Netflix is carving out a nice little anime section of the world for itself, and that doesn’t just include actual anime. Netflix is set to adapt the classic anime Cowboy Bebop for the small screen and today released the first-look images of the show, which features Spike Spiegel (John Cho), Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir), and Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda).
The show looks to be a pretty direct adaptation of the series if these images are correct. The character costumes seem in line with those from the anime, and while plot points are limited, it is once again about a band of bounty hunters crisscrossing the universe in a sci-fi western. The three different bounty hunters may all approach the work differently, but the ragtag crew is bonded together. However, their past may catch up to them soon. For those who have watched the anime, that probably isn’t too mysterious.
Cowboy Bepop isn’t just a seminal anime but also an influential piece of science fiction. It helped usher in a plethora of sci-fi westerns, merging the two genres wonderfully. There’s a reason it’s still praised to this day. Hopefully, the live-action version can do the same as we’ve been lacking a good sci-fi/western for a while now. With Shinichirō Watanabe, the anime’s director, consulting for the series and original composer Yoko Kanno returning as well, there is hope for Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop.
The series is executive produced by André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner, Josh Appelbaum, and Scott Rosenberg of Midnight Radio; Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements of Tomorrow Studios; Makoto Asanuma, Shin Sasaki and Masayuki Ozaki of Sunrise Inc.; and Tim Coddington, Tetsu Fujimura, Michael Katleman, Matthew Weinberg, and Christopher Yost. Nemec is also the showrunner.
Cowboy Bebop will hit Netflix on November 19, 2021, but in the meantime, you can pore over these first-look images.
COWBOY BEBOP (L to R) MUSTAFA SHAKIR as JET BLACK in COWBOY BEBOP Cr. GEOFFREY SHORT/NETFLIX © 2021
COWBOY BEPOP (L to R) DANIELLA PINEDA as FAYE VALENTINE, JOHN CHO as SPIKE SPIEGEL and MUSTAFA SHAKIR as JET BLACK on the set of COWBOY BEPOP Cr. NICOLA DOVE/NETFLIX © 2021
COWBOY BEBOP (L to R) JOHN CHO as SPIKE SPIEGEL in COWBOY BEBOP Cr. KIRSTY GRIFFIN/NETFLIX © 2021
COWBOY BEPOP (L to R) JOHN CHO as SPIKE SPIEGEL in COWBOY BEPOP Cr. GEOFFREY SHORT/NETFLIX © 2021
COWBOY BEBOP (L to R) DANIELLA PINEDA as FAYE VALENTINE in COWBOY BEBOP Cr. GEOFFREY SHORT/NETFLIX © 2021
COWBOY BEBOP (L to R) JOHN CHO as SPIKE SPIEGEL, MUSTAFA SHAKIR as JET BLACK, DANIELLA PINEDA as FAYE VALENTINE and EIN in Cowboy Bebop Cr. GEOFFREY SHORT/NETFLIX © 2021
COWBOY BEPOP (L to R) JOHN CHO as SPIKE SPIEGEL on the set of COWBOY BEPOP Cr. NICOLA DOVE/NETFLIX © 2021
COWBOY BEBOP (L to R) JOHN CHO as SPIKE SPIEGEL in COWBOY BEBOP Cr. KIRSTY GRIFFIN/NETFLIX © 2021
