Altered Carbon Picks a Surprising, but Great Replacement for Joel Kinnaman

Altered Carbon is undergoing a major overhaul for Season 2 -- but that isn't necessarily a bad thing!

The sci-fi drama officially received its second season renewal on Friday, and with it came the announcement that Avengers star Anthony Mackie will be taking over the part of Takeshi Kovacs. In addition to Mackie replacing original star Joel Kinnaman, Season 2 will also find Fringe's Alison Schapker joining the series as co-showrunner alongside Laeta Kalogridis.

Kinnaman had confirmed shortly after the first season premiered that he wouldn't be returning for Season 2, but honestly, that announcement wasn't exactly a surprise. Given the nature of Altered Carbon's universe -- in which people simply are given new bodies, or "sleeves," when they die -- and the fact that Season 1 ended with Kovacs surrendering his current sleeve, we all knew the recasting was coming. That being said, we never expected it to be Anthony Mackie!

The role marks Mackie's first major TV gig, which is part of why this casting is so exciting. In addition to playing Falcon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Mackie is best known for Million Dollar Baby, The Hurt Locker, Notorious and playing Martin Luther King, Jr. in the HBO movie All the Way.

From Dippers to Needlecasting: Here's Your Altered Carbon Glossary

The Richard K. Morgan novels on which Altered Carbon is based follow Kovacs' journey over hundreds of years, across the universe and through many sleeves, so it's possible we'll only get one season of Mackie playing the weary mercenary. To that end, let's just go into Season 2 savoring every moment of Mackie as Kovacs because our time with him in this role will likely be quite limited.

The second season will be eight episodes, but Netflix has yet to announce a premiere date. In the meantime, you can stream Season 1 right now!