Get A Sneak Peek At Netflix's Cowboy Bebop Opening Credit Sequence
Netflix's live-action adaptation of anime classic "Cowboy Bebop" has had a fairly difficult path to the screen. The series was supposed to premiere in 2020, but star John Cho suffered a knee injury during filming, which shut production down for about seven to nine months, according to Deadline. Or at least that was going to be the estimated shutdown, until the pandemic extended it for several more months. But now, at long last, the show is coming to Netflix this fall.
In anticipation of the premiere, at the TUDUM fan event over the weekend, Netflix unveiled a sneak peek at the opening credits of the new "Cowboy Bebop" — which happen to look and sound a lot like the opening credits of the old "Cowboy Bebop."
Netflix took an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to the opening credits, which are a recreation of the 1998 anime's credit sequence, with the iconic opening credits music — Seatbelts' "Tank!" — making a comeback.
Seatbelts, if you don't know, is a jazz ensemble put together by composer Yoko Kanno to provide the original soundtrack for the "Cowboy Bebop" anime. Kanno is back onboard for the live-action version, which should put fans' minds at ease a little bit — because the response to the new opening credit sequence in the YouTube comment section has not been positive.
Cowboy Bebop's credits are a little bit controversial
The new credit sequence keeps the noirish, 1960s-influenced style of the original, and adds in live-action footage of stars John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, and Daniella Pineda, among many others. A lot of anime fans are not really feeling it. There's a lot of division among "Cowboy Bebop" fans. A commenter named Jiga wrote "It looks like a fan-made trailer," which was the most succinct expression of a sentiment that popped up over and over in the comments.
Still, there's a lot to be cautiously optimistic about with "Cowboy Bebop." The cast is strong. In addition to the aforementioned leads — Cho as Spike Spiegel, Shakir as Jet Black, and Pineda as Faye Valentine, a trio of bounty hunters on the spaceship Bebop — the cast also includes Alex Hassell as Vicious, Spike's gangster nemesis, Elena Satine as Julia, the object of Spike and Vicious' competing affections, and horror legend Adrienne Barbeau as terrorist Maria Murdock. The series is executive-produced by "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" screenwriter André Nemec. The pilot was written by Marvel animated series powerhouse Christopher Yost.
"Cowboy Bebop" premieres on Netflix on Friday, November 19.