Apple TV+ will open its May 2024 television show lineup with its new Dark Matter TV series. Chronologically, Dark Matter is the streaming platform’s ninth released new series in 2024. With Apple TV+’s success in the science fiction genre, Dark Matter is arguably one of the platform’s most anticipated shows in the first part of the year.
Dark Matter is based on American author Blake Crouch’s 2016 science fiction novel of the same name. To help breathe life into his characters and story, Crouch helms the show as its creator and one of its executive producers. With an eclectic cast, here’s everything and more about the Apple TV+ Dark Matter TV series.
What Is the Dark Matter TV Series About?
Dark Matter draws inspiration from the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. Simply put, it is based in a world where parallel universes exist. Although largely based on science fiction, Dark Matter posits that every possible decision or outcome taken or not taken creates a new universe that ultimately runs parallel to ours. Dark Matter introduces its protagonist, former quantum mechanics physicist Jason Dessen. Jason Dessen is a college physics professor living quietly in Chicago with his wife and son, Daniela and Charlie. His peaceful, uneventful life, as he once knew it, is threatened after he’s kidnapped and drugged.
When he awakes, Dessen is in a science lab in the middle of a metal cube. Although in Chicago, he soon discovers he’s in an alternate/parallel universe. However, he is not married to his wife Daniela in the universe, which means he also doesn’t have a son. The universe exists because of a decision he made some 15 years ago when he decided not to marry his wife and pursue a career as a quantum physicist. Dessen soon discovers that the second Jason Dessen, who kidnapped him, belongs in the universe where he currently resides.
Bored with his life in his universe, the second Dessen created the cube as a portal into another parallel universe where he married his love, Daniela. By kidnapping Earth’s Jason Dessen and taking his place, he wants to pretend and enjoy being Daniela’s husband. Much of the Dark Matter TV series focuses on the real Jason Dessen trying to return to his universe alongside Amanda (the other Dessen’s therapist). He plans to save his family from his alternate self, as well as any other variant created in new universes, with his every action and decision.
The Cast of the Dark Matter TV Series
Australian actor and filmmaker Joel Edgerton plays Jason Dessen and his alternate character, leading the cast of the Apple TV+ Dark Matter TV series. With an impressive acting credit, Edgerton needs little to no introduction. In Hollywood, Joel Edgerton is mostly recognized for portraying Owen Lars in the Star Wars films (Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith), as well as in the Disney+ TV series Obi-Wan Kenobi. He also played Tom Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby (2013) and, most recently, as Al Ulbrickson in the George Clooney-directed The Boys in the Boat (2023).
Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Connelly is cast in a supporting role as Daniela Dessen, Jason Dessen’s wife. Connelly is known for her Oscar-winning performance in A Beautiful Mind (2001), Blood Diamond (2006), The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), Alita: Battle Angel (2019), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022). Brazilian actress and producer Alice Braga plays the therapist, Amanda. Also in supporting roles are Oakes Fegley, Jimmi Simpson, and Dayo Okeniyi, who are cast as Charlie Dessen, Ryan, and Leighton, respectively.
Dark Matter Release Date
The Dark Matter TV series is scheduled for release on Apple TV+ on May 8, 2024. Dark Matter season 1 will consist of eight episodes, with the first two episodes being released together. Subsequent episodes will be released weekly until the season’s finale on June 19, 2024. With Blake Crouch as the showrunner, several directors will direct the episodes. Renowned Belgian television and film director Jakob Verbruggen directed the first three Dark Matter season 1 episodes.
Jakob Verbruggen has directed episodes in notable TV shows, including House of Cards, The Alienist, and The Twilight Zone. Other directors who worked in Dark Matter include Roxann Dawson, Logan George & Celine Held, as well as Alik Sakharov. Dark Matter will be available to watch on its premiere date to viewers with an active Apple TV+ subscription. If you enjoyed the Dark Matter TV series, read more about Joel Edgerton’s television roles.
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