Murderbot (2025)

Murderbot belongs to a long line of killer robots, but I think there’s something very specific, something unique about what [Author] Martha [Welles] created. With sci-fi there are so many excellent visions of a dystopian future, and we wanted to push it past that into a sort of post-dystopian world. Yes, this is a very brutal and capitalistic society, but there are also interesting things to look at – there are colors, there's brightness. It’s a world you might enjoy hanging out in for a bit. For me, [Murderbot] feels like the world of 1980s science fiction paperback covers, which are inherently fun to look at and contemplate.

[Murderbot] doesn’t want to feel emotions. It doesn’t want any of that messy, horrible stuff. It doesn’t want human fluids. It doesn’t want to touch a human. It doesn’t want to make eye contact. It just wants to watch its shows and – if it has to – prevent people from getting killed. That, to me, is really relatable. The inner monologue aspect of it – the fact that it has a running narration of what’s going on – felt so recognizable, especially because that narration includes feeling really skeptical about other people and skeptical about oneself. It feels really true to something.

This show has action, but also comedy and sweetness. But it also has Murderbot, who is sarcastic and smarmy. It’s really easy for anyone to find a piece of themselves in all of these different pockets of the show. The humor especially is surprising. When you hear “action sci-fi with comedy” [you might think] it’s going to feel a little bit [like] Marvel. But it’s really funny and specific; it’s weird and uncomfortable. It feels like “alt comedy” to me, and I think that’s special.

[Murderbot] is like no other sci-fi. I don’t gravitate towards sci-fi series as a personal favorite, but this has all the things I love about other genres AND it’s also sci-fi. Not to mention that it comes on the back of seven glorious books by Martha Welles, who has written a beautiful world that [directors] Chris and Paul Weitz have elaborated on. It’s like the weirdest, coolest space dream you never thought you’d get a chance to be a part of.

I’ve been a science fiction nerd my entire life, and living in that space, often you find that views of technology and evolution and the future are rather nihilistic. But when you climb into the world of “Murderbot,” there’s a humanism within it, even in the perspective of a robot (which is wild to think about). The show is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. It makes you laugh and it has so much heart – I love that the characters are deeply loving, kind people. Gurathin is one of my favorite roles I’ve ever played, I love him so much. The character development is also beautifully well-written and directed, and the performances are out of this world. Alexander Skarsgard is a genius! I’m so proud of it.