Dead or Alive, Dan Stevens Is Coming With You: Sought After ‘The Guest’ Star Cast as RoboCop in Prime Video Series

Dan Stevens is trading charm for chrome as the acclaimed British actor takes on one of science fiction’s most iconic characters, with the star confirmed to play Alex Murphy — and his cybernetic alter ego RoboCop — in Prime Video’s upcoming television series.

For fans of Stevens’ extraordinarily varied career, the casting is an intriguing one. From Downton Abbey and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb to Beauty and the Beast, Legion, The Guest and his more recent blockbuster appearances, Stevens has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to move between drama, comedy, horror, action and science fiction without ever feeling confined to a particular type of role.

That versatility could prove particularly valuable when stepping into the armour previously made famous by Peter Weller.

Based on the MGM film franchise, the upcoming RoboCop series will span eight episodes and is being written by showrunner Peter Ocko. The story sees a powerful technology conglomerate persuade the city to introduce a formidable robot into its police force — one implanted with the consciousness of fallen police officer Alex Murphy.

Stevens will portray both Murphy and RoboCop, putting the actor at the centre of a story that has always been about considerably more than a man inside a metal suit.

The original 1987 film, directed by Paul Verhoeven, combined brutal science-fiction action with satire and questions surrounding corporate power, technology, identity and what remains of a human being when much of the body has been replaced by machinery. Those ideas arguably feel even more relevant nearly four decades later.

Ocko will serve as showrunner and executive producer, with James Wan, Michael Clear and Rob Hackett executive producing through Atomic Monster. Original RoboCop screenwriters Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner are also involved as executive producers.

For Stevens, meanwhile, Alex Murphy becomes another strikingly different character in an increasingly eclectic filmography.

The actor memorably played Sir Lancelot opposite Ben Stiller in 2014’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, transformed into the Beast for Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast, portrayed David Haller across three seasons of Legion, and has become part of the MonsterVerse as Trapper in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

But for horror and thriller fans, one of his most memorable performances remains Adam Wingard’s The Guest.

As the mysterious David Collins, Stevens delivered a performance that could move from effortlessly charming to deeply unsettling with little more than a change in expression — precisely the kind of ability to switch between warmth, detachment and menace that makes the prospect of seeing him tackle Alex Murphy particularly fascinating.

He now follows Peter Weller, Robert Burke and Joel Kinnaman in taking on the character in a major live-action production.

Exactly what Stevens’ RoboCop will look like — and how closely the new series will embrace the distinctive aesthetic of Verhoeven’s original — remains to be seen.

But one thing is now certain.

Dead or alive, Dan Stevens is coming with you.