Between Severance and Made For Love, television has already asked some big questions about technology and how the self is defined in 2022. Now, the new AMC+ show Pantheon is entering the conversation with a further interrogation of big tech and biohacking.
Based on short stories by the author Ken Liu, the animated series follows the misfit teen Maddie (Katie Chang) as she discovers that her dead father David (Daniel Dae Kim) actually lives on as an Uploaded Intelligence, or UI. His conversion into a completely digital being marks major progress for the microchip company Logorhythms, but it’s one that could have sinister consequences for the rest of the world.
“We were human; we are gods now,” fellow UI Chanda (Raza Jaffrey) declares in the new trailer, preparing for a war that could lead to a post-human future.
While David and Maddie’s reunion in virtual reality is a lot less threatening, it’s no substitute for the real world, and their family will never be the same.
“How can we be human without a body?” Maddie’s mother (Rosemarie DeWitt) asks.
The trailer thankfully doesn’t give too much away, but it promises mind-bending action and a shocking conspiracy that Maddie and her new friend Caspian (Paul Dano) will need plenty of detective skills to uncover.
Pantheon was written and created by Craig Silverstein, who also served as showrunner and executive producer. The series was animated by Titmouse, and it’s AMC+’s first foray into traditional animation. The voice cast also includes Aaron Eckhart, Taylor Schilling, Ron Livingston, Chris Diamantopoulos, and William Hurt.
The first two episodes of Pantheon premiere on AMC+ on September 1, followed by weekly installments.