New series coming in September, based on short stories from award-winning author Ken Liu, delves into technology, humanity, and the meaning of consciousness; all-star cast includes Daniel Dae Kim, Katie Chang, Paul Dano, and Aaron Eckhart.
The 2D animated sci-fi drama Pantheon, based on short stories by award-winning author Ken Liu, explores the outer limits of what people and technology can create and destroy and the possibilities of “uploading” human consciousness to the “cloud.” The first traditionally animated series produced for AMC Networks launches on AMC+ Thursday, September 1, with episodes rolling out weekly.
The show follows a bullied teen (Katie Chang) who receives mysterious help from a stranger online, soon revealed to be her recently deceased father, David (Daniel Dae Kim). Following an experimental destructive brain scan, David’s consciousness was uploaded to the Cloud. Now he is the first of a new kind of being – an “Uploaded Intelligence” or “UI” – but he will not be the last, as a global conspiracy unfolds that threatens to trigger a new kind of world war.
Pantheon addresses the theme of technology through the lens of family, the people whose brains have been digitally uploaded, and the loved ones left behind. The show is said to challenge the notion of what it actually means to be human.
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The all-star voice cast includes Kim (Lost, Hawaii Five-O); Chang (The Bling Ring); Paul Dano (Escape at Dannemora) as Caspian; Rosemarie DeWitt (Little Fires Everywhere) as Ellen; Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) as Cary; Taylor Schilling (Orange Is The New Black) as Renee; Ron Livingston (A Million Little Things) as Waxman; Chris Diamantopoulos (Silicon Valley) as Pope; Raza Jaffrey (Homeland) as Chanda; and William Hurt (Black Widow, Goliath) as Stephen Holstrom. Other cast members include Scoot McNairy; Anika Noni Rose; Maude Apatow; Corey Stoll; Michael Kelly; Grey Griffin; SungWon Cho; Kevin Durand; Samuel Roukin; Krystina Alabado; Lara Pulver; Madhur Jeffrey; Heather Lind; Nyima Funk; Tunde Adebimpe; Quinn Hawking; Clyde Kusatsu; Ken Leung; Jacob Sartorius; Vincent Ventresca; Julian Lerner; Magnus McLain; Ajay Mehta; Annabella Sciorra; and Suraj Sharma.
The series is helmed by series writer, creator, showrunner, and executive producer Craig Silverstein (TURN: Washington’s Spies, Nikita, Terra Nova) with animation by Titmouse (home to Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head, Motorcity, and Big Mouth). Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Antonio Canobbio, Ben Kalina, and Juno Lee executive produce for Titmouse.
Source: AMC Networks
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
