The Dark Matter Apple TV series describes itself as being based on the the international best-selling book of the same name by Blake Crouch. The show made its debut on May 8, 2024, dropping the first two episodes right from the start and releasing later episodes on a weekly basis. This sci-fi thriller follows the physicist Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton), who is happily married to Daniela Dessen (Jennifer Connelly), but is then abducted into another timeline by his alternate self. The novel released back in 2016, so viewers might expect this adaptation to have some changes. Here’s a breakdown of how close the Dark Matter series on Apple TV+ is to the source material.
How similar is the Dark Matter Apple TV series to the book?
The Dark Matter series on Apple TV+ begins very close to the book, but then slowly but surely introduces edits and new scenes that are original to the show.
Sometimes the changes in the adaptation are made by a showrunner playing fast and loose with the source material. But on this occasion, the series was created by Blake Crouch himself, and the teleplay was mainly written by him as well. He is credited for writing the script for the first four episodes and part of the seventh episode. So any deviations from the book here were made with his blessing. In fact, since the plot is about alternate timelines, it can be said that this TV storyline is perhaps a separate version that exists alongside the book.
At any rate, the first episode of Dark Matter follows the original story very closely, to the point that some lines of dialogue from the book are directly spoken. The show is still about the original Jason being kidnapped by a more successful version of himself and him trying to get back to his family in his original timeline.
That said, fans of the book will notice more than several changes in just the first few episodes. Jason is able to escape from his confinement in a much easier fashion than in the book, and the alternate version of Daniela, who isn’t married to him in this other timeline, is seen figuring out what has happened to him. The villainous version of Jason is also seen being smarter than his book counterpart, using a storage unit as a place where he can hide any evidence and ostensibly plan his next move. The relationship between him and Amanda Lucas is more explicit than it is in the book too as they both share a house. These are just a few details that have been introduced in the show, which may pay off as the show continues.
