Netflix has announced that its hit sci-fi series ‘Altered Carbon’ will return for a second season and that Anthony Mackie (‘Avengers: Infinity War’) will be stepping in as the show’s lead. Mackie will take over the role of Takeshi Kovacs, the main character of Season One played by Joel Kinnaman. This makes sense in the context of the show in which human souls (or “stacks”) can be digitized and moved from one body to another. Based on the books by Richard K. Morgan, the saga of Takeshi Kovacs spans hundreds of years, with the former soldier inhabiting multiple lives.
In addition to the new star, ‘Altered Carbon’ will have a new co-showrunner for Season Two, Alison Schapker (‘The Flash’). She joins Laeta Kalogridis, who created the series. Though no date has been announced, Season Two will consist of eight episodes, two less than the first.
The role of Takeshi Kovacs was also played in different time periods by Will Yun Lee (the original Kovacs) and Byron Mann. Kinnaman’s body (or “sleeve”) originally belonged to police detective Elias Ryker, with Kinnaman playing both roles, which also took place at different times. Kovacs finds his soul transferred to a new sleeve in order to solve a murder, which leads to much violence and pain.
At the end of Season One, Kovacs surrendered his Ryker sleeve and adopted a new identity, which was not shown in full. It’s unclear whether Mackie’s storyline will pick up at this point or if his story takes place at a different time in Kovacs’ overall journey.
It’s also unknown at this time if any of the other cast members from Season One will return. For his part, Kinnaman previously disclosed that he was only contracted for the first and that he had moved on to Amazon’s series adaptation of the movie ‘Hanna’.
Check back for more information about the second season as it emerges. Are you a fan of ‘Altered Carbon’? Are you excited that there will be more?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
