Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy are no strangers to mind-bending science fiction. It shouldn’t come as surprise that the Westworld showrunners are at it again…. This time they shift their talents over to Amazon Studios for the upcoming technological thriller The Peripheral. Starring Chloe Grace Moretz, the show follows Flynn Fisher, a young woman from rural North Carolina looking to escape the real world through virtual reality gaming. Things, as usual, are not as they seem in the virtual world, taking Flynn on a journey of intrigue and danger. Moretz, co-star Gary Clark, and others were on hand at NYCC 2022 to introduce the show to the world.

Pulling from William Gibson’s source material of the same name, Nolan likened “that first hit of acid” to his first reading of The Peripheral. The story pulls you into another world both technologically advanced yet “still so believable,” noted Clark (Wilf Netherton). Set in 2032 North Carolina and “Future London,” the show aims to provide a sense of realism, and a warning. T’Nia Miller (Cherise) felt the show to be particularly ominous, noting how, though set many years in the future, the technology and events depicted could occur much sooner.

The Peripheral: balancing the real and the virtual

Lisa Joy emphasized that one of her goals in the series was to capture the “imaginative breath of the future.” That was something J.J. Field (Lev) was all too happy to confirm. “There’s a style to ‘Future London’ unrivaled in anything I’ve ever seen,” Field confirmed. As much as The Peripheral takes a deep dive into the perils of the future, it also maintains a sense of “home and humanity,” according to Chloe Grace Moretz. Perhaps that’s because, as Moretz revealed, there are “so many shades of” herself in Flynn Fisher’s character.

The Peripheral; Chloe Grace Moretz; Amazon Studios
Chloe Grace Moretz attends a panel for The Peripheral at NYCC 2022. (Image: JJ Goodman/That Hashtag Show, LLC)

In a sneak peek into the series, we see Flynn’s first encounter with the virtual realty realm. A countdown from ten culminates in her immersion in the “other” world, directly onto a speeding motorcycle in Future London. Where she goes from there remains a mystery.

Fans will be able to fins out soon enough. The Peripheral debuts on Amazon Prime Video October 21.