Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly discuss how Dark Matter Season 2 expands the questions behind the Box, the dangers of powerful technology and their creative roles behind the Apple TV sci-fi series.
Apple TV’s Dark Matter has always been about more than traveling between alternate realities. The sci-fi series uses the idea of infinite possibilities to ask a much more personal question: If you could explore the lives you might have lived, would you actually want to?
That question becomes even more complicated in Season 2. Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly return as Jason and Daniela Dessen, whose family survived a nightmare of alternate worlds and alternate versions of Jason during the first season. Now, even after seemingly finding safety, the consequences of the Box refuse to disappear.
Ahead of the Season 2 premiere, Edgerton and Connelly spoke with Nerdtropolis about the ideas behind Dark Matter, how their perspectives on life’s choices have changed, and why the show’s fictional technology feels increasingly connected to conversations happening around artificial intelligence today.
Joel Edgerton Wouldn’t Change The Road That Led Him Here
The premise of Dark Matter presents an almost irresistible temptation. Somewhere in the multiverse could be another life shaped by one different decision. However, Edgerton told Nerdtropolis that his feelings about changing the past have evolved.
“I think that if you spoke to me 10 years ago, I’d be like, yeah, I’d want to change this, this, this, and this,” Edgerton said. “But if you ask me today, I wouldn’t change any of it.”
For Edgerton, changing one decision also means potentially changing everything that followed.
“Where is your destination and what are the choices that have led to it is a very potent thing to mess with,” he explained. “I certainly wouldn’t wanna mess with the destination I’ve landed at right now.”
Connelly similarly said she is happy with the path she has taken. However, another element of Dark Matter has increasingly occupied her thoughts: what happens when humanity creates a powerful new technology without fully understanding what comes next.
“The part of the show that chimes with me… is the introduction of this new technology that feels so huge and different and like it’s gonna have such an impact on all of our lives,” Connelly said. “What is that? How will that play out?”
Dark Matter Season 2 Has An Unexpected Connection To AI
In Dark Matter, the Box opens possibilities that once seemed unimaginable. The problem is that creating something and controlling what happens after its creation are two very different things.
That idea gives Season 2 a particularly timely connection to AI.
Edgerton noted that the series intersects with current questions surrounding technologies “infiltrating our lives right now with AI and so on.” Humanity may be capable of creating extraordinary things, but he questioned whether anyone can completely anticipate their positive or negative consequences.
“Once it’s unleashed, you know, once it’s out of the box, you can’t really necessarily put it back,” Edgerton said. “So Dark Matter, strangely, Season 2 intersects with this sort of timely moment of a new technology as well.”
It is an especially fitting metaphor for a series built around a literal Box capable of fundamentally changing people’s lives.
Season 2 picks up with the Dessen family attempting to settle into a quiet existence in a world that finally appears safe. That stability does not last. Jason’s obsession with the Box grows while Daniela becomes increasingly paranoid, putting additional pressure on an already fragile family.
Meanwhile, Amanda (Alice Braga) and Ryan (Jimmi Simpson) attempt to find their way home. Blair (Amanda Brugel) is determined to stop Leighton (Dayo Okeniyi), who continues pursuing his vision of creating a perfect world.
Star Wars Connects Joel Edgerton And Jennifer Connelly To Their Childhoods
For all the series’ enormous questions about technology and alternate lives, the conversation also turned toward something far more nostalgic: movies that can instantly transport someone back to a specific moment.
Edgerton named Indiana Jones as a major part of his childhood before sharing a particularly meaningful memory involving Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
“It’s the first film my father woke us up or like took us to the cinema in our pajamas to watch it,” Edgerton recalled.
That memory has now come full circle. His children have become obsessed with Return of the Jedi, and Edgerton revealed that he had been reading them an audio version of the story the night before the interview.
Connelly immediately had a Star Wars memory of her own.
“I was gonna say A New Hope,” Connelly said. “Because I remember seeing that, like, with my cousins when I was a kid in the theater when it first came out.”
The conversation even inspired Edgerton to pitch an idea that many movie fans would probably support: turning Blockbuster into a museum.
“I feel like there should be a Blockbuster,” Edgerton said, joking that teenagers should experience walking the aisles, discovering all the new releases were already rented and even dealing with late fees and rewinding VHS tapes.
If the Box really existed, finding a universe where Blockbuster was still thriving might not be the worst use for it.
Edgerton And Connelly Help Shape Dark Matter Beyond Their Performances
Edgerton and Connelly do more than star in Dark Matter. Both serve as executive producers, allowing them to help shape the series and the characters they have spent two seasons bringing to life.
Edgerton credited Dark Matter creator Blake Crouch for creating an unusually collaborative environment.
Crouch wrote the novel that inspired the series and serves as its creator, showrunner, writer and executive producer. According to Edgerton, having the original author remain the creative touchstone while also welcoming collaboration has made the experience unique.
“He wanted us and consistently wants us involved in conversations around story and storylines,” Edgerton said.
That trust has given Edgerton and Connelly the opportunity to influence characters they have grown deeply attached to.
“I got a lot of gratitude for the fact that he values our opinion so much that we can help shape the characters that we’ve… played and now adore,” Edgerton added.
Season 2 consists of 10 episodes and continues the story beyond the events adapted from Crouch’s acclaimed novel. Crouch co-wrote every episode with executive producers Richard Lederer and Jacquelyn Ben-Zekry. Matt Tolmach also serves as executive producer.
Dark Matter Season 2 premieres Friday, August 28, exclusively on Apple TV.
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Sean Tajipour
Sean Tajipour is the Founder and Editor of Nerdtropolis and the host of the Moviegoers Society and Reel Insights Podcast. He is also a member of the Critics Choice Association. You can follow on Twitter and Instagram @Seantaj.
