Netflix has begun casting for its live-action adaptation of “Cowboy Bebop,” adding John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, Daniella Pineda and Alex Hassell.
Cho will star as Spike Spiegel, an impossibly cool bounty hunter with a deadly smile, a wry wit, and style to spare. He travels the solar system with his ex-cop partner, Jet, pursuing the future’s most dangerous bounties with a combination of charm, charisma — and deadly Jeet Kune Do.
Shakir, who recently played Bushmaster on Netflix’s “Luke Cage,” will play Jet Black, Spiegel’s partner. Jet Black was one of the few honest cops in the solar system before an ultimate betrayal robbed him of all that he loved, forcing him into a vagabond life of hunting bounties to put food on the table. Jet is an inveterate jazz enthusiast and Captain of the Bebop.
The show follows Spike Spiegel (Cho) and his partner Jet Black (Shakir), crew of the spaceship Bebop, who eke out a living as interplanetary bounty hunters. As they navigate their own troubled pasts, they also become involved in increasingly significant events both criminal and political. It takes place 50 years after an accident rendered Earth uninhabitable and forced humanity to colonize Mars, Venus and the Jovian moons.
Pineda plays Faye Valentine, a bold, brash and unpredictable bounty hunter. Suffering from amnesia after years of being cryogenically frozen, Faye does whatever it takes to survive. Whether she’s lying, stealing, or just being a thorn in Spike and Jet’s side.
Hassell will portray Vicious. A man who thoroughly enjoys a good kill, Vicious is the Syndicate’s most notorious hitman. He’s also Spike Spiegel’s ex-partner and arch-enemy.
Netflix will co-produce with Tomorrow Studios; Netflix will also oversee the show’s physical production. Andre Nemec, Josh Appelbaum, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg of Midnight Radio will serve as executive producers and showrunners, with Watanabe consulting. Alex Garcia Lopez will direct the first two episodes.
Created by director Shinichirō Watanabe and animator Toshihiro Kawamoto, “Cowboy Bebop” ran for 26 episodes from 1997-1998 and was followed by a feature film, “Cowboy Bebop: The Movie,” in 2001.