A Live-Action Version of 'Cowboy Bebop' is Coming to Netflix This Fall

The original Cowboy Bebop soundtrack composer Yoko Kanno will return.

On Tuesday, Netflix announced the eventual release of a live-action Cowboy Bebop adaption in honor of its Geeked Week campaign. Ten episodes of the new adaption are set to premiere on the platform in Fall 2021. The series will also feature an all-new soundtrack from the anime's original composer Yoko Kanno.

Rumors began swirling about the live-action Cowboy Bebop remake as early as 2017. The following year, Netflix confirmed the rumors, revealing that Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol co-writer Andre Nemec and Josh Appelbaum would be handling showrunning duties alongside Venom and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle co-writers Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg. Thor: Ragnarok screenwriter Christopher Yost will write the ten-episode season.

The announcement is yet another entry by Netflix into the anime (though not actually animated) genre. In late April, the platform premiered Yasuke, an original anime following an African samurai in an alternate-reality version of 16th century Japan. In 2017, Netflix released a live-action remake of the film Death Note. Shortly thereafter, the platform announced that it had acquired the rights to the classic anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion.

The original Cowboy Bebop director, Shinichiro Watanabe, will serve as a consultant. John Cho will star as Spike Spiegel, while Alex Hassell will play Vicious. Daniella Pineda will play Faye Valentine, while Elena Satine and Mustafa Shakir play Julia and Jet Black, respectively. Cho, Shakir, and Pineda all appeared in the Netflix announcement.

Netflix didn't share an official trailer with the announcement, but viewers should expect one in the coming months.