Cowboy Bebop showrunner André Nemec opens up about how the live-action Netflix series will make Julia a bigger character than the anime. The series revolves around a group of bounty hunters traveling around the galaxy on the titular spaceship as they also are forced to confront the demons of their past along the way. The cast for the live-action Cowboy Bebop includes John Cho as Spike Spiegel, Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black, Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine, Alex Hassell as Vicious and Elena Satine as Julia.
Development on the adaptation of the iconic 1998 Cowboy Bebop anime began in 2017 when original producers Sunrise Inc. partnered with Tomorrow Studios for an American-produced live-action series. Production initially began in late 2019 though saw multiple delays due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Cho's on-set injury. With the series now wrapped and hitting Netflix in November, the creatives behind the series are offering new teases of what fans can expect from the adaptation.
In a recent interview with Polygon to discuss the upcoming series, Nemec opened up about expanding certain characters from the Cowboy Bebop anime for the Netflix live-action adaptation. One such character is Julia, a woman with mysterious ties to Spike's past, whom Nemec believes a further exploration of her character necessary for the series. See what Nemec said below:
“In the anime, she’s almost more of an idea than a character. So we mined what we could from the information that we had and we built out who these people were.”
Those familiar with the Cowboy Bebop anime will know just how closely tied Julia's arc is with that of Spike's and his motivations for taking to the stars as a bounty hunter. Given season 1 of the live-action adaptation is set to encompass 10 hour-long episodes, it would make sense that the writers would need to further expand the characters of the series. Additionally, with Satine's portrayal of Julia currently credited as a main cast member for the series rather than a recurring one as was the case in the source material, it seemed likely she would appear in more than just flashbacks as was largely the case in the original series.
With Cowboy Bebop frequently taking inspiration from the noire genre, Julia's role as a femme fatale is unlikely to be changed for the series, though an expansion could make her into an even more fascinating character than the original series. The first images for Cowboy Bebop have already teased an adaptation of part of Spike's arc with Vicious from "Ballad of Fallen Angels," the latter of whom also has ties to Julia. Nemec's latest tease of further exploring Julia in the live-action series should build anticipation for it even higher leading up to its November 19 premiere.
Source: Polygon