Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop show gets new cast members, still no Ed

Netflix is changing lots of little things about the classic anime Cowboy Bebop for its live-action adaptation, and possibly one big one.

Netflix is making a live-action version of Cowboy Bebop, the popular, stylish sci-fi anime that made a big splash when it first came out back in the late ’90s. Is it a good idea to remake something this iconic in such a drastically different style? The jury’s out on that one, but it’s definitely happening, although the show has had trouble getting off the ground. Production had to shut down after star John Cho (Spike) injured himself, and then the coronavirus came along, so it had to shut down even harder.

But things are back online now, with Deadline reporting on a bevy of new cast members filling out supporting roles. Take a gander:

"Geoff Stults (Little Fires Everywhere) is Chalmers, the epitome of a Western lawman. He is also Jet Black’s former co-detective in the ISSP’s Homicide Division. He wears a chronic smile that makes you want to punch him square in the face… especially Jet. And that’s only partly because Chalmers is dating his ex-wife these days."

That’s pretty detailed for a character who wasn’t around much in the original anime. Also, Chalmers definitely wasn’t dating the Jet’s (Mustafa Shakir) ex-wife in the original. There are quite a few changes like that.

"Rachel House (Thor Ragnarok) is Mao, the Capo of the Syndicate’s “White Tigers” family. Despite, or perhaps because of, her blue collar background, Mao is more cunning, adept, crafty and deadly than her counterparts."

In the original, Mao is the leader of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate that Spike was once a part of. Only now it’s the “White Tigers” family? I never get weird little changes like that. Why is White Tigers better than Red Dragons?

Also, it looks like they’ve gender-flipped the role.

"Ann Truong and Hoa Xuande are Shin and Lin. Dressed to kill (because they do), Shin and Lin serve as Vicious’ twin Syndicate henchman. Despite being fearful of their volatile boss, they are fiercely loyal to Vicious in his quest (for reasons we have yet to understand) to take down Spike Spiegel."

In the original, Shin and Lin are brothers. Now they’re twins, a brother and a sister. Alex Hassell plays Vicious, the closest things the very episodic original show comes to having a consistent villain. I’m betting the Netflix show will be a little more serialized, especially with all the cast members playing members of Spike’s former criminal cronies.

"Tamara Tunie plays Ana, the proprietor of the hottest underground bluesy jazz club on Mars. And while she acts as a surrogate mom to Spike, there is nothing warm and cuddly about her. Cool and intense, Ana is definitely not a woman to be trifled with."

That’s more or less like it was in the original.

"Mason Alexander Park portrays Gren, Ana’s right-hand person. They run the front of the house for Ana’s jazz club. As capable with their wit as a glock, as confident in a dress as a suit, they are a Bowie-esque embodiment of 22nd century handsome and seductive beauty."

The original show never specified exactly where Gren lay on the gender spectrum, but in this version, they will be nonbinary, played by nonbinary actor Mason Alexander Park, who played Hedwig in a Broadway tour of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Park took to Twitter to share their excitement:

“It’s remarkably meaningful to me because I didn’t grow up with a lot of gender-variant representation in the media,” Park says. “I’m really psyched to be be part of the new crop of non-binary and transgender artists who are given such big platforms to tell their stories so that hopefully the next generation of queer kids don’t question the validity of their experience in the same way.”

And of course, they’re excited about the show itself, too. “It has everything that made me fall in love with the original, from the action to the music to the genre-bending to the costumes and it’s going to be a thrilling ride and we can’t wait to share it with you.”

That’s a lot of players, but one big one we haven’t heard anything about is Radical Edward, a young hacker and one of the main four characters aboard the Bebop. Hell, they even cast Ein the space Corgi:

At this point, I’m starting to wonder if Ed has been cut; maybe they don’t want to deal with the complications of having a kid in the cast, or can’t find one that can portray Ed’s very specific sense of quirk.

In any case, there’s no release date for Cowboy Bebop yet, but it’s full speed ahead at Netflix.

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