Dan Stevens Says His ROBOCOP Series Will Be “Very Funny” and Satirical

Prime Video’s RoboCop series isn’t planning to turn Alex Murphy’s world into another grim, humorless dystopian drama.

According to Dan Stevens, the upcoming series will embrace the sharp satire that made Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 movie such a classic, complete with a healthy dose of comedy.

That sounds like exactly the right direction for RoboCop. Stevens, who is set to lead the series, recently talked about what attracted him to the project and revealed that creator Peter Ocko, known for Lodge 49, has found a way to capture an important part of the original film’s personality.

Stevens told THR: “It’s very funny. It’s satirical, and it’s exciting to me that it preserves that sense of the original, which is one of my favorite films of all time.

“For someone of my generation, it’s right up there. It left an imprint, and I probably saw it too young. It was, perhaps, my first exposure to extreme violence.”

That combination of brutal violence, corporate absurdity, dark comedy, and social commentary is a huge part of why RoboCop is so good. The 1987 film took aim at corporate power, privatization, consumer culture, policing, surveillance, and a society becoming increasingly comfortable with all of it.

Those ideas certainly haven’t become less relevant. The original RoboCop also kicked off an incredible Hollywood run for director Paul Verhoeven, who followed it with films including Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls, and Starship Troopers.

The latter pushed his taste for outrageous violence and biting satire even further. After Hollow Man, Verhoeven returned to Europe and shifted toward less spectacle-driven projects.

Trying to recreate Verhoeven’s exact style would be a losing game, but Stevens makes it sound like Ocko understands what made the original RoboCop special rather than simply borrowing the character and Detroit setting.

Stevens added: “So Peter’s take is just so smart and so funny, and the time is ripe for that kind of take. I feel very excited and very lucky.”

He’s right about the timing. Corporate overreach, invasive technology, surveillance, automation, and fears surrounding institutional power are once again major parts of everyday conversation. There’s plenty for a new RoboCop series to explore.

A new RoboCop was always going to have a lot to live up to, but hearing that the creative team understands the importance of the original film’s satire makes this project a lot more interesting.