‘Neuromancer’: Mark Strong Joins Apple TV’s Series Adaptation!!

Neuromancer just added a genre veteran to its cast. Mark Strong, most recently seen in The Penguin and Dune: Prophecy, will star in the long-awaited cyberpunk TV series. Deadline reports that Strong will play Armitage, the main character’s mysterious employer.

Strong joins a cast that already includes Callum Turner (Masters of the Air) as Case, Briana Middleton (The Inheritance) as Molly, and Joseph Lee (Beef) as Hideo; Turner replaces Miles Teller, who was initially set to star. Graham Roland (Dark Winds) and JD Dillard (Devotion) are adapting Canadian writer William Gibson‘s 1984 novel, with Skydance Television, Anonymous Content and Apple Studios co-producing; the series will premiere on Apple TV+. The imposing, bald-pated Strong is a frequent presence in genre films, often playing villains; examples include Sherlock Holmes, Green Lantern, Shazam, and Kingsman: The Secret Service. He recently played pivotal roles on the HBO series The Penguin and Dune: Prophecy, and will next be seen in the Joe Carnahan actioner Shadow Force, and Doug Liman‘s Everest, a dramatization of George Mallory‘s attempts to climb the world’s tallest peak.

What Is ‘Neuromancer’ About?

Neuromancer takes place in a dystopian future where much of humanity’s day-to-day lives take place in cyberspace. It centers around Case, a former hacker whose punishment for stealing from his employer was having his nervous system damaged, locking him out of cyberspace. He’s approached by Molly Millions, a cyborg “razorgirl,” who’s been hired by the mysterious Armitage to help him commit a digital heist. That brings them into contact with the eccentric family of aristocrats, the Tessier-Ashpools, and their ninja bodyguard, Hideo. The twisting plot eventually leads Case to Armitage’s true identity, digital echoes of his long-dead friends, and an immensely powerful artificial intelligence known as Neuromancer. The novel was enormously influential to the cyberpunk genre, with films like Ghost in the Shell, The Matrix, and Inception all owing something to Gibson’s visionary work.

There have been attempts to film Neuromancer since its first publication in 1984; until now, none have come to fruition. Chris Cunningham, Joseph Kahn (Detention), and Tim Miller (Deadpool) were attached to the project at various times. However, two other Gibson works set in the same fictional universe have been adapted to film: Johnny Mnemonic, which starred Keanu Reeves as the titular data courier, and Abel Ferrara‘s New Rose Hotel, which starred Christopher Walken and Willem Dafoe.