah, the leader of the team.
- David Dastmalchian as Gurathin, a shifty, untrusting, and augmented human.
- Sabrina Wu as Pin Lee, a smart and insecure member of the team.
- Akshaye Khanna as Ratthi, an arrogant, inexperienced man obsessed with making friends with SecUnit.
- Tattiawna Jones as Arada, in a relationship with Pin Lee, kind but impulsive.
- Tamara Podemski as Bharadwaj, a scientist who has a pivotal interaction with SecUnti at the start of the story.
There are also several huge cameos in the series, but revealing those names would be a big spoiler right now. Let’s just say sci-fi fans will be thrilled.
What is the plot of Murderbot?
The new Apple TV+ series Murderbot is created by Chris and Paul Weitz, but it's based upon the book series The Murderbot Diaries, written by award-winning author Martha Wells. The first season of Murderbot is essentially an adaptation of the first book in the series, All Systems Red, which was originally published in 2017.
Several installments in the Murderbot Diaries are technically novellas, and as such, they read like short installments in a larger story. The set-up of All Systems Red, in which SecUnit is hired by Dr. Mensah and PreservationAux, is basically the story of this first season. (This series also represents the second time All Systems Red has been dramatized. A full-cast performance of the book is available on Audible.)
But there’s also a secret backstory to Murderbot that informs much of the intrigue of the early books. Before having its memory partially wiped, SecUnit went on some kind of murder spree, the details of which are elusive. On top of that, the books and the TV series stay in a close first-person point-of-view with SecUnit itself. Through this perspective, we learn that SecUnit mostly wants to be left alone by humans in order to enjoy its favorite pastime: watching “media” in its internal feed.
Yes, in the future-tense sci-fi world of this show, the robot protagonist doesn’t want to reveal that it's fully autonomous, partially because all it wants to do is watch shows all day long without being interrupted. This hilarious detail originates in Wells’ books and is expanded greatly in the new series. With Murderbot, the meta-fiction is just as important as what’s happening in real-time.
Is there a Murderbot trailer?
The first trailer for Murderbot dropped on April 9, 2025. The trailer reveals the point-of-view voiceover narration from SecUnti, the entire cast, as well as the metaficitonal futuristic soap opera Sanctuary Moon. The trailer doesn’t reveal any major spoilers, but some of the scenes might remind fans of massively pivotal moments from the first book.
