If given the green light, Lupin actor Omar Sy will star in Netflix’s new version of Yasuke. Nick Jones Jr., the head writer for the anime version, will write the new series.
Yasuke tells the true tale of the real African American who was an enslaved person and transported to Japan from Africa, where he became the country’s first non-Japanese samurai. Along with Jones and Sy, 21 Laps Entertainment company founder Shawn Levy, Josh Barry, Forest Whitaker, and Nina Yang Bongiovi will serve as the Netflix series producers.
“Getting a chance to finally bring Yasuke’s legendary true story to life has been a dream of mine ever since I served in Japan as a Marine,” Jones told the Hollywood Reporter.
The newer version of Yasuke won’t include any of the fantasy essences like the anime version. The producers want the five-part series to be a live-actioned dramatization of the historical tale and touch on the friendship between Yasuke and the samurai warrior Oda Nobunaga.
“I’ve been inspired by Yasuke for quite a while,” Sy, who was born in France but is of West-African descent, said. “With his superb team, we are creating a remarkable series showcasing what it meant to be an African samurai in Japanese history. The action sequences alone are going to be phenomenal and ingenious.”
The anime version’s cast comprised LaKeith Stanfield, William Christopher Stephens, Julie Marcus, Gwendoline Yeo, Ming-Na Wen, Takehiro Hira, Darren Criss, and Amy Hill.
“This is the perfect project for what Forest and I strive for — the intersectionality of two cultures through great storytelling,” Bongiovi said. “To bring a real-life, historical figure to the forefront, paired with incredible action, with faces that represent both Black and Asian heritage — behind the camera and in front of the camera — equates a total dream scenario.”
So far, it’s unknown who the producers have in mind to cast in the show, and there’s no telling how long it will take for the show to get greenlighted.
