Apple TV’s Neuromancer: The Perfect Severance Replacement?

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Fans of Apple TV+’s hit sci-fi series, Severance, will have to wait a bit for its return. But there’s good news: a new sci-fi show is coming to the streaming service much sooner to tide viewers over.

In 2025, Apple TV became a major force in science fiction, particularly with the hit show Pluribus. They plan to expand on this success with returning favorites like Silo, Dark Matter, and For All Mankind. However, fans will have to wait until 2026 for the next season of Severance.

While fans are anticipating the third season of Severance, they can enjoy another exciting sci-fi series on Apple TV based on a famous cyberpunk novel.

Neuromancer Can Be The Perfect Thematic Continuation To Apple TV’s Severance

While Severance shares some similarities with cyberpunk, it doesn’t quite fit neatly into that sci-fi category. Still, its themes strongly resonate with William Gibson’s Neuromancer, making the upcoming Gibson show a great watch for fans anticipating Severance season 3. Both stories explore how people feel disconnected and alienated in a technologically advanced world.

Both Severance and Neuromancer explore characters disconnected from their full selves. In Severance, people are divided into work and personal lives with a surgical procedure, forcing them to work without full awareness. In Neuromancer, characters view their physical bodies as limiting and only truly feel alive when they’re immersed in a virtual reality called the Matrix.

Both stories feature characters who mentally disconnect from their bodies to escape difficult lives. They’re set in bleak, futuristic worlds controlled by powerful corporations. In Severance, the Lumon company acts almost like a country, complete with its own devoted followers. Meanwhile, in Neuromancer, the Tessier-Ashpool family lives in a space station, maintaining their influence through cloning and artificial intelligence.

Because the two science fiction stories share so many similarities, it’s easy to see Neuromancer as a glimpse into the future world of Severance. That makes the Neuromancer Apple TV series a great choice to watch while we wait for the next season of Severance.

Severance & Neuromancer Share 1 Intriguing Concept Overlap

William Gibson’s Neuromancer first imagined ROM constructs – essentially digital copies of a person’s mind that live on after death, but can’t change or grow. This idea feels similar to the ‘innie’ and ‘outie’ characters in Severance. Both stories explore what happens when a person’s identity is broken down into separate parts, used only for specific tasks and kept strictly controlled.

In William Gibson’s Neuromancer, a sex worker receives a “cut-out chip” implanted in her brain. Similar to the chip in Severance, this allows her to essentially turn off her awareness while working with clients.

Similar to the characters in Severance, she appreciates the chip because it allows her to earn what she calls “free money.” However, she also struggles with the fact that it doesn’t quite sync with her brain, causing work-related memories to bleed into her dreams as nightmares. This feels like the show Severance, where Irving often daydreams about the life of his ‘outie’ – his work-life balance counterpart.

As a huge sci-fi fan, I’m completely captivated by both Severance and Neuromancer. They’re both brilliant in their own ways, but what’s really cool is how much they actually have in common. They feel like they were made for each other! Since Neuromancer is hitting screens before we get season three of Severance, I think it’s going to be a total must-watch for anyone who loves the mind-bending world of Severance.

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2026-01-26 04:28