A ‘Robocop’ Reboot Is on the Way From James WAN and OCP

I wore out my Robocop 3 VHS when I was little. Robo had a jetpack, fought robotic samurai, and helped a bunch of weary cops battle an army of Splatter Punks. He drove a cool car and battled bad guys. It was rad, and everything Paul Verhoeven was making fun of in the first film. There hasn’t been a single Robocop movie or show to capture the magic Verhoeven, Ed Neumeier, and Michael Miner brought to our screens all those decades ago. But that hasn’t stopped people from trying (and hey, the video game is a lot of fun).

Recently, I’ve revisited the TV show from the 90s because the aesthetics are good sleeping material. But the little bit of it I’ve watched is insane. Robo has a hologram of his wife who rides shotgun with him and whom he talks to; the villains are somehow even more cartoonish, and the whole thing feels more like propaganda that would exist in the Robocop universe (if that was what they were going for, great, but I doubt it. Now, another TV outing for Alex Murphy is on the way.

Deadline is reporting that television veteran Peter Ocko will showrun the new endeavor, which is being produced by James Wan and Jason Blum’s production company, Blumhouse Atomic Monster. Wan will also serve as executive producer, and released a statement praising Verhoeven’s original. “What Paul Verhoeven created in 1987 was decades ahead of its time, and its questions about technology, identity, and who corporations really serve have only grown more urgent,” he explained. “With Peter’s distinctive vision and bold approach to storytelling, and alongside Ed and our partners at Amazon MGM Studios, we’re working to honor what made the original iconic and highlight its relevancy in this modern, tech-driven world, while building something unmistakably new for a global audience.”

Wan’s sentiment is all well and good. But can the show really tackle corporate greed and overreach the way the original did if it’s being made by Amazon, an entity which the original film is obviously satirizing? Hell, the kind of scandals Amazon has been embroiled in might feel quaint compared to what was presented in 1987. And that begs another question: will the satire even feel pointed in a world where betting companies are making ads about the civil rights movement?

The world has caught up to Robocop, and it’s hard to recreate something that was ahead of its time without being ahead of its time once more. But to do that, you can’t simply do what Robocop did. There have to be new ideas and methods at play. New angles have to be explored. I hope that happens! A Robocop reboot that manages to be as forward-thinking and edgy as the original? I’d buy that for a dollar! So, best of luck to all involved, cause this sounds like it’s going to be tough.