A live-action remake of Cowboy Bebop hits Netflix on November 19th, but a unique fan theory explains that 2001's Cowboy Bebop: The Movie was actually just a dream of Spike's. The original Japanese anime reached the U.S. in 2001, and despite only spanning one season, amassed an impressively sized and loyal fanbase all over the world. As with any franchise, those fans have come up with plenty of wild, show-related theories over the years.

The futuristic series follows a bounty hunting crew aboard the spaceship Bebop as they track down villains within a universe that's a fascinating amalgamation of equally dark, philosophical, violent, sarcastic, goofy, and even lighthearted tones. The forthcoming Netflix reboot of the noir, Western-infused animated series has been generating a great deal of buzz as of late, but the animated movie has its own influential place within the franchise. Cowboy Bebop follows Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Faye Valentine, and Edward as they seek to thwart terrorist Vincent Volaju in his plan to destroy the planet with a deadly bioweapon.

Related: The Live-Action Cowboy Bebop's Trailer Has A Hidden Japanese Dub Surprise

The film is set toward the end of the franchise's timeline, helping bookend the series' famously ambiguous ending. However, there's a theory that the movie's events don't actually take place in reality. Reddit user Chocolatedippedbacon points points out that "the concept of dreams has been a major thematic element throughout Cowboy Bebop and its movie," and mentions how the franchise heavily deals with "the idea of life as a dream, or of living on in a dream until your earthly purpose has been fulfilled..." It's certainly a compelling theory that may very well hold some weight within a franchise that famously leans into ethereal, psychological, and existential themes.

Cast of Cowboy Bebob looking close at screen.

There are minor clues pointing toward the theory's validity sprinkled throughout the Cowboy Bebop: The Movie—like how Jet repeatedly comments on how much Spike sleeps. In addition to this hypothesis really lining up with the franchise's themes and how dreams are an important piece of the series, Vincent even delivers a meaningful line early in the film that supports it. His character makes a parallel between Purgatory and current human existence within the show, saying that both are realms "between Heaven and Hell, where those who were left behind, unable to get into heaven continue to suffer—a place of struggle and pain." 

The movie reveals that Vincent is driven insane by early exposure to the pathogen he's wielding against Mars; he's now unable to differentiate his own dreams from reality as he presumably inhabits the kind of Hell he's referring to. The film also opens with Spike falling asleep, while a voiceover narration seemingly refers to him as, "a man who lived in dreams." A post-credits scene after the movie's end even repeats this brief voiceover while showing him finally waking up from the previously-depicted nap, before the screen cuts to black and features the words, "ARE YOU LIVING IN THE REAL WORLD?"

Like the iconic anime show, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie plays with the nature of reality while quirkily blending dark grittiness with goofy lightheartedness. A fan theory like the one proposed by Reddit user Chocolatedippedbacon only adds to the intensified allure and anticipation of the upcoming live-action remake, coming to Netflix on November 19th.

Next: Cowboy Bebop: Why Spike's Final Confrontation With Vicious Was Inevitable