Netflix renews Altered Carbon for series two – with a new lead actor

Altered Carbon is getting a second series – but with a twist. While the first run of episodes was led by Joel Kinnaman, the show's return to Netflix will see him replaced by Anthony Mackie who Marvel fans will know as Falcon in Captain America and the Avengers movies.

For the uninitiated, Altered Carbon is set centuries in the future and shows a world where humans have become immortal thanks to technology that allows their consciousness to transfer from one body (or sleeve, as they're called) to the next.

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The first series starred Kinnaman as Takeshi Kovacs who inhabits the body of a disgraced police officer and is tasked with solving the murder of billionaire Laurens Bancroft who apparently committed suicide. The series' conclusion saw Kovacs depart Earth and his body, leaving it unclear whether the series would be renewed or if Kinnaman would continue in the role.

The casting of Mackie confirms he will not but series one creator Laeta Kalogridis will be back, joined by Alison Schapker as co-showrunner.

The first series was based on Richard K Morgan's novel Altered Carbon and it seems possible that the second run will focus on the next book, Broken Angels, which is set three decades on and sees Kovacs fighting in a corporate war on a planet called Sanction IV.