‘Cowboy Bebop’ Trailer: Netflix’s Live-Action Adaptation of Classic Anime Draws Near
“Cowboy Bebop” helped popularize anime in the United States and is remembered as one of the greatest shows in the medium’s history. So, expectations are understandably high for Netflix‘s impending live-action television adaptation of the iconic show. The streaming giant unveiled the trailer for its “Cowboy Bebop” series on Tuesday, which you can watch below. “Cowboy Bebop” has a release date of November 19.
Netflix’s synopsis reads: “‘Cowboy Bebop’ is an action-packed space Western about three bounty hunters, aka ‘cowboys,’ all trying to outrun the past. 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 10-episode Netflix 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., as well as Tim Coddington, Tetsu Fujimura, Michael Katleman, Matthew Weinberg, and Christopher Yost. 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.
Unlike many adaptations of older material, Netflix’s “Cowboy Bebop” is intended to be an “expansion” to the original anime’s plot, rather than a straight retelling. Nemec discussed the series in September and noted that he aimed to dig deeper into the history of the anime’s key characters and answer questions that fans have long had about the original show.
While it’s unclear how much of the original anime’s tone and writing will be carried over in Netflix’s adaptation, the streaming show’s title sequence is remarkably faithful to the source material. A recent teaser for the series suggested that the Netflix show will boast plenty of bombastic music and fight scenes, as well as snarky back-and-fourth dialogue similar to what made the original show a hit around the globe.
Watch the trailer for “Cowboy Bebop” below. The series premieres November 19.
