I planned on discussing this earlier but I already had a few things scheduled and planned so I am sorry for being (almost consistently) late to the party.
Netflix, right off the bat I got to say that I have little faith in you after how you adapted (and I use that word very loosely) Death Note. However, I decided to hold off from declaring this adaptation dead on arrival. It should be noted that it took a lot of self-restraint to do so.
Now that we have a bit more info, namely part of the cast has been announced, I am really glad I did as after seeing the cast, I’m actually rather hopeful.
Before I get into it, like Death Note and Ghost in the Shell some folks are complaining about race and frankly, I am sick of talking about it. I have written about it twice now and I don’t care to repeat myself a third time.
All I will say is that I thought the backlash about L and the debates on L’s nationality was intense. Seems like history is repeating itself with Spike as even the creator hasn’t confirmed anything outside of saying that he was based on a Japanese actor but there is some debate as people claim that his surname might indicate Jewish heritage.
I’m not getting into that debate, as I don’t care. Honestly, when this adaptation was announced I suspected it was going to be a repeat of Ghost in the Shell and the leads would be given to white actors as these adaptations tend to do. Thankfully that isn’t the case.
At the time I was kind of hoping Keanu Reeves would get the role but I am so happy that they went with John Cho.
Cho is a vertical actor and this isn’t his first rodeo when it comes to Scifi. He can easily switch between being comedic and a badass like Spike. Plus if anyone can pull off that iconic suit, I’m certain it would be Cho.
Being completely honest I hadn’t heard of Mustafa Shakir before now. I don’t really watch the Marvel shows. So I decided on watching some of this work before making up my mind. Glad I did as after my viewing I think he could nail the role of Jet Black.
Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine? Hell yeah! She was great in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom so I am confident that she can bring Faye to life.
My only concern is who will they get to play my favourite character, Ed?
As hopeful as I am about the Cowboy Bebop adaptation, for me the make or break element is Ed. They have confirmed that Ed will be in the ten-episode show but the actor hasn’t been announced yet.
Overall, I am cautiously optimistic about the Cowboy Bebop adaptation but I can’t say I’m on board yet until I find out a bit more about the cast and how they are going to tell the story. Time will tell.
Nerd Rambles 
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