Cowboy Bebop's long anticipated live-action adaptation has proved to be short-lived, with Netflix canceling the show less than a month after the first season premiered on the streaming giant.
The show, starring John Cho, Mustafa Shakir and Daniella Pineda, premiered Nov. 19 and prompted a mixed reaction. Though the series was praised for its casting -- CNET's Alessandro Fillari said, "The backbone of the new series is the chemistry between the trio of bounty hunters" -- the show faced criticism over its special effects and writing.
As a result, despite a high debut turnout of viewers, the takeaway has been far less favorable in the weeks since. Rotten Tomatoes scores the series a disappointing 46% rotten, with an audience score not that much higher, at 54%.
Writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach commented on the cancellation on Twitter, saying, "i truly loved working on this. it came from a real and pure place of respect and affection. i wish we could make what we planned for a second season, but you know what they say, men plan, god laughs. see you space cowboy..."
i truly loved working on this. it came from a real and pure place of respect and affection. i wish we could make what we planned for a second season, but you know what they say, men plan, god laughs. see you space cowboy... #CowboyBebop #whateverhappenshttps://t.co/iAcphDkE0M
— javier grillo-marxuach (@OKBJGM) December 9, 2021
"At the end of the day business is business and this was a big ship that needed a lot of fuel," Shakir said in a post on Instagram Friday. "Maybe the 'haters' and the critics got us [or] maybe it wasn't as good as we thought."
The first season of the live-action Cowboy Bebop is still available to watch on Netflix. Check out the trailer below.
