Despite its abysmal Death Note anime adaptation, Netflix is trying again with a live-action Cowboy Bebop. While Death Note stars an old Nickelodeon actor and William Dafoe’s voice, Cowboy Bebop’s cast is a little more promising. This adaptation will be a show, launching with ten episodes. Netflix must have learned their lesson with Death Note, which shoved 37 episodes into an hour-and-a-half long movie.
Revealed via a tweet on Thursday afternoon, the Japanese-Western anime will star John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, Daniella Pineda, and Alex Hassel. Cho, of Star Trek and Harold and Kumar fame, will play the lead, Spike. Shakir, or Bushmaster in Marvel’s Luke Cage, is Spike’s friend Jet Black. Pineda, from Jurrassic World: Fallen Kingdom, is Faye Valentine, another bounty hunter. Finally, Hassel from Anonymous rounds out the cast as Spike’s “mortal enemy” and former best friend.
Hi amigos and all 300,000 bounty hunters in the star system! Happy to announce that @JohnTheCho, @_mustafashakir_, @Maniella, and Alex Hassell have been cast in the #CowboyBebop Live Action TV Drama.
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) April 4, 2019
Cowboy Bebop takes place in 2071 and follows a group of bounty hunters on their adventures in space. The series explores heavier themes than most mainstream anime and is loved by critics and fans alike. Due to its handling of such topics, many consider the show as one of the best anime ever. Also, Cowboy Bebop is a “gateway anime” like Dragonball Z and Naruto. Releasing in 1998, it’s one of the shows that helped bring anime to the rest of the world. The show was the first anime to premiere on Adult Swim, making its way to the United States for the first time. This accessibility may be why Netflix chose it as their next adaptation.
While fans have every right to worry, this cast reveal is reassuring. To make things even better, Christopher Yost wrote the first episode, who also wrote Thor: Ragnarok. Plus, Alex Garcia Lopez is director of the first two entries, with experience directing parts of Luke Cage, and Daredevil. Note that creator Shinichiro Watanabe does not have a hand in the live-action Cowboy Bebop, however, but he did help consult. There’s no news on a release date yet, so we can only hope for the best until we get more details.
