Netflix Releases First Look At ‘Cowboy Bebop,’ Confirms Premiere Date

Martin Holmes August 23, 2021

John Cho as Spike, Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black, Daniella Pineda as Faye in Cowboy Bebop — Netflix

The beloved anime Cowboy Bebop is coming to Netflix on November 19, and today the streamer has given fans their first look at the upcoming series.

Based on the original Japanese anime from Sunrise Studios, this live-action adaptation is described as a “genre-bending, action-packed space Western.” It is set to star John Cho (Star Trek), Mustafa Shakir (Luke Cage), and Daniella Pineda (The Detour) as a ragtag group of bounty hunters chasing down criminals across the solar system.

The first look images (see below) give a sneak peek at the lead cast in character. Cho, who plays Spike Spiegel, a bounty hunter born on Mars with a history of violent gang activity, has grown his hair out for the role to replicate Spike’s look from the anime. Shakira plays Jet Black, Spike’s ex-cop bounty hunter partner, who is seen rocking a cybernetic arm. Pineda, meanwhile, portrays Faye Valentine, a woman in gambling debt who spent 54 years in suspended animation after a space shuttle accident.

Alex Hassell (The Boys) also stars in the series as Vicious, Spike’s former partner-turned-nemesis, a power-mad gangster from the Red Dragon Crime Syndicated. He is joined by Revenge star Elena Satine, who plays the beautiful and mysterious Julia, a woman from Spike’s past who has a complicated romantic history with both him and Vicious.

Cowboy Bebop was developed by André Nemec and Jeff Pinkner and is written by Christopher Yost. Nemec also serves as showrunner and executive producer. Pinker will also executive produce alongside 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., Tim Coddington, Tetsu Fujimura, Michael Katleman, Matthew Weinberg, and Yost.

What’s Coming to Netflix in September 2021

Shinichirō Watanabe, who directed the original anime series, is on board as a consultant. And original composer Yoko Kanna will also work on the live-action adaptation.