So, Neuromancer is actually happening, and we finally have the first teaser! William Gibson published the novel in 1984 and it became the bible for an entire genre before the genre even had a name. Sci-fi-defining movies like The Matrix and Ghost in the Shell owe so much to this book.
For 40 years, people kept trying to make it into a film and nothing ever got off the ground. Chris Cunningham tried. Tim Miller tried. Vincenzo Natali spent years in development on it. All dead ends.
Then, in 2022, Apple TV ordered a 10-episode series with Graham Roland as showrunner and JD Dillard directing the first three episodes, and they went and filmed the thing across Tokyo, Los Angeles, Istanbul and London. This past weekend, Apple dropped the official teaser at San Diego Comic-Con. Callum Turner appeared via video, introduced it, and the room apparently lost it.
You can watch the official teaser below:
We've watched it way too many times since. Here are the things that we loved and are super excited about.
- Callum Turner as Case and his dialogue delivery
- The cyberpunk Japan setting
- Bar Chatsubo
- Molly's mirror eyes
- Mark Strong as Armitage and Dane DeHaan as Riviera
- The fights sequences
Callum Turner as Case and his dialogue delivery
Right at the top of the teaser we get our first proper look at Callum Turner as Case, slumped on a bench somewhere in a neon-lit Chiba, arm over his knee gazing out ahead. We hear the first line delivery from him: "What am I doing here?"
And from just those few seconds, you know that Turner is a fantastic choice for our "atypical protagonist" and he is actually going to nail this. Case is one of the most beloved characters in science fiction and I think we can trust Turner to do it justice.
Showrunner Graham Roland said that casting Case was about finding someone who could hold the charisma to carry 10 episodes while also inhabiting the character's rougher, darker edges. Watching Turner in these early shots, it really does feel like they found their guy. This is a character a lot of people care deeply about and it's a great relief to feel like he's in good hands.
The cyberpunk Japan setting
A big chunk of the trailer is set in what is clearly the show's version of Chiba City and the production design is very, very impressive. We see sprawling street-level shots full of neon signage, dense crowds, and architecture that seems to pay homage to the genre-defining source material. What's interesting is that there are visible samurai influences seen in the aesthetic including structural details and costume choices which makes perfect sense.
Bar Chatsubo
Blink and you'll miss it, but in one of the Chiba street scenes you can spot what is the show's version of Bar Chatsubo, the grimy expat bar where Case spends most of the novel's opening chapters drinking too much and doing deals with people he shouldn't trust.
It seemed low-lit, neon-signed, exactly the kind of place that exists for people who have fallen out of whatever normal life they used to have. Details like this are easy to lose in an adaptation and seeing it in the trailer was very reassuring.
Molly's mirror eyes
We get a few shots of Briana Middleton as Molly Millions, and they are doing it so right. In the teaser we see her mirror lenses up close (the surgically implanted ones the character literally cannot remove) and they look properly unsettling. We also get a flash of her razor fingernails in what looks like a fight sequence.
Elsewhere in the teaser we see her and Case together, which is the dynamic the whole story runs on, and Middleton already looks like she matches Turner's energy. Boy, are we excited for more of them!
Mark Strong as Armitage and Dane DeHaan as Riviera
In the teaser, we get a few looks at Mark Strong as Armitage, the shadowy figure who recruits Case for the heist, and he's gone full platinum blonde for the role which is a surprising choice that somehow completely works.
He comes across as deliberately unreadable and controlled (and so savvy), which is exactly right for the character. There is a specific reason in the novel why Armitage is the way he is (and we won't spoil it), but Strong looks like a very smart piece of casting for where that arc goes.
We also get what looks like a brief glimpse of Dane DeHaan, who is playing Peter Riviera, a thief and sadist in the book who can project holographic illusions, one of the stranger and more unsettling characters Gibson wrote. DeHaan seems almost purpose-built for that role and we are very curious to see more of him.
The fights sequences
There are a few action sequences cut into the teaser and they look rough in the good way. We see Case running hard through the city and hitting the ground bloody. We also see Molly in close-quarters combat that looks pretty terrifying.
This physicality feels right for the movie given at its core the story is about desperate people doing dangerous things in a world that does not care about them. Combined with some striking wider shots of the city at night, and from everything we've seen in the teaser, the overall tone feels like it has been properly figured out. And we are so here for it.
Neuromancer premieres Jan. 22, 2027 on Apple TV, with two episodes on launch day, then weekly every Friday through March 19.
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