Cowboy Bebop fans are some of the most passionate out there, and they weren’t sure anyone would be up to playing Spike Spiegel in the real world. The anime icon stands as a critical darling despite his love of chain-smoking. That is why so many were wary when Netflix confirmed plans to create a live-action take on Cowboy Bebop, but a writer on the show could not be happier with the work John Cho has done as Spike.
Recently, Javier Grillo-Marxuach spoke out about Cho and his work on the set of Cowboy Bebop. It was there the co-writer said the actor’s work as Spike might be the best performance of his life.
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“You’ve seen him in comedies. You’ve seen him in dramas. The guy can do anything,” the writer told io9 in a recent interview. “To see John Cho bring his wonderful mastery of acting to this character, and then also to see the level of physical preparation that he’s done for this, is stunning.”
Apparently, Cho was a first pick for Grillo-Marxuach the entire time. He recalls jumping in joy when he learned the actor was in talks to play Spike for the Netflix series, and his excitement to see the character come to life. Grillo-Marxuach says Cho makes the anime icon “super f-cking cool”, and that is what he and co-writer Chris Yost always wanted.
“[Co-writer] Chris Yost and I wrote this on a notecard and tacked it up to our whiteboard in the room. His motto for Spike Spiegel was always: Spike Spiegel is super f-cking cool,” Grillo-Marxuach explained.
“Is he tortured? Yes. Does he have a lot of tragedy in his backstory? Yes. Is he somebody who’s not the most sort of effusive with his emotions kind of guy? Yes, you know this. But he’s super f-cking cool. So, I think more than anything else, Spiegel’s super f-cking cool. John brings that to it in spades.”
For now, fans just have to wait and see what was done with Spike under Cho’s watch. Cowboy Bebop has been on hiatus for awhile now; The ongoing COVID-10 outbreak has forced countless of series into hiatus, but this project took a break well before then. Cho was injured on set during a stunt, and the knee injury will need almost a year of recovery before the actor can resume work.
How do you think Cho will do as the lead of Cowboy Bebop? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
