The new “RoboCop” TV series finds its star in Dan Stevens

Key Points

• Dan Stevens is set to lead the new RoboCop series.

• Aquaman and Furious 7 director James Wan is a producer on the project.

• Stevens will play the role originated by Peter Weller.

Dan Stevens is suiting up!

The Downton Abbey alum will star in Prime Video’sRoboCop, playing Alex Murphy, a fallen police officer who is revived as a powerful robot.

Hailing from showrunner Peter Ocko (Pushing Daisies) and producer James Wan (Aquaman), the new series is the latest stab at reigniting the franchise that began with the 1987 action classic. In the original, Peter Weller starred as Murphy, who was murdered by a gang of criminals and brought back by a mega corporation as the cyborg law enforcer RoboCop.

“I’ve been a massive fan of Robocop forever, so getting to help bring this world to television is a dream,” Wan said in a previous statement. “What Paul Verhoeven created in 1987 was decades ahead of its time, and its questions about technology, identity, and who corporations really serve have only grown more urgent.”

He added, “We’re working to honor what made the original iconic and highlight its relevancy in this modern, tech-driven world, while building something unmistakably new for a global audience.”

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Since breaking out on the first three Downton Abbey installments, Stevens has starred in Beauty and the Beast, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and FX’s Legion. Later this year, he’ll appear on the highly-anticipated second season ofDexter: Resurrection as the “Five Borough Killer.”

Previous RoboCop TV adaptations include RoboCop (1994), RoboCop: Prime Directives (2001), RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop (2023), and the animated series RoboCop (1988) and RoboCop: Alpha Commando (1998–1999). Suicide Squad star Joel Kinnaman took on the role of Murphy in a 2014 film remake, which also starred Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, and Michael Keaton.

“What began as a bold social satire — blending visceral action with a critique of corporate greed, privatization, and the nature of identity — has resonated across generations, spawning sequels, television series, video games, and comic books,” Amazon proclaimed in its press release announcing the series. “Its themes of humanity versus technology and the consequences of unchecked corporate power feel more relevant today than ever, making it the ideal property to reimagine for a new era of television.”

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