Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred has been adapted into a drama series for FX. The late science fiction writer’s novel about time travel and antebellum slavery through the eyes of a young Black woman will be presented in eight episodes. The announcement was made Monday at New York Comic Con on a panel featuring executive-producer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and cast members Micah Stock, Gayle Rankin, Sheria Irving, David Alexander Kaplan, Austin Smith, Mallori Johnson and Sophina Brown. Johnson plays Dana Brown, a young Black woman in Los Angeles who has relocated with aspirations of becoming a successful writer but must first address secrets from her family’s past.
Butler became famous in the ’90s with her Parable series and in 1995 she became the first science-fiction writer to win a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. The Parable Of The Talents also won the esteemed Nebula Award. Her stories are recognized for bringing a keen analysis of contemporary society through the eyes of people on the margins with a vision for the future. Butler’s work has continued to be celebrated since her 2006 passing with an asteroid, a moon of planet pluto and scholarships in her name. In 2015, Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements an anthology of short stories centered on social justice and inspired by Butler was edited by Walidah Imarisha and Adrienne Maree Brown.
Kindred will debut on December 13th via Hulu and soon after be available on Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ under the Star banner in all other territories.
