John Cho joins Netflix's Cowboy Bebop Show, according to distribution details

The live television adaptation of the animated Cowboy Bebop series was first reported in 2017 and it was revealed last November that Netflix would produce it. The first casting announcements were made for the show, which focuses on a gang of intergalactic bounty hunters.

Netflix confirmed John Cho will star in Spike Spiegel, the iconic bounty hunter in the series. Cho is best known for the Harold and Kumar films, as well as for Sulu in the recent Star Trek movies and for the acclaimed thriller of last year, Searching.

Cowboy Bebop will also be performed by 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 Bebop spacecraft. Pineda (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) is expected to appear as Amnesiac bounty hunter Faye Valentine, while Hassell (The Boys' next film) will play the role of the famous Vicious killer. Netflix says that further news regarding the cast is coming, including that of Radical Ed.

Alex Garcia Lopez (who has also worked on Netflix shows such as The Witcher and Darvelevil and Marvel's The Punisher) is expected to direct the first two episodes. The first 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, was working on the new version as a consultant. In addition, the veterans of Sunrise Inc., the studio that produced the anime show, produce live.

Cowboy Bebop was released in Japan in 1998 and lasted 26 episodes. It was followed by an animated film in 2003, as well as a series of manga and a video game. It has become one of the key properties of the cartoon to break through with a Western audience and has been screened on Adult Swim in the United States.