Could the Cowboy Bebop Crew Appear in Lazarus?

After creator Shinichiro Watanabe said that both Cowboy Bebop and Lazarus take place in the same universe, anime fans are excited about the possibility of the Bebop crew appearing in the new anime series.

Fans have already drawn parallels between the two series, with trailers of the popular sci-fi anime master’s latest work showing many similarities to his 90s classic. With Watanabe teasing that both series could be canonically connected, we can assess the likelihood of Spike and company making a dramatic return this year.

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Lazarus Riffs off Cowboy Bebop

Lazarus, set to air on Adult Swim on April 5, is a sci-fi anime series revolving around a namesake group of special agents. The Lazarus group are tasked with locating Dr Skinner, whose miracle cure-all drug has been rigged to kill everyone who has taken it, and get from him the cure to save humanity.

Lazarus signals the highly-anticipated return of legendary anime creator Shinichiro Watanabe. One of the biggest names in 90s and 00s anime, he is responsible for directing classics including Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Terror in Resonance. His last major work was Carol & Tuesday, which released on Netflix in 2019.

As soon as the first trailer for Lazarus dropped, anime fans started connecting the dots between Lazarus and Cowboy Bebop, arguably Watanabe’s most iconic work. For one, both anime take place in a futuristic world teeming with technology. Secondly, both star a charismatic, freewheeling protagonist with notable martial arts skills.

While both those traits are common across multiple Watanabe shows, further trailers and posters further highlighted the show’s cultural connectedness with Cowboy Bebop.

The latest Lazarus trailer showcases a jazz score created by Kamasi Washington, something that was a defining feature of Cowboy Bebop. To further cement their similarities, Lazarus revealed a poster that shows striking similarities to Bebop’s iconic opening sequence.

How are Lazarus and Bebop the Same Canon?

For a popular director to create two stories that follow similar themes isn’t uncommon – Watanabe also used aspects of Bebop in popular follow-ups Samurai Champloo and Terror in Resonance. However, an interview by Watanabe as part of Lazarus’ promotion has got a lot of fans excited.

Speaking to Anime News Network in November last year, Shinichiro Watanabe dropped the news that Lazarus and Cowboy Bebop take place in the same universe. Not only that, every show he’s made is part of the same world.

In response to a question on how Lazarus builds upon his previous work, Watanabe said “I’ve always thought my shows took place in the same universe.”

This may be just an off-the-cuff comment by a director who sees all their work as building on what they did previously. There’s also a chance that Watanabe is encouraging comparisons between Bebop and Lazarus as a way to promote his newest work.

However, because of Watanabe’s largely science-fiction output, with many shows taking place on different planets at different times, it’s very possible that this could actually work as canon.

Could We See a Cowboy Bebop Cameo in Lazarus?

Even if we believe that Cowboy Bebop and Lazarus are taking place in the same world, it’s very unlikely you’ll see major appearances from the iconic anime from the 90s in Watanabe’s latest work due to the differences in time. However, a brief cameo isn’t impossible.

Cowboy Bebop predominantly takes place in the year 2071. By comparison, Lazarus will take place in 2052, 19 years before.

Cowboy Bebop protagonist Spike Spiegel is 27 in his series, meaning he would be an eight-year-old kid around the time of Lazarus. Jet Black is older at 36, but would still only be 17 at the time of the new series. Unless Lazarus’ journey takes them to Ganymede, where Jet was a police officer before becoming a bounty hunter, the chances of the new series featuring either of these two is very slim.

Arguably the most possible Bebop cameo you might see in Lazarus is Faye Valentine, the Bebop’s leading woman. While appearing to be a similar age to Spike, Faye is cryogenically frozen from 2014 to 2068 due to sustaining injuries that were incurable at the time. As Lazarus’ story revolves around medicines and cures, could we see a brief glimpse of the cryogenic facilities in which Faye and others like her are being stored?

Beyond Faye, any Cowboy Bebop reference is likely to be very small and only noticed by avid fans of the 90s anime series. Elder characters such as Chessmaster Hex – a genius lead on the Hyperspace Gate Project – and Laughing Bull – a wise shaman on Mars – could make appearances to help the Lazarus crew, but nothing has been confirmed ahead of release.

Cowboy Bebop

Release Date

1998 – 1999

Network

Adult Swim

Showrunner

Shinichirô Watanabe

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