Atlas is the daughter of the scientist whose AI experiment ushered the world into a new era. Twenty-eight years after that technological breakthrough, Atlas is a counter-terrorism analyst working for the International Coalition of Nations (ICN). When her superior approaches her with a mission, she heads out into the field to confront her “brother” — the AI terrorist who led the robot revolution. 

Lopez had to spend much of her time on the production encased in the mechanical battle armor that keeps her alive on the distant planet GR39. “I was at an adrenaline level of 150 every single day. It was like doing a one-woman show,” Lopez told Netflix. “You’re just there, by yourself, imagining everything because it’s all green screen — there was no set to ground you.” 

Eventually, however, the pod became a place of comfort for the actor. “I’m very comfortable with my body because I started as a dancer, and a lot of what this experience entailed was choreography,” she said. “Once you had the beats of the scene, there’s a rhythm to it, and I just had to put all of my imagination, all of my emotion, all of my past experiences and visceral instincts into it.” Atlas would approve.

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Harlan is the first AI terrorist — and, in a twisted way, Atlas’ brother, created by her mother to serve humanity. In the wake of his betrayal and a devastating military campaign against human forces, he fled Earth and has spent the last 28 years biding his time on planet GR39.

“He was created by a brilliant scientist to be a protector of mankind, but unfortunately, you know how some things go,” Liu told Netflix. The Canadian actor turned to prior cinematic depictions of artificial intelligence to construct Harlan from the ground up. “I basically built Harlan from all of my favorite movies and TV shows that have ever featured artificial lifeforms, like Michael Fassbender in Prometheus, Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation, HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and so many more,” he said.

Liu also tried to keep the character grounded in his original purpose. “There’s a sort of childlike wonder that Harlan has in the beginning before he essentially takes a bite of the apple,” he said. “I tried to use that as an anchor to this character to make him a compelling villain.”

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Colonel Banks is the commanding officer of the mission to GR39, a veteran ICN official who accepts Atlas’ presence on the voyage without always listening to her input. 

“Banks works inside these arc suits which you have to meld with through a neurosync so that you’re half-machine, half-man — something greater than the sum of its parts,” Brown told Netflix. “There’s something very interesting about the idea that these two things are integrating, but are not codependent. They’re interdependent, so there’s a healthful component to that that I think would be intriguing for sci-fi fans.”

After filming wrapped, Brown was nominated for his first Academy Award, for Best Supporting Actor in last year’s American Fiction. The filmmakers took the opportunity to add in a little hat tip to their colleague’s achievement: Listen closely during the movie, and you may just hear a background character congratulating Banks on his nomination. 

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Smith is Atlas’ AI companion, present in the film only as a voice inside her mech suit. As the film proceeds, the initially combative duo learn to work with each other, in spite of Atlas’ many reservations.

Cohan’s casting was a happy coincidence for the production. “Initially, we wanted a temporary voice actor to sit in the booth and talk opposite Jen for all the dialogue, just to have someone present, and then we’d worry about casting later,” Peyton told Netflix. “So Greg came in, he read the entire movie, and the more we heard him doing Smith, the more we realized he’s perfect for the role.”

In the finished film, Cohan actually appears in two other roles as well — once as the voice of an ICN soldier, and once physically as the pilot of Colonel Banks’ ship. 

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Casca Vix is one of Harlan’s most formidable AI soldiers. His capture at the beginning of the film sets the mission to GR-39 into motion.

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Val Shepherd is Atlas’ mother and Harlan’s creator — the tragic harbinger of the AI menace. 

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General Boothe is the ICN officer who brings the Harlan mission to Atlas. While she’s initially reluctant, her close personal ties to the AI terrorist make it impossible to resist.