Trailer – Blade Runner 2099
A new trailer has been released ahead of the November release of Blade Runner 2099. Prime Video introduced several member sof the cast, and unveiled the new look at the show at this weekend’s New York Comic Con.
Synopsis –
Fifty years after the events of Blade Runner 2049, Los Angeles has been reborn, just not by humanity. Cora, a fugitive in a final bid to stop running, takes on one last identity: a Blade Runner. Forced to partner with Olwen, a Replicant days from dying, she hunts down a runaway hiding a truth that could collapse their fragile city.
The new series will be set in 2099, 5 decades on from the events of Blade Runner 2049. In Los Angeles 2099, there has been a Replicant uprising, turning the tables on humans and leaving them as the subjugated class. Hunter Schafer stars as Cora, and Michelle Yeoh as Olwen.
The show was created by Silka Luisa, who acts as showrunner. Original Blade Runner director Ridley Scott lends credibility by serving as an executive producer, and Jonathan van Tulleken directed the first two episodes. Blade Runner 2099 premieres on Amazon Prime Video on November 25, 2026, and will drop all 8 episodes in one go.
You can watch the new trailer below –
Podcast – Shoulder of Orion: The Blade Runner Podcast
Carrying on with Blade Runner 2099, the Shoulder of Orion has put out a couple of podcast episodes this week relating to the show.
First, they have an interesting interview with the Blade Runner 2099 showrunner, Silka Luisa, recorded at NYCC 2026 by Perfect Organism’s Andie GeekGirl.
They also have a roundtable discussion with the whole Shoulder of Orion team discussing the newly released trailer.
You can find out more about the Shoulder of Orion podcast, and stream more episodes, at www.bladerunnerpodcast.com
Book – Hard Exit
This week saw the release of bestselling author J.S. Holloway’s cyberpunk novel Hard Exit. The next book in the Neu Berlin series following Hard Carry and Hard Traffic, the novel follows the series’ protagonist Felix on perhaps his hardest mission yet.
Synopsis –
The job was simple: Go to Bosnia, get the data, make the drop, and get the hell out in one piece.
But when the drop’s busted Felix has to break out of prison and go on the run with the border closing in eight hours, a warlord’s militia on his tail, and Kovač, a sadistic enforcer hunting him down. Getting out alive means running a gauntlet of gunfire, betrayal, and bad choices, with freedom riding on the outcome.
Can Felix survive this Hard Exit or will he end up as just another casualty of war?
Hard Exit, the third book in the Neu Berlin Arc, is a Cyberpunk Thriller that drops you in it and then runs like hell.
The first novel in the Neu Berlin arc, Hard Carry, was quick and dirty, cyberpunk the hard way, just how we like it. The plot forced Felix to be constantly on the run, moving ever forward, which kept a novel already on the short side clipping along at a blistering pace. The sequel, Hard Traffic, followed in the tradition, opening in transit, and never slowing down for very long.
When Hard Exit opens, we find Felix finally experiencing a period of stillness. OK, it’s because he’s incarcerated in a Bosnian prison, but it’s nice to catch a glimpse of him in something other than motion.
This situation, as you might expect, does not remain for long however. And we’re off again. The motif for the Neu Berlin Arc is very much fast, breathless storytelling, in JS Holloway’s distinctive, colourful literary style. We’ve seen Felix have to get from A to B before, but this time he has a lot more ground to cover, and a ticking clock to grind against. Holloway is great at putting his protagonist into grim, seemingly impossible situations, and continually raising the stakes.
The choice to put Felix into unfamiliar territory is smart. On Neu Berlin soil, he has contacts who can help him out, he knows the turf, so it’s a lot easier for him to get the upper hand. Dropped into the middle of a country he knows little about, with no friends close to hand to help him out of a tight spot, his situation feels a lot more hopeless. The worldbuilding is good, with the power dynamics and cast of characters laid out very efficiently over the course of the book, in a highly fluid situation where loyalties can change in the blink of an eye.
Felix is a compelling character, facing down every challenge with a weary sigh and a choice expletive, but one of the real strengths of the series is in the supporting cast, and Felix’s reactions with them. In Hard Traffic, he had a travelling companion to play off of, and in Hard Exit, he’s wisely given another comrade to banter with, but this time it’s a much more able verbal sparring partner. As a result, the author is given a lot more opportunity to use his skill with snappy dialogue and wisecracks, along with the conflict that comes from people with two dissimilar viewpoints being forced to work together towards a common goal.
The pace of the story is breakneck, and the action thrilling, making Hard Exit a very easy book to burn through in a few sittings. Is it the best of the Neu Berlin arc? Quite possibly. Is it Felix’s last impossible ‘easy’ job? You’ll have to check the book out to find out what exactly the Hard Exit of the title refers to.
Hard Exit is the 3rd book of the Neu Berlin arc, and is available now in ebook, paperback, and hardback formats. You can find out more about J. S. Holloway’s writing at www.jsholloway.com
Podcast – Cyberpunk Cinema Episode 52: Hardware
The latest episode of the Cyberpunk Cinema podcast is available now. This week, host Anthony La Pira takes a look at 1990’s Hardware.
Cyberpunk Cinema is billed as the definitive dive into the dark future of science fiction. Each episode, the show takes a deep dive into a classic cyberpunk movie, with a rundown of the plot, and a lot of trivia on the movie and its production along the way. There are over 50 episodes, covering a mix of big budget movies like The Matrix and Minority Report, stone cold cyberpunk classics like Blade Runner and Robocop, as well as lower budget cult films like Cyborg and Brainscan.
Host Anthony La Pira is a writer/director with a number of shorts in his credits, and as a filmmaker he is uniquely placed to give perspective on the techniques and challenges used to bring these cyberpunk projects to the big screen. You can follow hom on threads at https://www.threads.com/@stormgiantproductions
Trailer – Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2
A new trailer for the forthcoming Cyberpunk animated series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 has been released. The new series will be debut next week, Tuesday 20th October, streaming on Netflix.
Synopsis –
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 pulls you back into Night City, where lives become entangled to the extreme. Weak, a washed-up cyberpunk legend, is now forced to live without chrome as he searches for a sense of purpose in a world that’s passed him by. Meanwhile, the deadly nomad D sets out on a path to revenge that brings him close to corpo secrets never meant to be found. Across this ten-episode standalone series, uncover a story of family, obsession, legacy — and how your lens reflects the stories of the people around you.
The first season of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners debuted on Netflix in September of 2022, to rave reviews, instantly building a devoted fanbase. It has been a long wait for those fans since the finale of the ten episode season aired nearly four years ago. That wait, however, is almost over.
Season 2 will not be a continuation of the story from the first season (and the few surviving characters), and will instead focus on a new cast of characters. CD Projekt Red have been revealing characters at www.cyberpunk.net so be sure to check them out. The new season, as you might expect if you are a fan of the first season, looks frenetic, action packed, and brutal. There was plenty of blood on show in the trailer, along with moody visuals, colourful outfits, and a good look at those new characters in action.
The series is directed by Kai Ikarashi, with character designs by Ichigo Kanno and a story written by Bartosz Sztybor of CD PROJEKT RED and Masahiko Otsuka. There will be 10 episodes in total, and they will be released all at once on Netflix next week, Tuesday 20th October.
You can watch the new trailer below –
Trailer – Gods With Badges
The reveal trailer for narrative tactics game Gods With Badges was released this past week. Set in a dystopian city, it examines the practical and moral issues facing law enforcement agents.
From the publisher –
Patrol the streets of Scarhelm. Decide the fate of your fellow citizens. Take down criminals in brutal turn-based combat. You are a god with a badge, and when you turn on your bodycam at the start of a shift, the only thing you answer to is your conscience, and your fellow officers.
This isometric, turn-based combat game sees you deciding the appropriate level of force required for a variety of different situations. With the help of customizable loadouts, you’ll attend active crime scenes, take cover, rescue hostages, whilst choosing from a number of tactical and dialogue options.
Set in the futuristic dystopian city of Scarhelm, missions will involve seizing illegal contraband, searching for evidence, dealing with complaints, and issuing tickets. When you’ve identified suspects, you’ll need to choose whether to arrest them, or execute them.
Gods With Badges is developed and published by Strange Scaffold, and will be available on PC via Steam. A release date has not yet been announced. You can check out the launch trailer below.
Podcast – The High Tech Low Life Podcast Episode 136: WALL-E
The latest episode of The High Tech Low Life Podcast is available now. This week, hosts Eric and Josh talk about the Pixar movie WALL-E.
The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Every episode, Eric and Josh start by talking about the real world dystopia in which we find ourselves, offer some cyberpunk related or adjacent recommendos, and then discuss a piece of cyberpunk media, sometimes joined by a guest. They have nearly 150 episodes available, and you can find The High Tech Low Life Podcast at the link below, and all good podcast platforms.
Also have another completed podcast, Johnny Mnminute, where each episode they watched one minute of the movie Johnny Mnemonic, and stripped it bare. It’s a great listen, and you can check it out below.
The High Tech Low Life Podcast also has a Patreon, which offers exclusive content and early access to episodes, which you can access below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/hightechlowlife
They also have a channel on the Astronomica Discord server.
Comic – 14-10-26 Releases
We take a look at this week’s cyberpunk and dystopian comic releases. Don’t read it too fast, though…
REBELLION
2000 AD #2504
From the publisher –
I am The Mighty Tharg, all-powerful alien editor of this brain-frazzling sci-fi extravaganza!
Time once again, Terrans, to roll up your sleeves, gird your Thrill-receptors, and prepare to immerse yourselves in another thirty-two pages of pure cosmic excitement, courtesy of the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic.
The scrotnig lineup that blasted into this reality in Prog 2500 — Judge Dredd, Azimuth, Herne & Shuck, Durham Red and Ghosted — continues apace, brimming as ever with high-octane action, adventure and intrigue!
Eagle-eyed Earthlets that you are, I’m sure you didn’t miss the teaser advert in Prog 2502 for a collaboration between my emerald empire and Palace Skateboards, but in case it’s dropped out of the old cranial circuits, consider this a pointer towards palaceskateboards.com, where you can pick up exclusive 2000 AD-branded skate wear.
Equally, if you’re on Instagram and follow 2000 AD, you’ll find an all-new elevenpage Dredd story, scripted by Liam Johnson and drawn by Jake Lynch, specially commissioned by Palace. Make sure you check ‘em out, humes, and look out for more collabs incoming!
2000 AD is a British science fiction comic book, which has been publishing for nearly 50 years 1977, famed for its dark British humour, and satirical and subversive stories. The jewel in the crown is Judge Dredd, a dystopian cyberpunk icon, whilst The Fall of Deadworld is a kind of an alternative history prequel series about Judge Dredd enemy Judge Death. Meanwhile Mega-City 2099 stories serve as a more traditional prequel.
MAD CAVE STUDIOS
Blüdwire #4
From the publisher –
Ace and Zora face a gentler type of violence, when Dr. Mandrake presents a new chance at freedom and safety. And all it will cost is the unthinkable. In a laboratory filled with body parts and brutal lies, Ace and Zora must decide what their future is worth.
The story follows Ace and Zora, two sentient sex-bots, Ace and Zora, who go rogue, planning to run away together. Ace is forced to attempt a high-stakes rescue mission to get Zora, and they become the targets of a ruthless corporate kill squad. Blüdwire is a mix of romance with cyberpunk action thriller.
REKCAH COMICS
THE FUTURE IS ****** #18
From the publisher –
DOOM PATROL’S JAMES HARVEY COMES TO THE FUTURE IS ******! That’s right! The artist behind one of DC’s hit series not only draws this issue, he colors AND letters for a special done-in-one issue setting the stage for the future of everyone’s favorite dog character, Arf! Also, learn to be a hacker with Capture the Flag challenges in each and every issue!
The Future is… comic series attempts to tell stories in a plausible future, extrapolated from where we currently sit. It follows Black Mountain, a white hat team of hackers, as they struggle to prevail against the ruling powers, in a comic created by real cybersecurity experts. As a bonus, each issue will contain a clue that can be used to decrypt the ****** of the title.
INDEPENDENT
THE PATROLMAN BOOK ONE
From the publisher –
In a London fallen to gang control, sealed off from the rest of the world, retired super criminal Theo Deviant is bored.
Corrupt corporations run the city, trading with the rest of the world, offending his anarchist instincts.
Theo realises the only person able to restore London and bring down the Lord Mayor, the enigmatic figure controlling the gangs, is the Patrolman.
But the vigilante nemesis is dead, killed by Theo’s own hand.
So it’s now up to him to train a new Patrolman and take the city back…
Having reached its Kickstarter goal, but with plenty of time left to get on board, The Patrolman has been created as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations of Time Bomb Comics. The story is set in an alternate London ruled by a corrupt Lord Mayor, and the corporations under his influence. After his greatest nemesis, The Patrolman, is killed, a replacement is handpicked to be trained, in order to carry on the ongoing fight. The issue will contain 52 full colour pages, and you can see the available reward tiers on the Kickstarter page – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/timebomb/the-patrolman-book-one
BREEZE #2
From the publisher –
Welcome to Babylon, where megacorporations own your soul and tyrannical super-soldiers keep you in line. Fortunately, firepower is affordable.
In Breeze Issue #2, hacker Galli and cybernetic gunslinger Synth are on the run after pulling off the score of a lifetime. Unfortunately, escaping with their lives proves considerably harder than stealing whatever it was they stole.
With corporate troopers closing in and a particularly persistent bounty hunter on their trail, Galli and Synth have to figure out what they actually stole; and why everyone suddenly wants them dead.
Oh, and somewhere along the way, there’s a cybernetic cat.
With a week left of its Kickstarter campaign, Breeze #2 is a full colour, 35 page comic set in Babylon, a sprawling corporate megacity in the Dawnward Universe, amid a neon-drenched future dominated by megacorporations. In issue #1, hacker Galli joined up with a group of freelancers, who then embarked on the heist of a lifetime—robbing a megacorp. But when you rip off a corporation who have their own squad of super soldiers, getting away with it is not going to be easy. Especially when you also have a bounty hunter on your tails. Breeze is currently funding on Kickstarter, and you can check out all the details, and pledge to the campaign, on the Kickstarter page here – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/breezecomic/breeze-a-cyberpunk-inspired-comic-issue-2
CRITICAL OPS TASK FORCE #1
From the publisher –
War has evolved.
In a brutal near-future, elite mercenaries take on impossible missions for the highest bidder, where survival is never guaranteed and the truth is always buried.
This 130-page, full-color graphic novel delivers three explosive stories set in a violent, high-tech world where power always comes at a cost.
In a fractured future, the Critical Ops Task Force is deployed into conflicts no one else can survive. They are the solution to impossible problems. But every mission leaves scars. As the line between right and wrong disappears, the team begins to question everything, their orders, their purpose, and the system they serve.
Are they saving the world… or helping destroy it?
Fully funded, and with only a couple of days left, writer Nigel Lynch’s Critical Ops Task Force: Volume 1 offers three stories, including The Prodigal Son, about a daring rescue mission, Stolen Salvation, about a rogue scientist, and Ruby Pixel: Ctrl Alt Delete, a cyberpunk thriller about fractured identity and digital ghosts. Critical Ops Task Force is currently funding on Kickstarter, and can check out the Kickstarter page for full details of the tiers available, and to pledge to the campaign – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/akoma/critical-ops-task-force-volume-1?ref=discovery&term=bcr&total_hits=319&category_id=250
SCUM #1
From the publisher –
The Spire is a city of rigid ranks and locked doors, and Sam has managed to slip right through its cracks. The entire city is controlled by an AI god, Panopticia. She and her various underlying programs control every aspect of citizens’ day-to-day life.
Sam is unregistered, which means she can’t interact with any of those systems. On the one hand, that makes life pretty hard. Can’t open a door. Can’t buy a sandwich. Can’t get a job. On the other hand, she can steal anything she wants and the security systems won’t even know she was there. For the AI systems of The Spire, she does not exist.
And so, Sam and her unregistered friends exist on the edges of society, invisible to the eyes of God and just about everything else in The Spire, surviving the only way they can.
After a heist goes wrong, Sam is rescued by Augustus, a mysterious benefactor that needs her help. Unregistered, Sam can move through The Spire undetected. On her own, she has only used this for petty crime. Augustus has a bigger plan and a much more ambitious goal. With Sam’s help, Augustus will kill The Spire’s AI god.
This 48-page cyberpunk comic by Reed Hinckley-Barnes, Halil Mete, and Maja Opacic is still open for late pledges on Kickstarter. You can see the reward tiers on the Kickstarter page, and pledge to the new campaign, here – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reedhb/scum-a-cyberpunk-thriller?ref=profile_created&category_id=250
AVALON #1
From the publisher –
Set in the year 3164, AVALON takes place in a megacity-state built from what was once the United States and all of Europe, a vertical sprawl of neon, rain, and body modification. Humanity has entered a transhumanist age run by consumerism, and the key to immortality lies in cloning Consciousness.
Nico is a Runner, a mercenary who moves small, precious cargo through Avalon’s underworld without asking questions. Her partner Epsy, a brilliant hacker, guides her through the city’s alleys and bridges from the chair. When a routine run descends into chaos, the pair uncover secrets that could change the trajectory of humanity and put them in the sights of Hale Atlan, the CEO of the centuries-old Atlan Industries and a woman who will stop at nothing for immortality.
The Avalon story grew out of the Apollo City Comics’ CyberSync anthology, which introduced a new technology allowing users to link neural implants together, enabling them to communicate telepathically. Avalon is a vast, vertical megacity-state, and is a combination of the former United States and Europe.
POV character Epsy is described as a pragmatic altruist – which means she wants to help everyone, but knows to work with the limits of her sphere of influence. Epsy is a hacker, and is effectively the support agent for her girlfriend, loudmouth Nico. Nico is a runner, specialising in transporting illicit packages through the vast megacity, whilst avoiding the attention of the large corporations that rule Avalon.
Avalon is published by Apollo City Comics. It is written by Alex Batts, with art by Bob Little. Apollo City Comics are an independent comic publisher who have been creating projects since 2023, in a number of different scifi and horror sub-genres. They even have their own podcast. You can learn more on their website at https://www.apollocitycomics.com/
Avalon #1 comes with a number of reward tiers, with digital and physical versions of the comic on offer, bundles in both formats with other Apollo City Comics publications included, and other extras. You can find full details, and pledge to the campaign, on the Kickstarter page – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/apollocitycomics/avalon-1-0
Film – Ephemera
This past week, director Bil Richardson’s experimental cyberpunk movie, Ephemera, became free to watch on Plex. Using an innovative filmmaking technique, Richardson has put together a movie that makes use of existing stock footage to create a whole new narrative.
Synopsis –
In a strange future, a national security agent with pyrotechnic abilities is horribly burned in battle and develops a fear of fire. She returns to action but cannot shake her fear. She undergoes experimental procedures to gain new powers and sets out to get revenge on those who destroyed her life. This film is reminiscent of such science fiction classics as Blade Runner and Ready Player One.
Ephemera began life whilst director Bil Richardson was bedridden in hospital undergoing constant medical treatment. Unable to work physically, he began experimenting with stock footage, cutting together short scenes. Soon, he realised he could cut together enough footage to create the skeleton of a movie. Using this as a base, he wrote a narrative over the footage available to him and turned it into a movie – the production of Ephemera was basically kit-bashing, using parts to create a new and unique whole.
We were curious how the director would be able to tell a satisfying narrative based around consistent characters using stock footage that would clearly contain completely different sets of actors. It turns out he uses some smart plot machinations early in the movie that allows him to use any footage he pleases whilst still being able to tell the story of his main character, a spy named Ephemera.
Given the freedom to put his action hero into any situation he could find footage for, he sends his protagonist on a series of missions in locations around the world. This makes the movie feel episodic, but with a limited amount of shots available to him from each location, it was ultimately the best solution. There is a definite narrative story at the heart of Ephemera, which builds to a finale and conclusion, which is an achievement in itself considering how the movie was made.
Ephemera is not just stitched together from stock footage, though. The director did cast actors and shoot some footage to compliment what he had, and he tells us the film was made for just $7,000. The main character goes through a medical ordeal much like Richardson did, and it wasn’t until he had a finished film that he realised how much of his own story he had put up on screen.
Ephemera is available to watch now, free, on Plex. You can check out the trailer below –
Trailer – Cyber Protocol
This past week, the trailer for upcoming cyberpunk action thriller Cyber Protocol was released. David Bianchi stars as Grimm, a hacker who develops cutting edge technology which enables him to take it to the next level.
Synopsis –
Set in a dystopian Los Angeles, overrun by black market crime and fueled by cryptocurrency. Grimm, a talented cyber hacker, develops the “Acumen” (a neural implant) that allows him to download and cognitively process data instantaneously through his cerebrum.
These abilities give him power to compromise infrastructures and criminal organizations in the “Grid Zone” of Los Angeles. Set out to do moral good with this new device, he is faced with a battle of his own morality.
What he believes can save mankind from itself creates more chaos than good.
From Exertion films, Cyber Protocol is a noir cyberpunk thriller, set in a dystopian world of neural implants, artificial intelligence and black-market crime. It stars David Bianchi, who has cyberpunk pedigree having previously appeared in Westworld, as well as doing voice work on Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. The movie also stars Mena Suvari (american Pie, American Beauty) as Detective Thompson, and Christopher Rodriguez Marquette (Reacher). The directing team behind the project includes Yuri Alves, Christopher Folkens, and Daniel J. Pico. Star Bianchi also serves as Executive Producer, Producer, and Co-Writer, alongside Pico.
Cyber Protocol is scheduled for release on Tuesday November 10th. It will be available on Amazon Prime Video and Apple Movies.
You can check out the trailer below –
PODCAST – HOSTS IN THE SHELL EPISODE 73: The Running Man
The latest episode of Hosts in the Shell is available now. This week, hosts Jon Richter and Matt Adcock, joined by cyberpunk writer Jim Keen, discuss and compare the 1987 and 2025 movie adaptations of Richard Bachman’s The Running Man.
The Hosts in the Shell podcast is a cyberpunk podcast where Jon and Matt discuss the genre’s greatest work, often alongside a notable guest, and they have over 50 episodes available. You can find the Hosts in the Shell podcast at the link below, and all good podcast platforms.
As well as being podcasters, Jon and Matt are also authors with cyberpunk related titles amongst their novels.
You can find out more about Jon’s work here –
You can find out more about Matt’s work here –
www.completedarknessnovel.com/
CYBERSTOPIA – Discord
Cyberstopia now has a Discord server! Please join us and build a community for cyberpunk and dystopia discussion. We have sections for all the latest news, channels for discussion of The Ghost in the Shell series, as well as upcoming shows like Edgrerunners 2, Blade Runner 2099, and Neuromancer, as well as an author section with a number of cyberpunk authors talking about their work, giving updates on your current projects, etc… It’s a great place to hang out.
https://discord.gg/purcXCnXzE
For more of the latest news on cyberpunk and dystopia media, stay tuned to Cyberstopia here on the website, and across social media. If you have a Cyberstopian project or release, or there’s something you think we should be covering, please let us know here in the comments, on your social media platform of choice, or on the Contact page at www.cyberstopia.com
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