Apple TV is adapting a cyberpunk book that was largely considered “unfilmable” for quite some time. However, the streaming service’s recent success with its most-watched show, Pluribus, proves it is the perfect home for the upcoming sci-fi show. While the success of the upcoming series is not guaranteed, it is hard not to see how it would not have worked on any other streaming service.
In terms of overall viewership and commercial numbers, Apple TV might still be a little behind other leading streaming giants. However, Apple TV has done an incredible job of solidifying its identity as the best provider of sci-fi TV content. Its sci-fi reign has only grown from strength to strength in 2025, and it will seemingly rise further with its upcoming cyberpunk adaptation.
Neuromancer Was Considered “Unfilmable,” But Pluribus Proves Apple TV Can Pull It Off
William Gibson’s Neuromancer was first published in 1984. The book not only won several literary awards but also became the foundation for the cyberpunk sub-genre. Yet, despite this, it did not get one movie or TV adaptation for 40 years. There was a time when Cube‘s director, Vincenzo Natali, was associated with the project, and even Liam Neeson and Mark Wahlberg were offered roles in the film. However, this project, too, eventually fell apart.
Although many factors contributed to Neuromancer‘s inability to get a worthy TV/movie adaptation, the biggest reason was its complex world building and Gibson’s intentionally fragmented and non-explanatory storytelling style.
Readers familiar with Gibson’s work would know that, especially in Neuromancer, his prose is offbeat and often hard to follow. Instead of allowing readers to settle into his world, he throws them right in by introducing one novel concept after another. This approach always made an adaptation of the book quite risky.
Apple TV, however, seems ready for the risk.
Apple TV’s biggest sci-fi hit of 2025, Pluribus, takes time to unfold its story and never attempts to spoon-feed audiences every story detail. Instead, it delivers prolonged moments of silence and features sequences that force viewers to read what the characters feel. And despite taking this approach, the show finds creative ways to keep audiences engaged, explaining why it became Apple TV’s most-watched show.
After seeing Pluribus, I can see how Apple TV could succeed with its Neuromancer adaption if it takes a similar approach. Instead of dumbing down the original book and making it more accessible for the masses, Apple TV’s take on the seminal cyberpunk book will embrace its dense idea and instill the same alienation the book brings to its readers with its complex prose.
If Apple TV Gets Neuromancer Right, It Must Adapt Another Brilliant Sci-Fi Novel
Like William Gibson’s Neuromancer, Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash is also considered one of the most seminal works in sci-fi. Interestingly, Snow Crash, too, has struggled to land an adaptation for years even though its rights keep circulating between studios. If Apple TV manages to land a win with its take on Neuromancer, it must give a Snow Crash adaptation a shot.
The success of the two adaptations could eventually set the stage for a new wave of sci-fi TV where audiences are trusted to keep up without hand-holding, and ambitious ideas aren’t sanded down into familiar formulas.
Hopefully, Apple TV‘s Neuromancer will be as good as we expect it to be.
