Dan Stevens Is RoboCop — This Is What We Want to See

Dan Stevens has been officially cast as fallen Detroit cop Alex Murphy in Amazon MGM’s new RoboCop TV series. Here’s everything you need to know

Dan Stevens has been officially cast in the lead role of Alex Murphy in Amazon MGM’s RoboCop TV series reboot of Paul Verhoeven’s beloved 1987 science-fiction action film, RoboCop. After a myriad of what-ifs and speculation, we can assume that it’s full speed ahead for Detroit’s fallen police officer. Here’s what we know.

The official RoboCop film trailer (1987)

A concerning detail is that James Wan will be executive producing the show through his entertainment blueprint, Blumhouse Atomic Monster, responsible for some dire intellectual properties such as Night Swim and The Conjuring Universe. However, with Dan Stevens (Legion, The Guest) attached to star, it could be that there is more to the show than we’re hearing.

Need to Knows

Cast: Dan Stevens.

Episodes: Eight

Producers: Peter Ocko, James Wan, Michael Clear, Rob Hackett, Ed Neumeier, Michael Miner, and Danielle Bozzone (co-executive producer).

Director: TBC

Production companies: Amazon MGM Studios, Blumhouse Atomic Monster.

Distributor/platform: Prime Video.

One particularly hopeful sight to see is that the original creators, Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, are attached to executive produce the show. This could be what has attracted the Beauty and the Beast actor, whose role in Legion shows that he can play a character with a fractured identity. Peter Ocko, who penned scripts for Pushing Daisies, also gives some hope for the show, as he is the showrunner and is attached to write and executive produce.

The Plot

The show is set to retain the original DNA of the 1987 classic film over eight episodes, with OCP injecting its brand of privatisation into the city of Detroit, persuading the city to allow one of its cyborg police officers to patrol the streets. Let’s hope ED-209 is in the running to wreak havoc, too.

I’m sure that one thing most fans, myself included, will want is a return to the practical effects the movie was lauded for. The 2014 remake already showed that a so-called modernisation of the story utilising CGI was the wrong way to go, and that heavyweight castings such as Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson won’t save a soulless film.

What We Want

Aside from Mr Kinney’s revenge, there’s a lot fans will want to see, including the cinematography and atmospheric enhancement that cinematographer Jost Vacano and additional cinematographer Sol Negrin enriched the film with.

Paul Verhoeven’s original movie was not a conventional action film; it explored a violent, dystopian Detroit, a future that can, and has, come to many places across the world. The complexities and bureaucracy of corporate greed and privatisation were explored in depth and subconsciously, as a distraught city is plagued by crime through desperation, governmental corruption and a militarised police force goaded by media whose chief prerogative is to sensationalise the facts.

A scene from RoboCop 1987 sees the cyborg police officer face a gang controlled by Clarence Boddicker.

However, a much deeper layer lands at the feet of Alex Murphy’s character, whose transcendence into a cybernetic organism sees him question reality and the depth of his humanity as he searches for answers in a world now foreign to him — one that is deceptive and contorts the truth to keep him in his place; a familiar story we can all resonate with. This and more must be retained not only to keep fans happy, but to maintain the integrity of the story, so that the franchise may continue for generations to come.

The Verdict

While Murphy is the most important character in the story, he’s nothing without Clarence Boddicker and Anne Lewis, and those castings matter. Nancy Allen and Kurtwood Smith’s castings in such iconic roles were impressive, as they embodied something grounded in real life. Boddicker was an ordinary but violent persona, while Lewis was tough yet pragmatic.

Ironically, despite the premise, a soulless mega-corporation is producing the show. Amazon’s aspirations within the AI sector, its treatment of workers and facilitation of counterfeit goods make for a strange IP for it to facilitate. However, it’s their bottom line that matters, something I’m sure Dick Jones and the Old Man will appreciate.

The entire film was grounded in reality and was not polished to showcase an idyllic life; it exhibited raw, real-life scenarios and acting that shocked. It was organic, not polished like what we see today. Whatever they do, they need to ensure that the roots of the original are studied carefully, because its cautionary tale is now our reality, but we don’t need to see everything in 4K either.

I’d rather see a passing of the torch than another TV series reboot. Perhaps Stevens would have been better off in the role of a new cop adopted into the RoboCop programme instead. It is what it is.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore.

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