Ed Neumeier, who wrote the script to 1987’s original Robocop, has been talking to moviehole.net about a potential prequel series to the 80s action film. Greg D. Smith wonders whether we need to know more about Dick… Jones, that is…

Featuring no sign of Detroit City’s Part Man, Part Machine, All Cop, Ed Neumeier’s proposed prequel TV series will centre on a time in the very near future – ‘a minute and a half in the future’ as Neumeier has it. It will chart the rise of Omni Consumer Products and particularly of a young Richard Jones – the future executive at OCP with connections to organised crime who would be Robocop’s nemesis.

According to Neumeier, Jones wouldn’t necessarily start out as the bad guy we know and loathe, as played by Ronny Cox. The show will follow ‘the evolution of Richard Jones to Dick Jones, the story of OCP and how the world moves into the future, how the corporate world behaves.’

While it seems that no green light has been given by the studio yet, Neumeier seems enthused by the idea and confident it may make it to the screen, but does the world really need more of this universe, and does a series like this without Robocop in it hold any interest? 2014’s reboot was subject to a lukewarm reception at best and even the original movie franchise was subject to diminishing returns after Verhoeven stepped away.

However, this Robocop fan remains optimistic, albeit cautiously so. The 1987 original was every inch the product of its time, taking aim at the rampant consumer culture of the 80s with a fierce satirical edge and serious themes which often belied its bloody, action-heavy exterior. To this day people debate themes in Robocop as a metaphor for Christ himself (obvious) right through to Robocop as a metaphor for the LGBTQIA+ experience. Like The Matrix after it, Robocop remains a work that has endless layers waiting to be peeled back and examined by the curious mind. Conversely, the 2014 reboot, while a competent action vehicle and assembling a star cast, lacked this sort of depth. It was unsure of exactly who it was taking aim at in its satire, Samuel L Jackson’s ebullient media figure with his Tucker Carlson/Sean Hannity vibe or Michael Keaton’s CEO. Even Gary Oldman’s lead scientist character didn’t really seem to know what the script wanted from him from scene to scene. If the movie had a theme, it seemed to be a nebulous indicator that corporate greed and increased automation were ‘bad’ without really examining how or why, nor offering any kind of realistic counterpoint to either.

But if the new TV show is to pan out as Neumeier says, and if the studio are brave enough, imagine the sort of targets such a show could have. Imagine the social commentary it could make, and the egos it could skewer. Imagine watching the transformation of Richard Jones, wide-eyed corporate do-gooder into Dick Jones, in deep with crime bosses, cynically doing whatever it takes to get ahead and not giving a damn if the product works, as long as people buy it. Imagine the sort of complex journey that could be traced against a modern backdrop, of a police force overwhelmed and increasingly militarised by the overreach of corporate financial interest. Imagine Detroit crumbling all over again. Much as it already has. Imagine watching that new generation having their city taken from them by faceless authority figures who want to do what’s right but can only ever do that of which they are capable.

It may not have Robocop. It may not be the balls-to-the-wall action gorefest extravaganza of the original. But in the right hands and with the right sort of backing, OCP the series could be the defining genre series the world needs to see right now, just like its cinematic grandfather before it.

The full interview with Neumeier can be read here