Apple TV's Severance Fills Void Left by Netflix's Cancelled Altered Carbon

Apple TV’s 10/10 Sci-Fi Masterpiece Fills The Void Left By Netflix’s Cancelled Cyberpunk Show By  Dhruv Sharma Published Feb 7, 2026, 10:00 PM EST Dhruv is a Lead Writer in Screen Rant's New TV division. He has been consistently contributing to the website for over two years and has written thousands of articles covering streaming trends, movie/TV analysis, and pop culture breakdowns. Before Screen Rant, he was a Senior Writer for The Cinemaholic, covering everything from anime to television, from reality TV to movies. After high school, he was on his way to become a Civil Engineer. However, he soon realized that writing was his true calling. As a result, he took a leap and never looked back. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Add Us On Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Netflix canceled its brilliant addition to the cyberpunk subgenre after just two seasons, but Apple TV's hit sci-fi surprisingly fills the void it left behind.

Although Apple TV is easily the best streaming platform for science fiction right now, it does not have any true cyberpunk shows in its catalog. This, however, will soon change with its upcoming take on William Gibson's Neuromancer. In this regard, Netflix has been ahead of Apple TV and already adapted a highly acclaimed and award-winning cyberpunk book.

While it is unfortunate that Netflix canceled the adaptation before it could reach its natural conclusion, it is hard not to see how an Apple TV sci-fi show comes close to capturing similar thematic elements.

Altered Carbon Season 1 Remains One Of The Best Cyberpunk Adaptations Of All Time

Anthony Mackie as Takeshi Kovacs with machines on his head in Altered Carbon

Only from a visual standpoint, cyberpunk is one sci-fi subgenre that cannot be captured too easily on the small screen. It requires heavy use of CGI only to bring its neon-drenched cityscapes, sprawling megacities, and technology-saturated environments to life in a way that feels authentic. Despite budgetary limitations, though, Netflix's Altered Carbon executes the visual elements of its cyberpunk story incredibly well.

When it comes to storytelling, Altered Carbon does an even better job, especially in season 1.

The core essence of cyberpunk storytelling lies in its gritty portrayal of "high-tech, low life." With its portrayal of Cortisol Stacks and "Sleeving" technology, Altered Carbon creates the perfect gap between the privileged and poor to display a world marred by "high-tech, low life."

While the elite, called The Meths, embrace immortality and free themselves from death, the ones in the Bay City struggle to survive with whatever bodies they assigned and are forced to wait for centuries before they are re-sleeved.

There is still a massive void for prestige cyberpunk in television that is yet to be filled. Apple TV's Neuromancer adaptation could fill the void, but Netflix's Altered Carbon was already on the right path towards establishing a compelling and long-running cyberpunk franchise before it was abruptly cancelled.

Netflix Cancelled Altered Carbon Too Soon, But Apple TV’s Severance Perfectly Fills The Void

From a visual standpoint, Apple TV's Severance is more retro-futuristic than cyberpunk. However, when it comes to its themes, Severance seems to perfectly capture the "high-tech, low life" trope. The high-tech in the series, like Altered Carbon's "sleeve," is the Severance chip. Like the sleeves and stacks in Altered Carbon, the chip fundamentally alters how people experience identity and existence.

The Severance chip alters human consciousness to something that can be compartmentalized and controlled.

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While the rich and the higher-ups in Severance use the technology to manage pain and potentially commodify it in the future, the Lumon workers are forced into perpetual cycles of labor in the name of productivity.

Just like the destruction of a "stack" leads to the complete death of one's identity, retirement from Lumon also ends up killing one's "innie" version in Severance.

Several other similarities can be drawn between the Netflix and Apple TV sci-fi shows, which makes them thematic cousins and arguably allows Severance to fill the void Altered Carbon left behind.

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  Like Follow Followed Altered Carbon TV-MA Drama Crime Science Fiction Fantasy 33 8.6/10 Release Date 2018 - 2020-00-00 Network Netflix

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  • Anthony Mackie Takeshi Kovacs
  • Joel Kinnaman Takeshi Kovacs 2
  Showrunner Anthony Mackie Directors Alex Graves, Ciaran Donnelly, M.J. Bassett, Nick Hurran, Peter Hoar, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Uta Briesewitz, Jeremy Webb, Andy Goddard, Miguel Sapochnik Writers Brian Nelson, Garrett Lerner, Russel Friend, Steve Blackman, Adam Lash, Laeta Kalogridis, Nevin Densham, Alison Schapker Creator(s) Laeta Kalogridis Executive Producer(s) Alison Schapker, Arnold Messer, Bradley J. Fischer, Dana Goldberg, David Ellison, James Middleton, James Vanderbilt, Laeta Kalogridis, Marcy Ross, Mike Medavoy, Rose Lam, Steve Blackman Producers Johanna Lee, Lori Waters, Nevin Densham Seasons 2 Story By laeta kalogridis Streaming Service(s) Amazon Prime Video, Netflix Powered by Expand Collapse
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  Like Follow Followed Severance TV-MA Drama Mystery Science Fiction 8/10 254 9.2/10 Release Date February 17, 2022 Network Apple TV

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  • Adam Scott Mark Scout
  • Britt Lower Helly Riggs
  Showrunner Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman Directors Ben Stiller Writers Anna Ouyang Moench, Wei-Ning Yu Creator(s) Dan Erickson Executive Producer(s) Adam Scott, Beau Willimon, Ben Stiller, Caroline Baron, Dan Erickson, Andrew Colville, Chris Black, Jackie Cohn, John Cameron, John Lesher, Jordan Tappis, Mark Friedman, Nicholas Weinstock, Richard Schwartz, Sam Donovan Producers Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette, Aoife McArdle, Amanda Overton, Sean Fogel, Wei-Ning Yu, Gerry Robert Byrne, Jessica Lee Gagné Seasons 2 Story By dan erickson Streaming Service(s) AppleTV+ Powered by Expand Collapse

• Altered Carbon
• Severance
• Netflix

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