Speaking with The Direct and other outlets at New York Comic Con during roundtable interviews, the co-showrunners and executive producers of The Copenhagen Test teased why this upcoming Peacock series starring Simu Liu (who many will recognize as the MCU hero desperately needing his long-awaited sequel) is different from other spy thrillers.
Creator, co-showrunner, writer and executive producer Thomas Brandon explained that whereas most spy shows ask the question "Who do you trust?," The Copenhagen Test brings it a step forward, asking "How do you know?"
"I think the evolution for our show is, the question of most spy shows is always 'Who you trust?' It's always, like, very shadowy ... It's a little nihilistic and a little, like, always like a downer, like spy shows are downers. What we said is a step one for our show is, the question is not just 'who do you trust,' but the question is 'how do you know?'"
The nature of Peacock's upcoming spy series fits this question neatly. It tells the story of Alexander Hale, a spy who has his brain hacked, giving the people responsible access to everything he sees and hears.
Having learned of the hack, Alexander watches his life become an almost Truman Show-esque facade, feeding enemies only the information he and the organization he works for wants them to learn.
Brandon explained that the thought sparked after his wife's laptop had been hacked, and he thought about both what would be a step worse than hacked technology, and who would be the worst person for it to happen to:
"It's not just enough to have a guy who's hacked, but what I thought was so interesting is him being able to signal 'It's me.' And then they build this 'Truman Show' world around him, and the game is really, 'What do you see?,' 'What are you looking at and hearing and why?'"
Releasing on Peacock on December 27, The Copenhagen Test dropped its first trailer at New York Comic Con. Alongside Liu (who appeared at New York Comic Con), the series stars Melissa Barrera, Sinclair Daniel, Brian D’Arcy James, Mark O’Brien, and Kathleen Chalfant.
How The Copenhagen Test Keeps Viewers In Suspense
In doing this, the show's creators needed to deconstruct the typically linear storytelling audiences are used to in television series — even ones so focused on intrigue and mystery — in order to keep audiences in suspense. Brandon explained that though "our brains are wired to take things as stories," ultimately, "life is not a story:"
"Our brains are wired to take things as stories and narratives and life is not a story. So we always fall into this when we start constructing stories for ourselves. And that's really kind of like, the exact essence of the show is Alexander's using his ideas to tell stories to whoever's watching."
As co-showrunner, writer and executive producer Jennifer Yale explained, having a "mission to make it where the audience was with Alexander" as he navigated a world of both the real and manufactured, blending together, allowed them to approach this in a special way.
She added that "at the heart" of their goals was "making sure that it was very human:"
"Really, it was our mission to make it where the audience was with Alexander. So there were times that they were ahead of him, there were times that he was ahead of them, but usually the audience was with him, and being able to figure out what was going on and to always be questioning whether it was real or not — and whether you could trust yourself or not. And that was, I think, at the heart of what we were always doing, is making sure that it was very human, and that there wasn't always a right and wrong."
The Copenhagen Test hits Peacock on December 27. For more NYCC coverage, be sure to check out The Direct's interviews from Blumhouse's latest horror film Black Phone 2.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
