Netflix has revealed the first photos from its long awaited live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop.
The new images reveal an adaptation that is far more faithful to the original anime than earlier American attempts at adapting anime, such as Netflix's critically panned Death Note or 2009's equally reviled Dragonball Evolution. The pictures give fans their first look at John Cho as Spike Spiegel, who looks the part with his new, puffy hairstyle and bright blue suit. The pictures also reveal that the Harold and Kumar star has been working out for the role, which is appropriate, given that Spike is supposed to be a master of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do fighting style. Mustafa Shakir, who Marvel fans may recognize from his role as the Bushmaster in the Luke Cage TV series, now sports a shaved head and robotic arm, recreating the look of Jet Black from the anime series. Jurassic World's Daniella Pineda takes on the role of the mysterious Faye Valentine, whose costume has seen the most changes: while she keeps the yellow top from the anime, it is now paired with a black skirt, and she now actually wears her red jacket instead of simply draping it around her arms.
Ein also appears in the photos, and contrary to earlier rumors that suggested that the team's data dog would be recast as a different breed, he is still a Pembroke Welsh Corgi.
The photos also show off the first look at the interior of the spaceship Bebop, which serves as both transportation and a home for the show's group of capable but unlucky bounty hunters. In addition to the Bebop, the images also show a bloodied Spike walking through a church, which recalls one of the more iconic action scenes from the latter half of the anime series. Absent from this shot, and from any of the released photos, is Spike's friend-turned-arch nemesis, Vicious. Alex Hassel from The Boys was previously cast as the show's villain, but the sword-wielding gangster is notably missing from the image of the church.
At the very least, Vicious has been confirmed to be part of the live-action series. The same cannot be said for the final member of the Bebop team: missing from the photos and all of the casting announcements so far is the team's resident hacker, Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV, better known as Ed. In the anime, Ed does not join the crew of the Bebop until a third of the way into the series, so it's possible she might not appear until later in the series, but as of right now, there are no traces of her in the live-action series. If Ed is indeed missing from the live-action series, it would require certain storylines from the anime to undergo some substantial changes, suggesting that Netflix's adaptation may end up diverging from the source material more than the costumes and sets might suggest.
In addition to the new images, Netflix also revealed when its live-action Cowboy Bebop will premiere.
The original Cowboy Bebop anime series is available for streaming on Netflix, Hulu, and on Adult Swim's website.
Source: Netflix
