Zipping past the stars, cleaning out the bad guys, we are born bounty hunters playing among spaceships, inter-galactic petrol stations and asteroids! Fantasy has always fascinated the human mind and that’s why Cowboy Bebop is getting a second chance at life.
An escape from our dull reality into a journey across the universe! No wonder we never got over Cowboy Bebop!
When we heard that Netflix was making a live-action remake of this Japanese sci-fi anime, we were left astounded to think that our hero Spike Spiegel would soon come to life in an all-new avatar! The series is set to release in 2021 and we’ve got some juicy details below.
So, Who is Playing Who?
John Cho will star in the leading role as the bounty hunter Spike Spiegel. He is known for his brilliant performances in movies like Star Trek, Searching, and Columbus.
Mustafa Shakir plays Spike’s partner Jet Black with Daniella Pineda cast as Faye Valentine, Elena Satine as Julia, and Alex Hassel as Vicious in the remake of the epic space-western.
The Original Cowboy Bebop
The story revolves around Spike and his partner Jet, who whiz around in a spaceship named Bebop, collecting criminals and bounties. It is 2027, the earth is unlivable and humans are surviving scattered across the Solar System, making do with whatever they can find.
Villains are aplenty and the Bebop crew are out to get them! However, Spike’s biggest enemy is Vicious, who is a member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate and can’t forgive Spike for having an affair with his girlfriend Julia.
This classic is an eccentric combination of humor, action, jazz, science-fiction, dystopia, and brilliant Japanese animation.
It was created by Hajime Yatate and directed by Shinichiro Watanabe and ran into 26 episodes of 20 mins each. Released in 1998, it went on to become an animation cult classic in Japan and the US, setting a bar for upcoming anime creators.
What Netflix Promises
The biggest challenge for Netflix is to produce a show as exceptional as the original!
Netflix, however, is very confident about their endeavor and has got director Shinichiro Watanabe on board as the series’ creative consultant and Yoko Kanno, the original music composer to compose the soundtrack of their live-action production. The first season will run 10 episodes.
One of the main writers on the series, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, in an interview with io9 said, “You can’t look at Cowboy Bebop and say, ‘Well, it’s just a take-off point. We’re going to give them different hair and different clothing, and we’re gonna call it something different. And it’s just sort of gonna be a loose thing.’
If you’re doing Cowboy Bebop, you’re doing Cowboy Bebop. You know? It’s kind of like doing Star Wars.” He said their main aim was to do justice to the original.
He went on to say that while sticking to the style and unique feel of the anime, they are presenting the narrative differently. They will not be doing a shot-for-shot remake and instead of 20- minute episodes, they will have episodes of an hour each.
Also, they will not be focusing on each of the little stories in the original but rather attempting to showcase the story from a wider perspective.
The Takeaway
The legendary series was delayed partly because of John Cho’s injury and the lockdown caused by the Covid19 pandemic. However, with restrictions lifting and production in full swing, the long wait finally seems to be coming to a close.
And so, we wait, all set to go on an adventure of intergalactic travel hand in hand with our favorite characters, once again bounty hunting on our favorite spaceship – the Bebop!