No one knows better than Blade Runner fans how well sci-fi and film noir go together. That world is set to expand again with Blade Runner 2099, which was described during its SDCC interview with Collider as a limited, one-and-done series rather than the beginning of a multi-season story. The beloved Philip K. Dick story yielded one of the most celebrated sci-fi films of all time, and yet another adaptation utilizes social commentary even further.
Altered Carbon was a 2002 book penned by Richard K. Morgan, and in 2018, it made its way to Netflix. Starring Joel Kinnaman, the short-lived series follows a soldier by the name of Takeshi Kovacs who, after fighting for the freedom of his people, is killed. However, he has another chance at life when, centuries after his death, his consciousness is put into another body, known as a sleeve.
Kovacs is offered the option to live again if he solves the murder of Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy). In an interesting twist, Bancroft hires Kovacs himself because his murderer did not know he had a backup of his cortical stack, which allowed him to put on a new sleeve. Only the extremely rich can remotely back up their consciousness, but Kovacs would be rewarded with such an operation if he were successful in his quest. Throughout the first season, Kovacs pieces together what happened to his family as he is confronted with the brutalities of this new world.
‘Altered Carbon’ Is a More Visceral Version of ‘Blade Runner’
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner considers the ramifications of viewing people’s bodies as nothing more than property. Harrison Ford stars as Deckard in the film, an investigator tasked with decommissioning rogue replicants. These robots were designed for manual labor and are not supposed to surpass their four-year expiration date. The film raises questions about what it means to be human in a universal story.
Altered Carbon weaves a similar tale, except one that features human bodies put through the wringer instead of synthetic ones. The series particularly shows female bodies abused, and though this was a divisive part of the series, it is largely the point. Altered Carbon shows how human rights are still an issue in a futuristic world where such things should be solved. Women are still treated as meat in many ways, which is what enraged Richard K. Morgan about the real world. In one sequence in his book, Kovacs was sleeved inside a female body that was brutally tortured. This wasn’t meant to exploit the female body, but to do the opposite.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
“To me, it was a kind of allegiance — that Kovacs is going to suffer what women in this situation suffer,” Richard told The Guardian. “And then, of course, he comes back later and slaughters everybody in sight.” In the series, Kovacs is tortured in his Joel Kinnaman form, but the brutality is still the same. Richard’s work is to hold a mirror up to society, not celebrate it.
These themes, combined with the film noir tropes present, make Altered Carbon an underrated feat. Season 1 covers the events of the book, while Season 2 gets revitalized, casting Anthony Mackie in the role of Kovacs. Though only two seasons, Altered Carbon triumphs with its social commentary and compelling detective story. Viewers can catch both seasons of the series streaming on Netflix.
