Jason Bourne Meets Blade Runner In Netflix’s 2-Part Sci-Fi Series
The thrilling and gritty action of Jason Bourne is combined with the cyberpunk dystopia of Blade Runner in one of Netflix's absolute best science fiction shows. Jason Bourne and Blade Runner don't normally go together. While they're both some of the best examples of their respective genres, their genres are wildly different. Jason Bourne is a gritty and realistic spy thriller, while Blade Runner is one of the best cyberpunk science fiction movies ever made.
While it may not seem like the extraordinarily grounded and plausible plot of Jason Bourne would work in a sci-fi universe like Blade Runner, one of the best shows on Netflix proves that it's more than possible. That show, Altered Carbon, combines a protagonist who is just like Matt Damon's Jason Bourne with a rich and intricately detailed cyberpunk world that was directly inspired by Blade Runner.
Altered Carbon follows Takeshi Kovacs, a highly trained and deadly revolutionary known as an Envoy. Kovacs lives in the far future where humanity has achieved near-immortality through the use of stacks, a technology that allows people to download their consciousness into a digital landscape and transfer it from one body, or sleeve, to another. That premise is just the start of what Altered Carbon has to offer, however, and just the start of its similarities to Blade Runner and Jason Bourne.
Altered Carbon Is One Of The Best Cyberpunk Shows Since Blade Runner
Altered Carbon is, simply put, one of the best cyberpunk television shows ever made, and one of the best cyberpunk stories in general since Blade Runner. Everything about Altered Carbon screams cyberpunk; there are neon-drenched megacities, futuristic weapons, transhumanist technologies, body modifications, advanced artificial intelligences, and much more, all set against the backdrop of the future's moral and ethical failings.
One of the tenets of cyberpunk is the adage "high tech, low life," and Altered Carbon runs with that idea. True immortality through stacks is only achievable by the ultrarich, dubbed "Meths" due to their centuries-long lives and similarities to Methuselah, the oldest man in the Bible, while the poor have to accept whatever body they get, even if a nine-year-old girl is put into the body of a middle-aged addict.
Altered Carbon doesn't dip into the realm of artificial life nearly as much as Blade Runner does, but it packs just as much philosophical and moral punch with the topics it does choose to cover, like wealth inequality, revolution, and immortality. Like Blade Runner before it, Altered Carbon will leave viewers pondering what it means to be human, which parts of the human experience shouldn't be tampered with, and whether technology is really the savior it's made out to be.
Altered Carbon doesn't just stop there, however, as it's also similar to Blade Runner 2049 in a variety of great ways. Altered Carbon has all the modern visuals of the sequel film, combined with the same moody neo-noir atmosphere and mysterious and engaging kind of story as Kovacs is tasked with solving an impossible murder. Altered Carbon is basically Blade Runner 2049 in TV format, which is exceptionally high praise.
Altered Carbon’s Protagonist Is Just As Competent As Jason Bourne
Altered Carbon's similarities to Blade Runner are plain to see thanks to the cyberpunk genre, but it also shares a lot of DNA with Jason Bourne. One of the main draws of the Bourne franchise is Bourne's incredible competence as he works his way through massive conspiracies, and Takeshi Kovacs offers the same thing. Like Bourne, Kovacs is an incredibly skilled fighter, a great detective, whip-smart and able to come up with amazing plans on the fly, and he even has a dark and troubled past.
The other main draw of the Bourne franchise is its incredibly grounded and realistic plot. While Altered Carbon does take place in the far future, it also mimics this great trait. Altered Carbon sets up the rules of its world and technology perfectly, and it uses them to give Kovacs opportunities to make incredibly smart and logically cohesive decisions. Every single step of Kovacs' plans makes sense in-universe, just as every step of Bourne's plans make sense in his films.
Additionally, while Altered Carbon is primarily a cyberpunk story, it's also heavily involved in the spy thriller genre. As previously mentioned, Kovacs has to solve an impossible murder, which takes him into the underbelly of San Francisco to uncover criminal conspiracies, underground fighting rings, major hacking networks, and more. If you liked Jason Bourne for its twisty conspiracy elements or for its grounded action, you'll love Altered Carbon.