With its November release date fast approaching, Netflix has officially given audiences their first look at the studio’s upcoming live-action adaptation of the classic Cowboy Bebop anime series – though, as expected, the images do little to inspire faith in the project.
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In a series of several photos released by Netflix on August 23rd, fans were given their first official look at John Cho as the series’ protagonist and all-around living embodiment of ‘cool’, Spike Speigel:
Mustafa Shakir as former police officer and current de facto ‘captain’ of the Bebop, Jet Black
And Daniella Pineda as cryogenically frozen con artist Faye Valentine, albeit in a significantly less revealing and less visually interesting set of clothing than her anime counterpart, due to, as series writer Javier Grillo-Maxuach previously noted, the production team’s belief that “a real human being” would never wear her iconic outfit.
Netflix also dropped the first official ‘team’ shot of the Bebop crew, giving audiences their first official look at Ein, the Welsh pembroke corgi who boasts a genius-intellect thanks to scientific experimentation, will appear in the series.
Curiously, however, there still is no word on whether or not Radical Edward, the crew’s resident computer hacker and Ein’s closest companion, will appear in the live-action series.
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Alongside these promotional stills, Netflix also released the series’ official synopsis, which notably, lists original series creator Shinchiro Watanabe as a “consultant on the series,” a notable change from star John Cho’s previous assertion that the production team “did not communicate” with Watanabe.
The description begins, “COWBOY BEBOP is an action-packed space Western about three bounty hunters, aka “cowboys,” all trying to outrun the past.”
It continues, “As different as they are deadly, Spike Spiegel (John Cho), Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir), and Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda) form a scrappy, snarky crew ready to hunt down the solar system’s most dangerous criminals — for the right price. But they can only kick and quip their way out of so many scuffles before their pasts finally catch up with them.”
The description goes on, “Based on the beloved anime series, COWBOY BEBOP 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., Tim Coddington, Tetsu Fujimura, Michael Katleman, Matthew Weinberg, and Christopher Yost.”
It concludes, “Nemec serves as showrunner. Original anime series director Shinichirō Watanabe is a consultant on the series, and original composer Yoko Kanno returns for the live-action adaptation. The series also stars Alex Hassell and Elena Satine.”
Cowboy Bebop is set to premiere on Netflix on November 19th.
What do you make of this first-look at Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop? Let us know your thoughts on social media or in the comments down below!