Murderbot showrunners reveal Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy nod
A reference to one of its best characters.
Murderbot is finally here, with the series adapting Martha Wells's All Systems Red novella on Apple TV+.
Whilst Wells's Murderbot Diaries book series has interesting influences, like characters from Peanuts or the Ancillary Justice trilogy by Ann Leckie, the new TV version has given a nod to a particular movie you might not have expected.
Murderbot’s SecUnit, the protagonist played by Alexander Skarsgard, is a newly sentient cyborg who has quickly become appalled with humanity and would rather watch futuristic soap operas over streaming than interact with people.
When speaking to show creators Paul and Chris Weitz, it’s clear the two wanted to utilise the source material to create something unique in the TV medium and pique the interest of viewers already into sci-fi and comedy.
“I'm hoping that there's lots of stuff that fans can look forward to. It's not sort of a grimy dystopian universe. I think that there's so many things that have been done well that Chris and I wanted to avoid trying to repeat, and find something new," said Paul Weitz.
"The great thing is that we had Sanctuary Moon, which is the soap opera that Murderbot is obsessed with, as the playground to do all sorts of over the top space opera stuff, and and I think that, you know, there's little bits of the aesthetic of other characters from, like, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, et cetera."
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a multi-platform media franchise that’s been around since 1978, follows the misadventures of Earth’s last surviving man travelling across space with various companions.
While clips of Sanctuary Moon in Murderbot episodes aren’t exactly a carbon copy of Hitchhiker’s Guide, you can definitely feel the same type of fun, eccentric energy in each scene.
Mostly known in its movie form via a 2005 film adaptation, one Hitchhiker’s Guide in particular is said by Weitz to be another inspiration for the character.
“This is not quite as tongue-in-cheek as Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but there is sort of a, to me, really fascinating depressed robot in Hitchhiker's Guide, which might have been an early predecessor to Murderbot."
That character in question is Marvin, a discouraged humanoid robot who has a disdain for their day-to-day life whilst serving the human crew.
Portrayed best by the voice of Alan Rickman in the 2005 film, the manically miserable droid could easily be mistaken as SecUnit’s discouraged smaller older brother if you watched it in the modern day.
If only Marvin could have had access to the Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, too!
Murderbot will continue on Friday 23rd May on Apple TV+. Subscribe to Apple TV+ here.
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