Altered Carbon (2018 — 2020)

Altered Carbon (2018–2020) is an American cyberpunk series, based on the 2002 novel of the same name by Richard K. Morgan. In a future world where consciousness can switch between bodies, Takeshi Kovacs, a former soldier turned investigator, is released from prison to solve a murder. The story takes place over 360 years in the future in Bay City, a futuristic metropolis. Memories and consciousness are stored on disk-like devices called cortical stacks, implanted at the back of the neck. These stacks are made from alien materials found only on Harlan’s World and can be transferred into new bodies after death. However, if a stack is destroyed without backup, the person can still die. Only the wealthy elite (dubbed ‘Meths’ after Methuselah) have access to body clones and remote storage of their consciousness in satellites, allowing them to never experience natural death.

Takeshi Kovacs, a political operative with mercenary skills, is the only surviving member of the rebel group known as the Envoys, who were defeated in an uprising against the new world order. The first season takes place 250 years after the Envoys’ destruction, during which Kovacs’ stack is retrieved from prison by Laurens Bancroft, a wealthy Meth who has lived for 300 years. Bancroft presents Kovacs with an opportunity to solve his own murder and gain a fresh start at life. In the second season, set 30 years later in the early 2410s, we see Kovacs in a new sleeve as he continues his search for Quellcrist Falconer, his lost love and leader of the Envoys.