The first trailer for the new Peacock series The Copenhagen Test shows actor Simu Liu in a fight for his mind. His character, an intelligence analyst named Alexander Hale, discovers his brain has been hacked, making him an unwilling spy. The high-stakes thriller will release all eight episodes on Peacock on December 27, 2025.
What Is The Copenhagen Test About?
The series is a spy thriller set in the near future. Simu Liu plays Alexander Hale, a first-generation Chinese-American intelligence analyst. His life shatters when he learns a hidden device has been implanted in his brain. This device lets an unknown enemy see and hear everything he does, turning him into a mole within his own agency without his knowledge.
Caught between his suspicious employers and the shadowy hackers, Alexander faces an impossible task. He must pretend he does not know he is compromised 24 hours a day. His goal is to find out who hacked him and prove where his true loyalties lie. The creator, Thomas Brandon, described the concept as the next logical step from fearing your phone is hacked.
“I was worried about my phone and my laptop being hacked, and so I thought, ‘OK, what’s the next step in the future? Five minutes in the future of that?’ And I thought, ‘OK, the eyes.’” – Thomas Brandon, Creator
To trap the people watching him, Alexander’s agency builds a fake world around him, much like The Truman Show, to see who reacts.
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Meet the Cast and Creative Team
The series brings together a strong group of actors and experienced producers.
- Simu Liu as Alexander Hale: Liu is the star and also serves as an executive producer on the series. He is best known for playing the titular hero in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
- Melissa Barrera as Michelle: Barrera plays a bartender who is actually an agent assigned to watch Alexander. Their relationship is a key part of the mystery.
- Key Supporting Cast: The main cast also includes Sinclair Daniel, Brian d’Arcy James, Mark O’Brien, and Kathleen Chalfant. Sara Amini and Saul Rubinek appear in recurring roles.
- Behind the Scenes: The series was created by Thomas Brandon, who co-showruns with Jennifer Yale. It is executive produced by horror maestro James Wan through his company Atomic Monster, alongside Liu and others. Jet Wilkinson directed the first two episodes.
When and Where to Watch The Copenhagen Test
The Copenhagen Test will premiere exclusively on Peacock in the United States. All eight episodes of the first season will be available to stream at once on Friday, December 27, 2025.
For international audiences, release dates and platforms will vary. In Australia, for example, the series is scheduled to begin streaming on BINGE on February 16, 2026. Viewers in other regions should check their local streaming services as the release date gets closer.
The series was filmed in Toronto, with production starting in October 2024 and wrapping in March 2025.
Fan Reactions and Deeper Meaning
The trailer has generated excitement online, with fans eager to see Liu in a tense, dramatic role. One fan on social media commented on the unique premise, writing, “Simu Liu getting hacked in The Copenhagen Test? Bro’s about to Shang-Chi his way through neural firewalls…”. Another expressed high expectations, saying the trailer “exceed my already sky high expectations”.
Beyond the spy action, the show tackles modern fears about privacy and technology. It asks what happens when you can no longer trust your own senses and memories. Co-showrunner Jennifer Yale noted that even the antagonists believe they are justified, stating, “Everyone has a different truth… believing that those are the real ways to save the country, as well as the world”.
This role is also significant for Simu Liu as a leading Asian actor in Hollywood. In a recent interview, he spoke about the importance of such opportunities, saying, “It’s not lost on me how rare it is for someone like me to be given even a hypothetical opportunity to be the lead of something.”. He has been vocal about what he sees as a decline in Asian representation in film and television.
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