// KOTAKU — GAMING
Apple’s Sci-Fi Show About A Killer Robot Who Just Wants To Watch Soap Operas Has A Stacked Cast In Season 2
Apple TV+ has revealed the cast for Murderbot season 2 and damn, is it stacked.
Your first look at the cast of #Murderbot Season 2. pic.twitter.com/DQhyNqzUBr
Variety has a list of all the new cast members coming to season two and it is long:
Blair Underwood Brendan Hunt Bridget Everett Britne Oldford Damian Young Divian Ladwa Ella Jay Basco Etienne Beydon Griffin Newman Jaedynn Latter Jason George Kali Reis Katy O’Brian Maddy Strauss Marc Menchaca Martha Plimpton Meredith Salenger Michael Sheen Nia Otchere-Sarfo Nicholas Braun Patton Oswalt Steve Buscemi Topher Grace Tramell Tillman Wanda Sykes
I am gagged. Murderbot is one of my favorite Apple TV+ shows, adapted from one of my favorite sci-fi series, The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. The first season was great. Alexander Skarsgård played an amazing Murderbot, a security cyborg who bootstrapped itself into sentience and wants nothing to do with plumbing the depths of his newfound humanity, preferring instead to watch its space soap operas, but can’t help but protect its fragile, constantly-almost-dying human clients. It’s a funny-ass show that’ll appeal to anyone with a kink for found family, biting critiques of capitalism, and watching John Cho cavort about, giving his best Captain Kirk impression. And the cast for season two is looking to promise more of the same.
I’d bet my last dollar that Tramell Tillman will pull out the menacing nice-guy performance he perfected in Severance to play one of the capital-B bad guys from The Corporation. Katy O’Brian I could see playing a rival security bot to take on Skarsgård. The presence of so many comedic actors on the list makes me think Skarsgård’s Murderbot is gonna ham it up with a new crop of hapless humans it’ll try and fail to not fall in love with.
But I’m really curious who’s been tapped to voice ART. Short for Asshole Research Transport, ART is essentially “what if the Starship Enterprise were a sentient, sardonic asshole?” and also Murderbot’s best friend, if it permitted itself to acknowledge the idea of friendship. Patton Oswalt seems like too obvious a choice but nevertheless a good fit. Steve Buscemi would also be a good ART. OR! Murderbot S2 could blow all our minds, fully subvert expectations, give ART a female voice, and make it Wanda Sykes.
I need this season yesterday. But since there’s no firm release date and the cast has just now been announced, it’ll probably be sometime in 2027.
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