If you’re tired of science fiction about humans versus machines, check this one out. Scavengers Reign is an HBOMax TV series that offers a different way to understand ecosystems and intelligence and survival. It’s about how humans are forced to work within natural systems rather than controlling them.
Scavengers Reign explores how nature might have its own version of intelligence. It asks what is intelligence? What is consciousness? The creators do this through speculative biology and beautiful animation. What intelligence might be out there, and what if it doesn’t even have a face? What kind of intelligence is living right here under our noses, but escapes our perception?
It’s what I love about this television series created by Joe Bennett and Charles Huettner based on their 2016 short film Scavengers. So have a listen to my substack podcast article! This is the first of three oral reviews I’m creating about my favorite animated series. Upcoming: Pantheon and Common Side Effects.
I’m the author of Song of the Unsung Mushroom, a new novel about genetic engineering and fungal intelligence. Thanks for reading!
