I Kinda Just Want Radical Edward to Show Up in Netflix’s Live-Action Cowboy Bebop With No Warning

Netflix has released the first looks for the upcoming live-action Cowboy Bebop series and, I gotta say, the cast looks good as hell.

It’s physically impossible for me to not be excited about this, and I’m not alone in that sentiment.

However, fans were quick to notice that a certain “radical” hacker was missing from the pictures.

It’s here that I realized that we haven’t gotten any sort of casting announcement for Ed. Honestly? I feel like that’s intentional, and appropriate, for our beloved Ed.

Radical Edward was a delightful little wild card who caught everyone off guard. I don’t just mean the Bebop crew; I mean the viewer, too, as the early trailers for Cowboy Bebop back in the day focused on creating a cool vibe.

At the time, I had no idea that the series would offer so much humor and heart, and I certainly had no idea that there’d be a character who literally rolls through the desert with a corgi.

Ed doesn’t show up until the ninth episode of Cowboy Bebop (note: the Netflix live-action adaptation is set to have ten episodes so far) and kinda felt like we’d unlocked a hidden character by accident. The fact that we’ve gotten zero information on who’s playing Ed or whether or not Ed’s even in the live-action adaptation has to be on purpose. It’d be perfectly in line with the spirit of the series and one of its most well-loved characters.

I legit just want Ed to show up and be a surprise to us all.

via GIPHY

I know expecting that to be kept under wraps until the series releases on November 19 is asking a lot, but damn, it’d be SUCH a perfect introduction for Ed. With Netflix routinely offering entire seasons at once instead of weekly episodes, a quick binge-watch could lead to viewers discovering Ed in the span of a few hours after release (good luck avoiding that spoiler, though).

I’m pretty sure Netflix isn’t that patient, so I’m perfectly content with the idea of there not being a single casting announcement until we get a trailer that Ed, of course, hacks into in order to make their grand entrance.

Like.

Don’t show me any Ed. Just let Ed wander into the trailer.

I also think it would be neat if they announced a release date for the trailer and we got it early because Ed leaked it. (Shoutout to my wife for planting that idea in my head.)

Basically, I want them to have fun with how they go about revealing Ed. I don’t want it to be the predictable cast announcement and photo; I want it to be something completely out of left field. Let Ed take over the Netflix social media account for a day. Let Twitter make a little smiley icon that pops up whenever you use an Ed hashtag.

Don’t tell us about Ed. Let Ed tell us about Ed.

I think Ed would be happy with that.

via GIPHY

(Image: Keiko Nobumoto, GEOFFREY SHORT/NETFLIX © 2021)

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Briana Lawrence

Briana (she/her - bisexual) is trying her best to cosplay as a responsible adult. Her writing tends to focus on the importance of representation, whether it’s through her multiple book series or the pieces she writes. After de-transforming from her magical girl state, she indulges in an ever-growing pile of manga, marathons too much anime, and dedicates an embarrassing amount of time to her Animal Crossing pumpkin patch (it's Halloween forever, deal with it Nook)

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