John Cho Joins Netflix's Cowboy Bebop Show, As Cast Details Revealed

The live-action TV adaptation of the anime series Cowboy Bebop was first reported back in 2017, and last November it was revealed that Netflix will produce it. The first casting announcements have now been made for the show, which focuses on a gang of intergalactic bounty hunters.

Netflix confirmed that John Cho will take the main role as Spike Spiegel, the series' iconic lead bounty hunter. Cho is best known for the Harold and Kumar movies, as well as playing Sulu in the recent Star Trek films and starring in last year's acclaimed thriller Searching.

Cowboy Bebop will also star Mustafa Shakir, Daniella Pineda, and Alex Hassell. Shakir, who appeared in Season 2 of Luke Cage, will play Jet Black, a former cop and captain of the show's spaceship Bebop. Pineda (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) is set to appear as amnesiac bounty hunter Faye Valentine, while Hassell (the upcoming The Boys) is to play notorious hitman Vicious. Netflix says more casting news is still to come, including that of Radical Ed.

Alex Garcia Lopez (who has also worked on Netflix shows such as The Witcher and Marvel's Daredevil and The Punisher) is set to direct the first two episodes. The first of these will be written by Christopher Yost (Thor: Ragnarok). The show will consist of 10 episodes in total.

Netflix also confirmed a previous report that the director of the original series, Shinichiro Watanabe, is working on the new version as a consultant. Additionally, veterans of Sunrise Inc., the studio that made the anime, are executive producing.

Cowboy Bebop was released in Japan in 1998 and ran for 26 episodes. It was followed by an animated movie in 2003, as well as a manga series and a video game. It became one of the key anime properties to break through to a western audience and was screened on Adult Swim in the US.