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One of the most acclaimed Japanese anime directors, Shinichiro Watanabe, just announced a brand-new series that’s currently in development at Adult Swim and features an exciting collaboration between Watanabe himself, the director of the John Wick franchise Chad Stahelski, and MAPPA—the animation studio credited with Attack on Titan: The Final Season. The fans of the sci-fi and anime genres were first treated to the announcement, followed by a trailer for the upcoming Lazarus anime at this year’s Comic-Con International.
Watanabe is widely acclaimed for his prior revolutionary series, such as 1998’s Cowboy Bebop and 2004’s Samurai Champloo, both of which feature his innate sense of style and narrative brilliance. Sure, Samurai Champloo might not be one of Watanabe’s most recognized works, but Cowboy Bebop is undeniably one of the greatest and most influential anime of all time, which only underscores the undeniable mark Watanabe’s work has on pop culture. So, hearing that another animated series from the pen of such a genius is in the works surely sounds exciting.
As stated above, Lazarus was first announced in July 2023 during Comic-Con International, with Adult Swim disclosing the anime’s synopsis and giving fans a taste of the action to come by revealing a teaser trailer. The official synopsis, as revealed by Adult Swim, places Lazarus in the year 2052, an era of unprecedented prosperity and peace enjoyed by humanity worldwide following the introduction of a miracle, cure-all drug called Hapuna, developed by Dr. Skinner.
Though it was initially thought that Hapuna had no side effects, the covertly villainous Doctor revealed that the drug actually has a very short half-life and basically acts as a slow-acting poison. Thus, anyone who took it will die some three years later. As a response to this newly emerged threat in an otherwise peaceful and prosperous world, the powers that be form a special task force of five agents gathered across the world to counter Skinner’s plan and develop a vaccine, naming the task force Lazarus.
The trailer, less than two minutes long, doesn’t contain any dialogue but has a care-free protagonist, a world richly defined, and music that buoys us through the story as if we’re living and breathing in the world itself — something that has become a hallmark of Watanabe’s anime. But there’s more than music to this trailer. The rather short animated preview is brimming with incredibly fluid action scenes that showcase the true extent of Stahelski and MAPPA’s talent for capturing action and animation as characters glide effortlessly from combat to parkour.
So, despite its brevity, the reveal trailer actually does a pretty good job of captivating the attention of not just anime fans but even of those who simply love a good action story in a sci-fi setting. The fluid and captivating action paired with fantastic music is the very essence of Watanabe’s style, and the same can be said about the protagonist — a young man with wavy black hair, a stylish outfit, and piercing eyes. If we didn’t know any better, we’d say we just described Spike Spiegel, the protagonist of the original Cowboy Bebop — not the blasphemous Netflix adaptation.
But trailers have been known to lie, as they’re intentionally made to highlight all the details that would captivate the viewers’ attention and hype the audiences up for the release of what could turn out to be a sub-par dud. However, that most likely won’t be the case with Lazarus, considering the involvement of John Wick’s Chad Stahelski and 87 Ronin, Stahelski’s stunt company. So far, the action sequences, at least those shown in the trailer, are a particular standout.
It’s safe to say that Stahelski’s John Wick franchise redefined the cinematic action genre in recent years with its meticulously choreographed combat. The action-packed sequences produced by those who know them best — we’re referring to the stunt professionals of the movie industry — resonated well with audiences that had already grown bored with typical Hollywood action. The reception of John Wick was so positive that the original movie warranted three sequels and two spin-offs — The Continental and Ballerina.
Stahelski’s involvement is more than likely to elevate Watanabe’s own feel for action-packed fighting sequences, and together these two giants have the potential to redefine the anime medium, much like Cowboy Bebop did some 25 years ago. That particular anime is also renowned for its fantastic jazz score, so we can expect nothing less from the upcoming Lazarus, which is already shaping up into a promising project by Watanabe, Stahelski, and MAPPA.
Unfortunately, all other details associated with the project, such as the voice cast and release date, remain unknown at the time. Those familiar with Watanabe’s work know that he’s famous for collaborations with immense vocal talents that breathe life into his complex characters. As for the release date, considering that we already received a well-structured trailer complemented by a flowy soundtrack, we’re likely to receive the whole release sometime in 2024. However, without an official confirmation from Adult Swim and those involved, this remains mere speculation.
Whatever the case may be, judging from what we’ve seen, Lazarus is definitely worth the wait.
One of the most acclaimed Japanese anime directors, Shinichiro Watanabe, just announced a brand-new series that’s currently in development at Adult Swim and features an exciting collaboration between Watanabe himself, the director of the John Wick franchise Chad Stahelski, and MAPPA—the animation studio credited with Attack on Titan: The Final Season. The fans of the sci-fi and anime genres were first treated to the announcement, followed by a trailer for the upcoming Lazarus anime at this year’s Comic-Con International.
Watanabe is widely acclaimed for his prior revolutionary series, such as 1998’s Cowboy Bebop and 2004’s Samurai Champloo, both of which feature his innate sense of style and narrative brilliance. Sure, Samurai Champloo might not be one of Watanabe’s most recognized works, but Cowboy Bebop is undeniably one of the greatest and most influential anime of all time, which only underscores the undeniable mark Watanabe’s work has on pop culture. So, hearing that another animated series from the pen of such a genius is in the works surely sounds exciting.
As stated above, Lazarus was first announced in July 2023 during Comic-Con International, with Adult Swim disclosing the anime’s synopsis and giving fans a taste of the action to come by revealing a teaser trailer. The official synopsis, as revealed by Adult Swim, places Lazarus in the year 2052, an era of unprecedented prosperity and peace enjoyed by humanity worldwide following the introduction of a miracle, cure-all drug called Hapuna, developed by Dr. Skinner.
Though it was initially thought that Hapuna had no side effects, the covertly villainous Doctor revealed that the drug actually has a very short half-life and basically acts as a slow-acting poison. Thus, anyone who took it will die some three years later. As a response to this newly emerged threat in an otherwise peaceful and prosperous world, the powers that be form a special task force of five agents gathered across the world to counter Skinner’s plan and develop a vaccine, naming the task force Lazarus.
The trailer, less than two minutes long, doesn’t contain any dialogue but has a care-free protagonist, a world richly defined, and music that buoys us through the story as if we’re living and breathing in the world itself — something that has become a hallmark of Watanabe’s anime. But there’s more than music to this trailer. The rather short animated preview is brimming with incredibly fluid action scenes that showcase the true extent of Stahelski and MAPPA’s talent for capturing action and animation as characters glide effortlessly from combat to parkour.
So, despite its brevity, the reveal trailer actually does a pretty good job of captivating the attention of not just anime fans but even of those who simply love a good action story in a sci-fi setting. The fluid and captivating action paired with fantastic music is the very essence of Watanabe’s style, and the same can be said about the protagonist — a young man with wavy black hair, a stylish outfit, and piercing eyes. If we didn’t know any better, we’d say we just described Spike Spiegel, the protagonist of the original Cowboy Bebop — not the blasphemous Netflix adaptation.
But trailers have been known to lie, as they’re intentionally made to highlight all the details that would captivate the viewers’ attention and hype the audiences up for the release of what could turn out to be a sub-par dud. However, that most likely won’t be the case with Lazarus, considering the involvement of John Wick’s Chad Stahelski and 87 Ronin, Stahelski’s stunt company. So far, the action sequences, at least those shown in the trailer, are a particular standout.
It’s safe to say that Stahelski’s John Wick franchise redefined the cinematic action genre in recent years with its meticulously choreographed combat. The action-packed sequences produced by those who know them best — we’re referring to the stunt professionals of the movie industry — resonated well with audiences that had already grown bored with typical Hollywood action. The reception of John Wick was so positive that the original movie warranted three sequels and two spin-offs — The Continental and Ballerina.
Stahelski’s involvement is more than likely to elevate Watanabe’s own feel for action-packed fighting sequences, and together these two giants have the potential to redefine the anime medium, much like Cowboy Bebop did some 25 years ago. That particular anime is also renowned for its fantastic jazz score, so we can expect nothing less from the upcoming Lazarus, which is already shaping up into a promising project by Watanabe, Stahelski, and MAPPA.
Unfortunately, all other details associated with the project, such as the voice cast and release date, remain unknown at the time. Those familiar with Watanabe’s work know that he’s famous for collaborations with immense vocal talents that breathe life into his complex characters. As for the release date, considering that we already received a well-structured trailer complemented by a flowy soundtrack, we’re likely to receive the whole release sometime in 2024. However, without an official confirmation from Adult Swim and those involved, this remains mere speculation.
Whatever the case may be, judging from what we’ve seen, Lazarus is definitely worth the wait.
This interview was conducted, and this piece was written before the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.
The third season of the critically acclaimed Warrior, a martial arts drama based on the writings of Bruce Lee, is available now on MAX. We had the chance to talk with several of the cast and crew that bring the show to life, so be sure to check out our other interviews.
Here we talk with Shannon Lee, executive producer, and Jonathan Tropper, executive producer and creator.
BNP: Let’s jump right in! So, it has been three years since the second season of Warrior released on HBO Max. A lot has changed: the name of the streaming platform, an increased spotlight on police brutality, a rise in anti-Asian hate. What’s it like producing a period piece based on writings from decades ago that has remained very resonant with its thematics and situations to the present day, almost eerily?
Shannon Lee: Yeah, I would say “eerie” is a good – is a good adjective. [laughs] You know, it’s unfortunate; it’s also, in some ways, great that we get to shine a light on it, and, um, it is kind of a strange thing to see our show reflecting – our show, which takes place in the 1800s, reflecting today’s sentiments and emotions and policies and all of the things that are happening in the world. And in that way, I think our show feels very timeless.
Jonathan Tropper: Yeah, and I’ll just say that, you know, one of the things we struggle with in the room, and we always come to the same conclusion is, coming back after a long time off, we were very aware that in the first two seasons we had shone that light and we had been a show about that, and about immigration, about xenophobia and systemic racism, and the concern was now, in the time off when that stuff has, if anything, become more intensified and more difficult for the country to face, how do we address it and how do we make sure we don’t not address it, but how do we make sure we don’t over address it? And I think we spent a lot of time just reminding ourselves that it’s in the DNA of the show and all we have to do is tell our stories and it’s going to be inherent in the DNA, and that sort of, like, was the thing that released us to finally just figure out the best stories to tell, because it really is in the DNA of the show.
BNP: So, speaking of the story, some of the plot points of Warrior Season 3 include the insertion of the personal printing press and the Chinese Exclusion Act, which is something that’s been hinted at in the background for like the past two seasons. How far in advance were you planning to incorporate some of these real-life plot points into the narrative of the story, and like, how much foresight do you need in order to get all of the timelines to match up?
Shannon: I mean, I think…yeah. I’ll just start by saying that like, in terms of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Tong Wars and that historical point in time, that was something that my father was – in – surrounding his original treatment and notes. So, you know, this time period was a Chinese-American story that he really wanted to have be the setting for his idea. So we were blessed with that as a very initial set piece for us, and to be able to set our world in that time and place. And then I’ll let Jonathan talk more to the specifics.
Jonathan: Yeah, I mean, once we became informed about that, we purposely set our show four years before the Exclusion Act so we could kind of have that sort of looming as this thing that gets referenced and that we know about and we know is coming, but you know, we didn’t want to actually do a show about the Exclusion Act; we wanted to do a show about what it felt like to be an immigrant in San Francisco from China in the 1870s. So, you know, everything is based on that time in history that would lead up to a point of so much racial strife that they would – it would be the one time in the history of this country that they legislated against a very specific, you know, race of people, that they couldn’t come into the country. And so, every year, what we do is we look at one or two historical touchpoints from this struggle, whether it’s the Page Act, which Shannon, you know, brought up for us to address in Season 2, or whether it’s, you know, the Chinatown riots that happened in a number of Chinatowns during that time period, and we sort of build a lot of the drama of the show using that as kind of an informational touchstone. So we’ll take a few things and things that we knew about or that we read about in the research we’re doing between seasons, and use them to kind of foster ideas for story, and then the story kind of takes off on its own.
BNP: Speaking to the research, for anyone interested in this time period, are there any sources that you found particularly resonant that people could seek out on their own?
Jonathan: The sources are really hard because there’s nothing actually written about this specifically, but there is a book called Hatchet Men which we all read, which was really helpful. There was another book called The Barbary Coast, which, you know, isn’t only about Chinatown; it’s about San Francisco during that time period, but there are chapters and bits within it that really give some illuminating, you know, information about Chinatown. Um, there’s another book – I’m blanking on the title of the third book, but those are the two books that come to mind that like every writer in the room has read. And then it was a lot of articles, a lot of stories, a lot of, you know, just pieces of periodicals that we were able to track down. You know, records of court cases, things like that, and just, you know, the rest of it’s a lot more spread out.
BNP: So, very quickly, how would you describe Warrior Season 3 as like the logline, the bullet point punch that will get everyone to watch it? I’ve already watched it, and I’m excited for it, so…
Jonathan: Well, we put it on the poster, right? “Choose a side.” And that has a lot of meaning for this season, but it’s largely about, you know, what was laid out by Bruce Lee originally is having to make that choice to follow the path of the warrior, or in our case, the path of the gangster. And it’s about choosing your path. And, you know, Ah Sahm’s been flirting with that for the first two seasons and now, in Season 3, we’re going to force him to start making those hard choices.
BNP: So, and then, just very quickly in the remaining minute I have left, I’m going to get super greedy and ask, how much Warrior can we anticipate in the future?
Shannon: [laughs]
BNP: I want more.
Shannon: We want more too! [laughs]
Jonathan: We don’t know, but we’re hopeful that this will be the beginning of a new run for us, but we don’t know yet.
BNP: Okay, well, thank you so much for your time. I really, really enjoyed talking to you about the show. I watched the third season of Warrior over the weekend, and it is just phenomenal.
Jonathan: Thank you.
Shannon: Thank you.
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The post Interview with ‘Warrior’ Producers Shannon Lee and Jonathan Tropper appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Some movies spark an urge to travel, fall in love, or even eat your way through a new city. Ironically, The Equalizer 3 gave us all those urges while also allowing us to enjoy intense death scenes and bloody vengeance.
I want to travel to a coastal city in Italy, drink un caffè at a little bistro where the locals know my name, eat pasta con carne or fresh fish of the day, and fall in love with a tiny town that embraces me as one of their own. Don’t worry, this is not Eat, Pray, Love. I mean that The Equalizer 3 is more than just your average film about a protective retired assassin who saves the day.
Denzel Washington has always been THAT guy, especially for the Black community. He is our inspiration, our favorite actor (even if we don’t know it). If you google “top Black actors,” he is number one, and for good reason. Washington is known for his engaging and powerful performances. He’s done so much to help alter the perception that Black actors can’t bring in that mainstream (white) audience. Everybody loves Denzel!
When it comes to this particular genre, in the beginning, people were fascinated by Taken (2008), and it was popular enough to become a trilogy. But Taken 2 and 3 weren’t as great as the first. People are head over heels for John Wick (myself included). He’s another ex-whatever thrust back into the world he tried to leave behind. Here’s the thing: all these men have “a very particular set of skills,” but when it comes down to it, if I need help from kidnappers, mafia, mob, or even military assassins, between Robert McCall (Washington), Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), and John Wick (Keanu Reeves), I’m going with McCall.
In The Equalizer 3, we find Robert, aka Roberto, in Italy, serving justice for those who have been egregiously wronged and can’t do much about it themselves. He seeks peace and finds local crime bosses and the Italian mafia in a little heavenly corner of Southern Italy. Robert is making new friends and family and finding his zen, post demolishing an entire vineyard-turned-compound.
When the people he cares about are taken advantage of and threatened, he becomes protective and wants them to live their best lives. This is bad for the Italian mafia, who wants to eliminate all the locals for personal gain. Like always, McCall gives them a chance to do right. They are disinclined to acquiesce to his request, so blood rains.
With returning director Antoine Fuqua and returning writers Richard Wenk, Michael Sloan, and Richard Lindheim (based on the television series created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim), we are given some great action and fun dialogue in this third installment. The film also welcomes Dakota Fanning (Emma Collins) to the franchise, as well as Eugenio Mastrandrea (Gio), Remo Girone (Enzo), Andrea Scarduzio (Vincent), and Andrea Dodero (Marco).
It was a pleasure to see Washington and Fanning back on screen together. We haven’t seen them together since Man on Fire when Fanning was 9 or 10 years old (now 29). Their chemistry is fantastic. It was like a teacher with their favorite student, or even better, a father-daughter relationship. Washington completely embodies his character, Robert McCall. From the little random comedy moments in dialogue to the deafening stare from across the room, his character is so fun to watch on screen. The Equalizer 3 is very engaging; our compliments to the cast. Automatically, working in a film with Denzel Washington means you step up your game.
The film has humor and heart, with stunning cinematography and fantastic action scenes. A major round of applause goes to the special effects team and makeup department for every bit of blood splatter committed in this film. The blood and death scenes, while intense, were brilliant.
There were a few chuckles and OMG moments as Denzel “murderized” (beyond even a regular homicide) someone on screen. But it was all done in an impressively different way from other films in this category. There were no surprise twists or turns. It was straightforward and still creative. The dialogue was enhanced from the first two Equalizer films, as was the story. There was a stronger connection to McCall’s situation and his purpose.
Out of everything that happens in this movie, including the slaughter of bad guys, the only real question we had at the end was, why did the lady have no pants on? But, I chalk it up to the Italian culture that, honestly, given how hot it’s been lately, I can get behind.
The Equalizer 3 from Sony and Columbia Pictures hits theaters exclusively on Friday, September 1, 2023.