Cowboy Bebop: How Does Netflix Change Vicious?

Of the many characters that were brought from the original anime series to Netflix's new live-action adaptation, perhaps the character that received the most changes from the source material of Cowboy Bebop was Vicious, the villain who was the dark side of the coin that he shared with Spike Spiegel. Vicious' live-action portrayal is brought to life by Alex Hassell, who is given much more screen time than his animated counterpart as the Netflix series decides to tell far more of the swordsman than we had seen in the Sunrise series that arrived on the small screen in 1998.

Warning. We'll be going into slight spoilers for the recently released Cowboy Bebop series so be forewarned if you are looking to avoid spoilers. 

In order to justify Hassell's character being named Vicious, Spike was also given a codename within the Syndicate, Fearless. The two warriors have a much closer bond in the live-action series, with the current show deciding to focus on Vicious' plot to overtake the Syndicate, far more than what we had seen in the original source material. Hassell's portrayal of Vicious is far more aggravated than the cool as a cucumber character that we had known in the initial animated series, rarely able to control his temper.

Another major addition is the revelation that Vicious' father, played by John Noble, is one of the highest-ranking members in the Syndicate, making for quite the departure for the criminal organization. Of course, another major change is that Vicious has actually married Julia, leading to quite the love triangle between the married couple and Spike, played by John Cho.

While Vicious still has his trusty sword by his side, the end of the first season leaves him in a very different position than how we had seen him in the animated counterpart, "Ballad of Fallen Angels," While a second season hasn't been confirmed for the live-action adaptation as of yet, we would imagine that there will be even more changes on the way for Spike's darker half, especially now that his dreams of ruling the Syndicate have slipped between his fingers.

What did you think of the changes made to Vicious? Have you already had the chance to binge the first season of Cowboy Bebop on Netflix? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Bebop. 

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