Summary
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Dark Matter
creator Blake Crouch chose to remove dramatic scene from the book to maintain scientific accuracy in Apple TV+ series. - Crouch realized the scene ‘never should have been in the book.’
- Apple TV+ series Dark Matter praised for dense, thought-provoking plot by audiences and critics.
WARNING! This article contains spoilers from Apple TV+’s Dark Matter.
Apple TV+ series Dark Matter‘s creator Blake Crouch revealed a specific scene from his novel that he chose to alter for the television series. The scene involves a concept that, while intriguing, strayed from scientific plausibility.
Dark Matter, which debuted this May and stars Joel Edgerton, dives deep into the world of quantum mechanics and alternate realities. The show follows Edgerton’s character, Jason, who finds himself abruptly transported into a different version of his own life. This adaptation of Crouch’s 2016 novel—which enjoyed a warm reception upon release—has been generally well-received by audiences and critics alike, who praise its dense, thought-provoking plot.
During an interview with Variety, Crouch explained the rationale behind the change. The series creator said:
There is one thing, but it wasn’t left out because it was a darling, it was left out because when I spoke to my scientific advisor, I realized it never should have been in the book in the first place.
Dark Matter (2024)
4/5
Based on his novel of the same name, Dark Matter is a sci-fi drama-thriller television series created for Apple TV+ by Blake Crouch. The series follows a physicist who is kidnapped and thrown into an alternate reality where he witnesses one potential path his life could have taken. However, he learns that the lives of his family are in jeopardy by an alternate version of himself.
- Release Date
- May 8, 2024
- Seasons
- 1
- Writers
- Blake Crouch
- Streaming Service(s)
- Apple TV+
- Directors
- Jakob Verbruggen
In the original narrative, Jason finds himself in “The Box,” a mysterious structure filled with doors leading to infinite realities. Here, he encounters a disheveled and wounded version of himself, an image Crouch initially found visually striking but ultimately recognized as scientifically untenable.
“There’s a moment where Jason is in The Box walking in the corridor alone and he sees this figure – it’s a version of him and he’s naked and all cut up. And I realized that’s actually impossible. That was the only thing I corrected from the book.”
“If you open the door and step into The Box and you close the door, you’re in superposition. What we see inside the box is a manifestation of a five-dimensional probability space from inside the minds of the people who step into The Box,” Crouch explained.
So to have someone else in the corridor — where does that other Jason come from? Don’t get me wrong, it looks cool, and we had a lot of conversations about putting it in. But it ultimately didn’t make sense.
Apple TV+ Delivers Another Sci-Fi Gem with Dark Matter
Apple TV+ has been the go-to streaming service for sci-fi series lovers. The streamer has created series that are as intellectually rigorous as they are visually appealing. The latest entry among these shows is Crouch’s Dark Matter.
Dark Matter boasts a commendable Rotten Tomatoes score of 80%, showing positive critical reception, though its audience score lingers slightly lower at 69%. This discrepancy may hint at viewer ambivalence towards the show’s pace and its methodical narration of the central plot. Yet, such a meticulous approach is increasingly rare in an era where many streaming offerings are designed for casual, distracted viewing.
Dark Matter Review: Existential Sci-Fi Drama Succeeds with Romance and Thrills
Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Connelly, and Alice Braga lead Dark Matter, a romantic sci-fi thriller based on Blake Crouch’s book.
The series is adapted from Blake Crouch’s novel, which also received favorable reviews for its thought-provoking content. Crouch, who is actively involved in the show’s production, made a significant decision to omit a particularly dramatic scene from the book. In the novel, the protagonist, Jason, encounters a battered alternate version of himself in a surreal, multidimensional space known as “The Box.” This scene, while powerful, was excluded from the screen adaptation to maintain scientific fidelity.
