Will Ed Be in Netflix's New 'Cowboy Bepop' Live Action Series?
Netflix revealed the first look at their live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop on Monday, also sharing when the show is set to air on the streaming platform.
The images showed Jon Cho as Spike Spiegel, Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black, and Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine, and even the team's beloved corgi Ein makes an appearance, but Ed does not.
Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV is the Bebop spaceship's resident hacker who has an unbreakable bond with Ein and serves as the show's comic relief.
While she is an essential part of the team in Shinichiro Watanabe's original anime, her place in Netflix's live-action series is currently up in the air.
The 13-year-old hacker, who dubs herself "Radical Edward", moves into the Bebop spaceship in the original series with little fanfare, taking a spot for herself without asking for permission from the others.
In the anime, the spaceship is originally manned by just Spiegel and Black before Valentine becomes a part of the bounty hunting crew after first coming across the pair in episode two.
Ed only makes an appearance in the ninth episode, "Jamming with Edward", and leaves the crew with Ein in episode 24 or the 27-part anime series.
While she does not appear in the first look images for the live-action series, it does not mean that Ed won't be a part of the show.
The character could well join the group towards the end of the first season or in the second if the show is renewed.
Watanabe is a creative consultant on the series, so it stands to reason that he would want one of his main characters to make an appearance.
As well as Cho, Shakir and Pineda, other main cast members to be announced include Alex Hassell as Spiegel's arch-nemesis Vicious.
Elena Satine, meanwhile has been cast as Julia, Spiegel's former romantic interest and ex-girlfriend of Vicious, who disappeared after the latter tried to make her kill the bounty hunter after he tried to leave the Syndicate.
While she doesn't appear often in the anime series, she may well have a bigger role to play in the live-action.
Netflix have also announced a number of recurring cast members, including Geoff Stults as Chalmers, Black's former co-detective, Tamara Tunie as Ana, the head of a jazz club on Mars, and Mason Alexander Park as Gren, Ana's right-hand person.
Rachel House will portray Mao, a member of the Syndicate's "White Tiger" family, and Ann Truong and Hoa Xuande as twins Shin and Lin, henchmen for Vicious.
On Monday August 23, Netflix revealed that the show would premiere on the streaming platform on November 19, 2021.
