Pantheon (TV series)

Pantheon is an American adult animated science fiction drama television series created by Craig Silverstein. The series is based on a series of short stories by Ken Liu. The first season premiered on September 1, 2022, on AMC+. In January 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 15, 2023.

Plot
In 2001, Stephen Holstrom, a genius visionary and founder of the technology company Logorhythms, began his mission to reach digital immortality with the advancement of "Uploaded Intelligence" or "UI," - scanning the human brain and uploading it on the Cloud. After Holstrom's death, Logorythms continued his project, using various illegal and unethical means to reach their goals.

In the present day, Maddie Kim is a bullied teenager still grieving over the death of her father two years prior. She soon receives mysterious help from someone online, who is soon thereafter revealed to be her deceased father, David Kim, whose consciousness was uploaded to Logorhythms' cloud network following an experimental and destructive brain scan, with its success having been hidden from David's family.

At the same time, Caspian Keyes, a troubled yet highly intelligent teenager has been raised unaware that he lives in a constructed environment and is constantly monitored by Logorythms to one day fulfil a special purpose. Caspian comes into contact with Maddie and the two aid each other in searching for the truth, which also helps Caspian gradually learn about his reality.

Meanwhile, Vinod Chanda, an engineer from the India-based Alliance Telecom company is kidnapped by his corrupt boss and scanned, resulting in his death in the physical world with his UI uploaded to Alliance's systems. With help from previous UI victims, Chanda escapes his virtual prison and goes rogue.

With Maddie and Caspian stuck in the middle, a global conspiracy unfolds that threatens to trigger a new kind of world war.

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 * Katie Chang as Madison "Maddie" Kim, a 14-year-old withdrawn, shy, and strong-willed high school girl.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 Duval, 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 preserve 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. An old friend of David Kim, 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 (season 1), 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 on his 18th birthday.
 * 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 (season 1), a student at Caspian's high school and "Hannah's" friend.
 * Rose also voices Josephine "Joey" Coupet, an American UI and former astronaut created by The Pentagon.
 * Samuel Roukin as Gabe (season 1), Ellen's kind co-worker who became her boyfriend after David's death.
 * Odeya Rush as Samara (season 1), a popular girl at Maddie's school, 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.
 * Nyima Funk as Deirdre Ryan (season 1), 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 (season 2), a paranoid man suspicious of UI technology.
 * Ajay Mehta as Ajit Prasad (season 1), the corrupt CEO of Alliance Telecom, a rival company to Logorhythms, and Chanda's boss.
 * Madhur Jaffrey as Preethi (season 1), 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 (season 1), a Chinese UI and former prison warden who was incarcerated after a gold-mining scheme he operated with Ping and Zong in various MMOs was exposed.
 * Vincent Ventresca as Brother Kenneth (season 1), a Christian priest who assists vulnerable people at his church.
 * Corey Stoll as Jake Moretti, Joey's caring husband.
 * Rosa Salazar as Senator Elaine Rivera (season 2), a member of the U.S. Senate seeking to understand UI technology who allies with Ellen.
 * Kevin Dunn as Senator Scharff (season 2), a member of the U.S. Senate who considers UIs a hoax.
 * Thomasin McKenzie as MIST (season 2), 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 (season 2), Joey's older sister.
 * Lara Pulver as Dr. Olivia Evans (season 2), 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 (season 2), an Iranian UI and scientist for the Tehran MOIS. He was initially sceptical about UI technology before becoming one himself.
 * Mark Ivanir as Yair Gispan (season 2), an Israeli UI and counterintelligence agent for Mossad.
 * Neil deGrasse Tyson as Dr. Moore (season 2), the director of the CDC.
 * Ed Oxenbould as David "Dave" Kim Jr. (season 2), the 20-year-old son of Maddie and Caspian, whose wish to become a UI strains the relationship with his mother.

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 the 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 cast 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.

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.

Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 100% approval rating based on 15 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".