Based on the cult book by Richard K. Morgan, a brand new trailer for Netflix’s ambitious new sci-fi series Altered Carbon has landed.

“In the distant future, human consciousness can be digitized and downloaded into different bodies. Brought back to life after 250 years by Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy) the richest man on Earth, ex-Envoy soldier Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman / Will Yun Lee) must solve Bancroft’s attempted murder for the chance to live again in a world he doesn’t recognize.”

The concept is one we’ve seen many time in various forms; recent body-swap thrillers Criminal and Selfless (both feature Ryan Reynolds), and classics like Total Recall have circled the same subject-matter with varying degrees of success. Altered Carbon looks heavily inspired by Blade Runner, but then takes a sharp turn by adding all the elements of a 90s action movie. Aside from Kinnaman putting the hours in at the gym, I remain sceptical over his leading man potential as his last few forays into big budget fodder hasn’t been great. The remake of Robocop, and Suicide Squad were far from creative wins and used none of the skills Kinnaman put to use in the likes of The Killing or his guest stint of House of Cards.

Purefoy is always watchable, even more so when he’s playing a less than reputable character. The first season of The Following was hypnotic, and Purefoy excelled as charismatic serial killer Joe Carroll. You can also catch Purefoy alongside Michael Kenneth Williams in Hap and Leonard which starts its third season later this year.

Altered Carbon is clearly an expensive gamble for Netflix, well, I say gamble, Netflix has had plenty of costly misfires, and it hasn’t done them any harm thus far. It’s a glossy and grand looking series that could be a whole lot of fun, the only way to know for sure is to watch the show and find out. All ten episodes of Altered Carbon’s first season are available to stream or download from Netflix on February 2