Prime Video’s RoboCop Reboot Just Found Its Star
With a new RoboCop comes a new take on this story.
Science fiction has come a long way since RoboCop first hit the scene in 1987 — but the franchise has tried valiantly to keep up with the times all the same. Two films sprang out of Paul Verhoeven’s original movie, and apart from a 2014 remake (which starred Joel Kinnaman), RoboCop has been revived time and again in four different TV series. The property has been defunct for the past decade, though not for lack of trying.
When Amazon acquired MGM in 2022, the studio tagged RoboCop as one of the franchises ripe for reappraisal. Horror legend James Wan has been quietly working on another reboot of the RoboCop story since 2024, while Peter Ocko — a screenwriter known for his work in shows like Pushing Daisies, The Office, The Leftovers, and Black Sails — will serve as showrunner. After years of development, RoboCop is finally rebooting in earnest. Amazon MGM has tapped the actor who will bring Alex Murphy to life for the first time in decades, and it might not be long before we see him in action. Here’s everything we know about the new RoboCop.
Who’s playing the new RoboCop?
Dan Stevens might be playing a very different version of Alex Murphy.
On August 26, Deadline reported that Dan Stevens will suit up to portray the new version of Alex Murphy for Ocko and Wan’s RoboCop reboot. Stevens might be a surprising pick compared to past incarnations of the character — Murphy typically has the body of a gym bro even before he’s upgraded with his cybernetic suit — but he’s a great one nonetheless. The actor has a keen eye for genre stories; the weirder (and sometimes bloodier) the better, it seems. He’s played sociopathic soldiers, reluctant vampires, and kindly androids, all with a subversive twist. If he’s on board this new RoboCop, it’s safe to expect a very different take on the original story, and that’s a good thing.
What is Amazon MGM’s RoboCop about?
Amazon’s RoboCop reboot is taking a different approach to this story — and that’s a smart choice.
With Stevens’ casting comes some new insight into the scope of the new RoboCop. In the eight-episode series, “a giant tech conglomerate persuades the city to place a powerful robot on its police force — a robot implanted with the consciousness of a beloved fallen officer, Alex Murphy.”
That’s a far cry from the premise of most other RoboCop stories. In the past, when Murphy becomes RoboCop, it’s typically because he’s been critically or even fatally injured while serving in a dystopian version of Detroit. His body is upgraded with cybernetic tech, or he’s resurrected within a suit designed to keep him alive. The new version of RoboCop seems to be taking a different route, but that makes sense for a world where cyborgs are no longer a fascinating “What if?” in our society.
There’s a reason the 2014 RoboCop reboot largely failed to capture the public’s curiosity — besides its bland, sanitized approach to Murphy’s adventures. In the ‘80s, when cyberpunk was all the rage, the concept of human-machine integration truly felt like the future. 40 years on, however, society’s concerns have moved on to less tactile threats. The idea of artificial intelligence infiltrating our lives and replacing humanity is no longer just an idea, and it makes sense for RoboCop to crib from that concept. A robot implanted with a human consciousness is a bit timelier than, say, a human fighting crime in a robotic suit. (Plus, is there any way to make that suit not look silly in 2026?)
The body horror of the original RoboCop might be out, but it’s not a bad idea to replace it with the dread of coexisting with AI. If Amazon must reboot this property, it might be smart to reimagine the story that others have already tried and failed to preserve for a modern era.
