Netflix’s Live-Action Cowboy Bebop Dead After One Season

Spencer Baculi |

Dec 9, 2021

Source: Cowboy Bebop Season 1 Episode 10 "Supernova Symphony" (2021), Netflix

In one of the fastest turnarounds in recent memory, coming just three weeks after the series debuted on the streaming platform – but to the surprise of absolutely no one who saw even a single still from the ill-fated bastardization of the beloved anime – Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop has officially been cancelled after one season.

News of Cowboy Bebop’s cancellation was first reported on December 9th by The Hollywood Reporter, who apparently learned of the news from insiders.

As noted by the Hollywood trade outlet’s insiders, “the decision was made by balancing the show’s viewership and cost.”

Given that, as of writing, the show holds a 55% average audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 4.2 on fellow review aggregate site Metacritic, coupled with the fact that it was so bad that it was near-universally panned by even mainstream media critics, it seems more than apparent that Netflix’s latest attempt to bring anime to live-action was not delivering the returns their combative marketing predicted.

Though, as noted above, these returns should come as no surprise to anyone who follow Cowboy Bebop’s development, as Netflix routinely banked on ‘Marvel-ifying’ Shinichirō Watanabe’s seminal work.

In fact, for proof of this production direction, one need look no further than the series’ official description, which promotes the series’ lead trio as “snarky” and needing to “kick and quip” their way through space:

“They 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.”

With Cowboy Bebop’s cancellation, the few fans of the series that undoubtedly exist will no longer get to see Julia’s plans for running the Red Dragon in Viscious’ stead after killing him, nor will Netflix get a chance to adapt the storyline of Cowboy Bebop: The movie, which was set up in the series’ final scene – along with the abysmal debut of Radical Edward herself.