Netflix continues its trend of resurrecting pop-culture icons from our past to fashion new content for their platform with the news that they are now adapting ‘Cowboy Bebop’ to be a live-action series. They have ordered 10 episodes for the initial season, hoping that fans of the original anime cult favorite from the late 1990s will turn up for the latest adventures, a bet that has worked out for the streaming giant in the past when they launched new adaptations and series of franchises like ‘Voltron,’ ‘Castlevania,’ and even comedies like ‘Full House.’
For those not in the know (including yours truly before I researched this article a bit), ‘Cowboy Bebop’ was a show set in the future about the adventures of a motley crew of bounty hunters named Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Faye Valentine and Radical Ed, constantly on the run as they track down the galaxy’s most dangerous criminals and occasionally step up to save the world when, but only when, the price is right.
The series was known for being inspired by Jazz and featured numerous “experimental” episodes that crossed genres and made the series far more than just an anime show about bounty hunters. And even if you’re thinking the show sounds a little bit like Joss Whedon’s ‘Firefly,’ the truth of the matter is that ‘Cowboy Bebop’ premiered in 1998, a full four years prior to ‘Firefly,’ which means in all likelihood there’s a chance that Whedon might have borrowed some elements for his series from ‘Cowboy Bebop’ instead of the other way around (though knowing Whedon, I doubt it).
As for the Netflix series, the show will be co-produced by Netflix and Tomorrow Studios, with Andre Nemec, Josh Appelbaum, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg serving as the show-runners. The show will also be executive produced by Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements, Yasuo Miyakawa, Masayuki Ozaki, Shin Sasaki, Tetsu Fujimura, and Matthew Weinberg, with the original anime director Shinichiro Watanabe consulting on the series. And also exciting, Christopher Yost (most recently of ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ fame) will be writing the pilot of the series.
What are your thoughts on a live-action ‘Cowboy Bebop’ at Netflix? Do you think they will be able to recapture the same magic as the original 0r was the show too unique to remake? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments below!
Source: TV Line
