Pantheon (TV series)


Pantheon is an American adult animated science fiction drama television series created by Craig Silverstein and based on a series of short stories by Ken Liu. Set in a world where mind uploading technology is on the verge of mass adoption, it follows three protagonists: Maddie Kim, a grieving teenager whose father was uploaded without her knowledge; Caspian Keyes, a gifted teen unknowingly raised in a constructed environment; and Vinod Chanda, a brilliant computer engineer uploaded against his will. As they place themselves at the center of a global conspiracy, they also deal with societal consequences and existential crises brought forth by rapidly evolving technology.
The first season premiered on September 1, 2022, on AMC+. On January 8, 2023, the first season was removed from AMC+ and HIDIVE; and re-released on Amazon Prime Video with the second season in Australia and New Zealand on October 13, 2023. Since the show's release, it has received critical acclaim for its animation, voice acting, emotional and philosophical depth, as well as its portrayal of the singularity.
WWW amcplus.com/shows/pantheo...

Premise

The series begins with the world on the verge of a technological singularity, spearheaded by the development of mind uploading by two tech companies—Logorhythms and Alliance Telecom—the former continuing the work of visionary Stephen Holstrom after his death eighteen years prior. The two use various illegal and unethical means to achieve their goals, including involuntary uploading, and the use of uploads as forced labourers.
Maddie Kim, a bullied teenager still grieving over the death of her father two years prior, begins receiving help from someone online, who is soon revealed to be her deceased father, David Kim. David, a Logorhythms programmer, signed onto a destructive brain scan, whose success was obscured from his family. Soon, Laurie Lowell—a fellow upload created by Logorhythms—reaches out to them both.
Meanwhile, Caspian Keyes, a troubled teenage prodigy, remains unaware that his life has been manipulated since birth by Logorhythms to prepare him for a special purpose. Constantly monitored by the company, he comes into contact with Maddie, and the two aid each other in their search for the truth, which eventually leads to revelations about his identity.
At the same time, Vinod Chanda, an engineer at the India-based Alliance, is kidnapped and uploaded by his boss, becoming the world's third upload. With the help of fellow victims from the slums of Mumbai, Chanda escapes his virtual prison and goes rogue.
As Caspian and Maddie become entangled in a global conspiracy, an arms race unfolds as superpowers pursue the technology, threatening to spark a new kind of world war. This summary covers only Season 1, with further events depicted in Season 2.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Katie Chang as Madison "Maddie" Kim, a 14-year-old withdrawn, shy, and strong-willed high school girl. Maddie has an affinity for technology and was taught computer programming by her father. Smart and determined, Maddie displays a lot of bravery as she gets entangled in a large conspiracy.
  • Paul Dano as Caspian Keyes, a 17-year-old sullen yet kind and moral teenager. A computer science genius, Caspian has unknowingly been raised as a special Logorhythms operation for the purpose of becoming the "key" to Holstrom's UI legacy.
  • Aaron Eckhart as Cary Duvall, Caspian's "father" and a secret agent of Logorhythms, having worked closely with Holstrom before his death. While he plays the role of an abusive husband, Cary genuinely cares for Caspian and wants to protect him.
  • *Eckhart also voices Admiral Kurtz, the director of the NSA and the head of the U.S. government's covert UI program.
  • Rosemarie DeWitt as Ellen Kim, Maddie's protective and down-to-earth mother, and a college history professor.
  • Chris Diamantopoulos as Julius Pope, the CEO of Logorhythms, who is seeking to realize the dreams of his best friend, Holstrom, and leads Holstrom's inner circle in his place.
  • Raza Jaffrey as Vinod Chanda, a brilliant engineer working for Alliance Telecom who has an interest in UI technology. After he's killed and forcefully uploaded as a UI, Chanda was able to escape his cage and become the third rogue UI.
  • Daniel Dae Kim as David Kim, Maddie's loving, altruistic father and a computer programming genius. Afflicted with a terminal illness when he was 43 years old, David agreed to Logorhythms's UI procedure to copy his mind and became the second UI. With help from his family and Laurie, he was eventually able to escape Logorhythms.
  • Ron Livingston as Dr. Peter Waxman, the head of research at Logorhythms and one of few who know of the company's UI project. A close friend of David and Ellen, he previously recruited David to help them with their UI research.
  • Taylor Schilling as Renee, Caspian's "mother" and a secret agent of Logorhythms, who was Holstrom's former lover. While she acts as a timid and caring mother, Renee coldly sees Caspian as an assignment.

Supporting

  • Krystina Alabado as Rachel Brooks / Hannah, a new student at Caspian's high school who befriends him. She is later revealed to be an NYU graduate and actress who is paid to pose as Caspian's girlfriend. While believing it for a social experiment, Hannah shows signs of guilt for tricking Caspian but endures the role to earn money for her sick mother. Her "Hannah" persona is based on Holstrom's former girlfriend who died in a car crash the night before his 18th birthday.
  • * Alabado also voices Kelly, a student at Maddie's school, Berkshire Academy, who is part of a group of popular students.
  • Kevin Durand as Anssi, a Logorhythms employee based at their Norway headquarters and part of Holstrom's inner circle.
  • * Durand also voices Arkady Koslov, a Russian UI and expert hacker working for the GRU.
  • Anika Noni Rose as Nicole, a student at Berkshire Academy, who is part of a group of popular students.
  • * Rose also voices Side-Pony, a student at Caspian's high school who befriends "Hannah"
  • * Josephine "Joey" Coupet, an American UI and former astronaut created by The Pentagon.
  • Samuel Roukin as Gabe, Ellen's kind co-worker who became her boyfriend after David's death.
  • Odeya Rush as Samara, a student at Berkshire Academy, and the ringleader of a group of popular students.
  • Maude Apatow as Justine, a blunt and somewhat apathetic student at Berkshire Academy who Maddie befriends.
  • William Hurt as Stephen Holstrom, the founder of Logorhythms and a genius billionaire. Although he died before perfecting uploaded intelligence, his followers carried on his work. His brain is later revealed to have been cryogenically frozen after his death, allowing Logorhythms to upload his mind and become a UI. The character is modelled after Ray Kurzweil and Steve Jobs.
  • Nyima Funk as Deirdre Ryan, a Logorhythms employee and part of Holstrom's inner circle. As a lawyer, she handles the legal aspects of Logorhythm's projects.
  • Michael Kelly as Karl Van Leuwen, a Logorhythms employee and part of Holstrom's inner circle. As a therapist, he helps oversee the psychological aspects of Caspian's grooming.
  • Heather Lind as Laurie Lowell, a former investment manager on Wall Street who was left in critical condition after a car crash when she was 31 years old. She soon underwent Logorhythms's UI procedure and became the first successful UI.
  • Scoot McNairy as Cody Lowell, an artist and Laurie's husband. Despite previously being lied to by Logorhythms that Laurie's UI procedure was a failure, Cody eventually reunites with his wife and they work together with the Kim family.
  • * McNairy also voices Kurt, a paranoid man suspicious of UI technology.
  • Ajay Mehta as Ajit Prasad, the corrupt CEO of Alliance Telecom, a rival company to Logorhythms, and Chanda's boss.
  • Madhur Jaffrey as Preethi, Chanda's elderly mother.
  • Tunde Adebimpe as Dr. Stephen Gold, the head of the Defense Sciences Office at DARPA who is part of the U.S. government's covert UI program.
  • Grey Griffin as Zhong Shuchun, a Chinese UI and a former commissar in the military who took part in Bai Fu's gold-mining scheme. She is the team leader of the Chinese UI trio created by the Beijing MSS.
  • Clyde Kusatsu as Han Ping, a Chinese UI and former physicist. Before becoming a UI, he was a political prisoner in Bai Fu's prison who took part in Bai's gold-mining scheme. He believes that his nation has become corrupted by capitalism and sees potential in UI technology.
  • Ken Leung as Bai Fu, a Chinese UI and former prison warden who was incarcerated after a gold-mining scheme he operated with Zhong and Ping in various MMOs was exposed.
  • Vincent Ventresca as Brother Kenneth, a Catholic brother who assists vulnerable people at his church.
  • Corey Stoll as Jake Moretti, Joey's caring husband.
  • Rosa Salazar as Senator Elaine Rivera, a member of the U.S. Senate seeking to understand UI technology who allies with Ellen.
  • Kevin Dunn as Senator Scharff, a member of the U.S. Senate who considers UIs a hoax.
  • Thomasin McKenzie as MIST, an advanced C.I. made by Caspian from the remnants of the UIs of David Kim and Laurie Lowell, who considers Maddie her sister. She is named by her "father", David, as an acronym for "Modulated Integrated Source Template" and has a curious, excitable personality.
  • Tisha Campbell as Pasha Coupet, Joey's older sister.
  • Lara Pulver as Dr. Olivia Evans, a British UI and researcher for MI6. She had an interest in human-UI relations before becoming one herself.
  • Navid Negahban as Dr. Farhad Karimi, an Iranian UI and scientist for the Tehran MOIS. He was initially skeptical about UI technology before becoming one himself.
  • Mark Ivanir as Yair Gispan, an Israeli UI and counterintelligence agent for Mossad.
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson as Dr. Moore, the director of the CDC.
  • Ed Oxenbould as David "Dave" Kim., the 20-year-old son of Maddie and Caspian, whose wish to become a UI strains the relationship with his mother.

Production

Development

On August 3, 2018, it was reported that AMC opened a writers room for the animated drama Pantheon. On March 10, 2020, AMC had given the production a 2-season series order consisting eight episodes each. Pantheon is AMC's first hour-long animated drama original series. The series is created by Craig Silverstein who also executive produced the series. AMC Studios and Titmouse, Inc. are involved with producing the series. The series is based on Ken Liu's short stories "The Gods Will Not Be Chained", "The Gods Will Not Be Slain", "The Gods Have Not Died in Vain", "Staying Behind", "Altogether Elsewhere, Vast Herds of Reindeer" and "Seven Birthdays" from the short fictions collection The Hidden Girl and Other Stories.
A second season was in production by August 2022. On January 8, 2023, AMC canceled the series after one season, despite a two-season order. It was also removed from AMC's streaming service and HIDIVE. In September 2023, Amazon Prime Video announced that it picked up the series for release.

Casting

On July 23, 2020, Taylor Schilling, Rosemarie DeWitt, Aaron Eckhart, and Paul Dano were announced in starring roles. On August 7, 2020, Daniel Dae Kim, Katie Chang, Ron Livingston, Chris Diamantopoulos, Raza Jaffrey, Scoot McNairy, Anika Noni Rose, Grey Griffin, SungWon Cho, Kevin Durand, Samuel Roukin, and Krystina Alabado joined the cast in starring roles. On February 18, 2021, William Hurt, Maude Apatow, Corey Stoll, and Lara Pulver were cast in starring roles.

Soundtrack

Marco Beltrami, Brandon Roberts, and Buck Sanders composed the soundtrack, which was never officially released. It was later released on YouTube by Buck Sanders, beginning in February 2025. The songs "27 Kids" and "Superstar" by GRMLN were prominently featured in the show's first episode.

Scientific accuracy

Pantheon is regarded as hard science fiction by critics as well as by those who worked on it. Ken Liu, previously employed as a Microsoft software engineer, participated in the early stages of story development, where he was responsible for devising scientifically sound ideas. The writers applied a high level of scientific rigor to the story, with Stanley Von Medvey brought onto the project as assistant director and visual development supervisor to elevate the visual elements of the show to the standard of hard sci-fi. Characters go into depth about mathematical or computational tasks they deal with, including Edsger Dijkstra’s dining philosophers problem, and the series generally avoids technobabble, using proper jargon instead. The productivity of uploads is shown to increase when the emotional centers of the brain are reintegrated—a plot point based on a study of master chess players, which found that emotion and intuition play equally significant roles.

Release

The series premiered on September 1, 2022, on AMC+ and HIDIVE. The first episode was available for all viewers on HIDIVE and on AMC+ official YouTube. After its removal from AMC and HIDIVE platforms, Amazon Prime Video set a release date for the second season in Australia and New Zealand for October 15, 2023.
The series was acquired by Netflix for international distribution. The first season was released in November 2024 and the second in February 2025.

Themes

The series delves into themes of consciousness, identity, society, and theological philosophy, as well as ideas such as grief, love, and family that comprise the emotional core of the story. The central question the show asks is what it means to be human, raising a number of transhumanist inquiries which it explores from multiple angles. Alongside them are questions of biological determinism, the dangers of nostalgia, and the human cost of technological progress.

Technology and humanity

Pantheon aligns itself with techno-realism, though it is sometimes described as techno-pessimist, with the series showcasing both the threat and utility of emerging technology. Uploaded intelligences are, in contrast to other on-screen representations, portrayed as humans with machine-like attributes, rather than machines with human-like intelligence. While analogous to gods, they are as human as anyone else. The show presents technology as an extension of human civilisation, rather than a superimposition, with human struggles persisting even in the absence of death and disease. It features a two-season-long arc: in Season 1, the horror of uploading is emphasised; in Season 2, it is framed in an increasingly positive light as uploaded society matures. The series acknowledges that building a better world will be a complicated process, but ultimately presents a fundamentally optimistic view of humanity's future.

Power and geopolitics

Pantheon explores the risks associated with corporate power, and the capacity of technology to reinforce or dismantle preexisting power structures. The two tech companies in the show—Logorhythms and Alliance—view their uploads as mere business assets, routinely wiping their memories so they can continue as slave labourers. Alliance, the underdog, uses any opportunity available to get ahead in the corporate arms race. In Season 1, uploading doesn't benefit regular people so much as it enriches corporations. By the end of the season, states such as the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, Israel, and Iran supplant corporations as the driving forces behind technological advancement, resulting in a global cold war. The following anxiety and unrest is taken advantage of by politicians and other actors, who appeal to ignorance and manipulate public sentiment through social media. In Season 2, Vinod Chanda and Chinese political prisoner-turned-upload Han Ping discuss the future of communism in a digital world.

Grief, love, and family

As a family drama, the series explores the impact of uploading on familial relationships, particularly through the lens of Maddie's relationship with her father, David. Pantheon concentrates on the emotional fallout of his predicament, Maddie's grief over his death, and his widowed wife Ellen's struggle to believe the uploaded version of her husband is the same as the man she's lost. Season 2 features a love story between Iranian scientist Farhad Karimi and MI6 researcher Olivia Evans, former rivals who come to know and empathise with each other, experiencing forms of love impossible for embodied humans—such as experiencing each other's memories firsthand. It also touches on the long-lived but impermanent nature of relationships between uploads, including an eighty-year-long marriage that is only briefly mentioned. Grief is depicted as an overpowering force that, in the face of devastating losses, drives both characters and the plot forward.

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 100% approval rating based on 17 critic reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "A sophisticated treatise on consciousness and mortality, this absorbing mind-bender earns its own place in the pantheon of exemplary animated television." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 77 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Season 1

Judy Berman of TIME called it "a gripping, cerebral, remarkably high-concept animated sci-fi series", lauding the voice acting as well as its philosophical and emotional conflicts. Tracy Palmer of stated: "Pantheon is a cyberpunk mystery filled with philosophical, intelligent, and emotional weight", but criticised it for heavy-handed symbolism and awkward dialogue. Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter called it "a scenario that feels simultaneously farfetched and depressingly familiar", commending the show's animation and ability to ground its sci-fi concepts in relatable characters. Nick Schager of The Daily Beast described its visuals as "polished, angular, and marked by occasional nightmarish visions", and praised the voice acting, though he found some plot elements convoluted. John Andersen of The Wall Street Journal stated: "There is an adjustment period required by Pantheon—one needs to reconcile the almost guileless quality of the imagery with the dauntingly futuristic tale being told and the disquieting notions being proposed." Katherine Smith of Paste praised the show for its emotional depth and willingness to engage with the ethics of uploading, giving it an 8.5 out of 10. Writing for Slant Magazine, Ross McIndoe praised the show for grounding high-concept science fiction in a relatable family drama, awarding it 9 out of 10.

Season 2

Samantha Nelson of IGN gave the second season a 7 out of 10, stating that it " beautiful and far reaching final chapter deftly explores the power of connection and loss across time and space, though an unfortunately generic tech bro villain and some extraneous characters keep the season from being truly excellent." Zosha Millman of Polygon called it "a freer version of the show and even more of a good time than the first", comparing the animation to Invincible and other Titmouse productions, and noting its ability to "portray how surreal and unlimited virtual reality is". In an article for The Age, Craig Mathieson praised the second season for "its knotty concepts, high-tech global stakes, and defiant young characters", as well as its animation, which he said "has a classical elegance." Elijah Gonzalez of Paste Magazine gave it an 8 out of 10, highlighting its transhumanist inquiries and noting that it "feels grounded and deeply inspired by recent events". While he compared its final episodes to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Neon Genesis Evangelion, he criticised their pacing. Zoë Bernard of Vanity Fair noted that "in Silicon Valley, particularly among people working in AI, it is well on its way to cult status", and praised its technorealist depiction of the singularity. Writing for Wired, Matt Kamen called it a "hard sci-fi outing offers a dark examination of virtual immortality" and "a uniquely brilliant adult animated series." In an article for, Emmanuel Noisette called it "an intellectual, mind-bending sci-fi series that refuses to play it safe" and "one of the most thought-provoking and visually striking animated series in years", giving it an 8 out of 10.