Thanks to Netflix's Tudum event, we've finally gotten our first look at the live-action Cowboy Bebop series. Netflix debuted the intro sequence for the show, one which sticks surprisingly close to the iconic anime version. But at the same time, this intro also offers glimpses of the various bounty hunters, gangsters and other cosmic riffraff who will be at the heart of the series. Even Mad Pierrot is showing up for Season 1.
Don't worry if you've never seen the anime or are having trouble placing these characters. Let's break down the new footage, along with some of the new images Netflix released, to see which Cowboy Bebop favorites will be appearing in Season 1. And while we're at it, there's one character who's conspicuous by their absence.
John Cho as Spike Spiegel
Cho stars as Spike Spiegel, a bounty hunter and martial arts whiz with a dark, tragic past as a member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate.
Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black
Jet is Spike's partner and the captain of the good ship Bebop. Jet was once a cop before pivoting to the bounty hunting life, and his cybernetic arm hints at the scars he carries.
Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine
Faye makes her debut early in the anime, quickly joining a reluctant Spike and Jet. Like her new partners, Faye has a tragic back-story, and a massive debt hanging over her head to boot.
Alex Hassell as Vicious
Vicious is ostensibly the main villain of Cowboy Bebop. Formerly a close friend of Spike, he's no a high-ranking member of the Red Dragon who will stop at nothing to settle old scores.
Interestingly, one of the shots in the intro recreates an iconic moment from "Ballad of Fallen Angels," showing just how closely the new series will follow the source material at times.
Ann Truong and Hoa Xuande as Shin and Lin
One shot from the intro shows Vicious will again be accompanied by Shin and Lin, his twin enforcers in the Red Dragon.
Elena Satine as Julia
Julia is another relic of Spike's past. This former lover returns at a dangerous time and puts the seemingly carefree Spike on a collision course with his past.
Tamara Tunie as Ana
Ana is the owner of a jazz club on Mars, and she's about the closest thing Spike has to a mother in this solar system.
Mason Alexander Park as Gren
Gren is a singer who works in Ana's club. They also have a bloody history with Vicious and play a key role in Spike's search for Julia. Gren has been reimagined as a nonbinary character for the live-action series.
Asimov and Katerina
Asimov and Katerina are a couple who figure prominently in the first episode of the anime, and it appears the live-action series will be adapting that storyline. These two are on the run after Asimov betrays his gang and steals vials of a dangerous super-drug. Thy could either be a badly needed payday for the Bebop crew or simply another source of misery.
Abdul Hakim
Abdul is introduced in the second episode of the anime. Spike and Jet set out to bring Abdul to justice when he steals a valuable lab animal. That animal is none other than…
A Very Good Boy as Ein
Ein is a seemingly ordinary Welsh Corgi who has been given extremely high intelligence. He becomes a permanent resident on the Bebop after the Abdul Hakim assignment goes bad.
Mad Pierrot Tongpu
Mad Pierrot is a failed attempt at creating the ultimate super-soldier assassin. While practically indestructible, his mind was warped by the process, turning him into a clown-like figure with the mind of a child.
Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy play a small, recurring role over the course of the anime. This comedic duo host Big Shots, a TV show that advertises all the new fugitives with bounties on their heads.
Where's Ed?
One major Cowboy Bebop character is conspicuously absent in these new materials. Notorious, underage computer hacker Ed (or Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski IV, if you're feeling fancy) is the fourth pillar of the series, and quickly becomes BFFs with Ein after joining the Bebop crew. Netflix has confirmed Ed will appear in the series, but the character's complete absence suggests they either won't be popping up in Season 1, or will be drastically re-imagined when they do.
We've previously seen very little of the live-action show, aside from some first-look images and a series of stunning tie-in comic book covers. While it adapts the original anime, showrunner André Nemec has made clear that this will be an "expansion to the canon", not exactly the same story.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.