I’m Confident Apple TV+ Could Do This Blake Crouch Book Justice After Dark Matter’s Success

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Dark Matter season 1, as well as some details about the plot of Blake Crouch’s Recursion book.

I was nervous about how Apple TV+’s Dark Matter adaptation would turn out, but now I’ve seen how well it was done, there’s another Blake Crouch novel I’d love to see get the same treatment. Crouch has written many sci-fi novels, with Dark Matter being one of his most popular. So, I completely understand why Apple TV+ chose it first – well, that and the fact that the author’s Wayward Pines trilogy adaptation was canceled by Fox after season 2. Dark Matter illustrates Crouch’s talent for high-concept storytelling, but another of his books takes his cerebral style to the next level.

Dark Matter made changes to the book when it was adapted for the small screen, so I’d expect the same to happen to any other live-action version of Crouch’s work. However, all the new introductions to the narrative and fresh additions to the Dark Matter cast of characters perfectly complemented the source material. So, I feel much less worried about another book from the author being adapted – if it’s ever chosen to hit Apple TV+.

Apple TV+ Should Give Recursion The Live-Action Treatment After Dark Matter’s Success

Recursion would make a great addition to Apple TV+’s robust sci-fi collection

Dark Matter was originally published in 2016. Three years later, 2019’s Recursion hit the shelves. I remember buying it and not even looking at the blurb. Crouch is one of those authors I trust will always give me an enjoyable ride, and I wasn’t disappointed by what I found. I’ll admit that Recursion could be difficult to adapt for TV, but I also thought that about Dark Matter. Now, Apple TV+ has proven that it’s more than capable of bringing Blake Crouch’s mind-bending stories to life, and I really hope Recursion is next.

Of course, I know there’s no guarantee that Recursion will be anywhere near the top of Apple TV+’s priority list. In fact, I have a suspicion that a potential Dark Matter season 2 may be on the horizon – especially going by the teases at the end of Dark Matter season 1. However, the platform must find Dark Matter‘s stellar reviews encouraging considering the project marks their first Crouch collaboration. So, even though Recursion isn’t confirmed to be adapted by Apple TV+, I have to believe it’s at least among the contenders in Crouch’s body of work.

What Blake Crouch’s Recursion Is About (& How The Book Compares To Dark Matter)

At first, Recursion felt very different from Dark Matter, as the former has two protagonists rather than the lone hero in the latter. However, as Recursion progresses, I found Crouch’s hallmarks coming into increasingly clear focus. The biggest difference is Recursion makes use of the time travel trope, rather than Dark Matter‘s multiverse. Both stories take their respective sci-fi tropes and shine a new light on them, with Crouch using each one in an incredibly creative way.

Recursion‘s time travel technology requires its characters to dwell on a specific moment in time to allow them to travel back via memories. Eventually, when the traveler reaches the point in time they initially traveled back from, the events of both the altered and original timelines coexist within the minds of anyone affected by the temporal divergence. Initially interpreted as a neurological pathogen, time travel eventually becomes public knowledge and has catastrophic consequences. So, the stakes are far higher in Recursion than they are in Dark Matter, as Jason Dessen and those around him are the only ones who suffer.

At its core, Dark Matter is about accepting the past. I also found it to be a cautionary tale about dwelling on regrets. The story communicates this by Jason2 taking extreme and ultimately unsuccessful measures while attempting to rectify the decisions he believed to be wrong for him years down the line. Recursion has a very similar message, except it offers the characters a chance to actually travel back and make their desired changes to the timeline. Like in Dark Matter, Recursion‘s opportunity for a second chance spins wildly out of control.

1 Dark Matter Easter Egg Suggests I’ll Be Waiting A While For Recursion To Be Adapted

Apple TV+ has already teased its next Blake Crouch projects

There is some evidence to suggest that Recursion could be at least third in line when it comes to future adaptations of Blake Crouch books on Apple TV+. In Dark Matter season 1, episode 7, “In the Fires of Dead Stars,” I noticed a coy nod to two other works by the author: Upgrade and Summer Frost. The titles can be spotted outside a movie theater as Jason runs to his house when he arrives home in his native version of Chicago.

While I’d certainly welcome adaptations of both these Blake Crouch titles, I’m also aware that the production process isn’t a quick one. Neither have been officially announced yet, and they could be nothing more than a fun reference, but I’m of the opinion that these are at least two semi-confirmed projects that Apple TV+ has in mind to follow Dark Matter. If they are, and even if Recursion is chosen to be adapted after them, I’ll likely be waiting a long time for it to follow Dark Matter‘s success.

Dark Matter (2024)

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.

Cast

Joel Edgerton , Jennifer Connelly , Alice Braga , Jimmi Simpson , Oakes Fegley , Dayo Okeniyi

Release Date

May 8, 2024

Seasons

1

Writers

Blake Crouch

Directors

Jakob Verbruggen

Creator(s)

Blake Crouch

Where To Watch

Apple TV+

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