u/ptupper

Will the TV series be retro-futurist?

Obviously, Neuromancer was written more than 40 years ago. That raises the question of how the TV series will be designed. The most recent teaser suggests to me that they will go for a retro-futurism or cassette-futurism style.

I can see why they would make that decision. Gibson himself said he was inspired by the implied world of Alien, and the cyberpunk aesthetic is still inspired by Blade Runner, which in turn was inspired by noir film and lesser-seen works like World on a Wire and Alphaville.

The retro-futurist style has the advantage of not being lapped by reality. Works that deliberately avoid the "futuristic" look (e.g. Gattaca, eXistenZ, etc) hold up better over time. Works like Johnny Mnemonic or The Matrix paradoxically feel more dated, tied to the late 90s aesthetic.

On the other hand, the cassette-futurism style is, IMHO, getting played out. It's like Cyberpunk 2077, still mired in the world of giant buildings and flying cars and scary Japanese corporations. I hope that whoever designs the Apple TV Neuromancer can come up with an original visual style.

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u/ptupper — 3 days ago