Altered Carbon is returning on February 27 with a whole new look for its protagonist, Takeshi Kovacs. Played in the first season by Joel Kinnaman, the character has been given a new “sleeve” (or meat sack, or skin suit, or whatever you want to call it), and with it a new actor to take on the role: Anthony Mackie. The latest teaser for the second season only reveals slightly more than previous teasers, but we do get a peek at our old pal, Poe (Chris Conner), as well as our first real look at Mackie in action as Takeshi. Picking up where the first season left off, the second installment finds Takeshi embroiled in dual missions: Investigating a series of murders while trying to find his former love—the creator of the “stack” technology and the leader of the uprising he once joined: Quellcrist Falconer (Renée Elise Goldsberry). Here’s the surprisingly thorough plot synopsis from Netflix:
Altered Carbon takes place over 300 years in the future in a society transformed by new technology: consciousness can be digitized; human bodies are interchangeable; death is no longer permanent. Season Two of the sophisticated and compelling sci-fi drama finds Takeshi Kovacs (Anthony Mackie), the lone surviving soldier of a group of elite interstellar warriors, continuing his centuries old quest to find his lost love Quellcrist Falconer (Renée Elise Goldsberry). After decades of planet-hopping and searching the galaxy, Kovacs finds himself recruited back to his home planet of Harlan’s World with the promise of finding Quell. Haunted by his past and responsible for investigating a series of brutal murders, Kovacs is stunned to discover his new mission to solve the crime and his pursuit to find Quell are one and the same. With the help of his loyal A.I. Poe (Chris Conner), Kovacs must now partner with new allies to outwit his enemies and find the truth: Who is Quellcrist Falconer?