Netflix to release Bass Reeves steampunk anime Bass X Machina on 3 November
Netflix will release the eight-episode animated series Bass X Machina on 3 November. It is a steampunk Western reimagining of lawman Bass Reeves, starring and executive produced by Brian Tyree Henry.
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The story, neutrally told
Centre · 2Netflix will release Bass X Machina, an animated steampunk Western built around the historical lawman Bass Reeves, on Tuesday 3 November. ColliderN “Tuesday, November 3 will mark the arrival of Bass X Machina” Read at Collider ↗ Den of GeekN “Bass x Machina premieres Nov. 3 on Netflix.” Read at Den of Geek ↗ Centre · 1Collider describes it as an eight-episode sci-fi Western and part of Netflix's adult animation slate. ColliderN “the eight-episode sci-fi Western kicks off”“the latest addition to Netflix's adult animation slate” Read at Collider ↗ Centre · 2Brian Tyree Henry, an Academy Award nominee, stars as Reeves and, according to Den of Geek, also executive produces the series. ColliderN “Starring Academy Award nominee Brian Tyree Henry” Read at Collider ↗ Den of GeekN “The series, which Henry executive produces and stars in” Read at Den of Geek ↗
Centre · 1In this version Reeves is a bounty hunter with a prosthetic arm in a steampunk world menaced by outlaws, machines and supernatural forces. Collider says his government sends him on a mission to stop the resurrection of the Confederacy, and that his acts of justice risk endangering his family. ColliderN “this Bass is a bounty hunter with a prosthetic arm”“He's called upon by his government for a special mission to stop the resurrection of the Confederacy” Read at Collider ↗ Centre · 1Den of Geek calls the show a heightened version of Reeves, the first Black deputy U.S. Marshal, who fights for justice and his family in a dangerous post-Civil War world. Den of GeekN “follows a heightened version of Bass Reeves, the first Black deputy U.S. Marshal” Read at Den of Geek ↗ Centre · 2Studio Mir, the South Korean studio behind Devil May Cry, handles the animation. ColliderN “Studio Mir, which most recently collaborated with Netflix on Adi Shankar's Devil May Cry adaptation, is handling the animation.” Read at Collider ↗ Den of GeekN “South Korea’s Studio Mir (Devil May Cry, Kong: Skull Island)” Read at Den of Geek ↗
Centre · 1Janelle Monáe sings the opening theme and voices Reeves' wife, Glory. Tati Gabrielle plays the aspiring engineer Dana Starr. The cast also includes Cree Summer, Chaske Spencer, Currie Graham and Starletta DuPois. ColliderN “Janelle Monáe both sings the opening theme and voices Reeves' wife, Glory”“Cree Summer as Ahni, Chaske Spencer as Lighthorse, Currie Graham as Rivenbark, and Starletta DuPois as Etta.” Read at Collider ↗ Centre · 1Collider places the series after Paramount+'s Lawmen: Bass Reeves, created by Chad Feehan with Taylor Sheridan as executive producer and starring David Oyelowo. It notes that show has had no second-season news and that Netflix has added it to its catalog. ColliderN “Created by Chad Feehan with Sheridan as an executive producer, Lawmen: Bass Reeves followed the rise of the titular Bass Reeves, played by David Oyelowo”“there's been no movement on a second season of the Lawmen series in the years since” Read at Collider ↗ Centre · 1Henry calls the show a "crazy Spaghetti Western, steampunk punk rock" adventure and says it took three years to make. They say it deals with segregation and oppression after the Civil War, with blood as its overarching theme, and that they hope it creates space for Black fans of anime and geek culture. Den of GeekN “described by Henry as a “crazy Spaghetti Western, steampunk punk rock” adventure”“it’s been a three-year-long journey to let Bass Reeves loose”““The overarching theme of the show is about blood.” Read at Den of Geek ↗
Centre · 1Henry says the music draws on Indigenous, African, funk, jazz and hip-hop sounds, created with Monáe's Wondaland collective, and hopes for more Bass stories. Den of GeekN “We’re using Indigenous music, drums, and sounds. We’re using African instrumentation.”““There are so many stories that are waiting for Bass,” he says.” Read at Den of Geek ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left0 outlets
No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Centre2 outlets
- Framing
- Both centre outlets treat the series as an entertainment preview. Collider sets it against Taylor Sheridan's Lawmen: Bass Reeves and lists the cast and creative team. Den of Geek builds a magazine feature on Henry's comments about representation, genre and themes.
- Emphasis
- Release date, cast and studio, the genre mix, and Henry's account of representation and the post-Civil War setting.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Neither outlet reports reviews or critical reception. Neither names the series' creators or writers beyond the cast and studio.
- Charged language
- “Wild New Western Series”“crazy Spaghetti Western, steampunk punk rock”
- For example
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“A Taylor Sheridan Favorite Officially Returns With a Wild New Western Series” — Collider
“described by Henry as a “crazy Spaghetti Western, steampunk punk rock” adventure” — Den of Geek
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Bass X Machina premieres on Netflix on 3 November.
- Brian Tyree Henry stars as Bass Reeves.
- Studio Mir animates the series.
- Janelle Monáe is involved, with a music role.
Brian Tyree Henry person
Henry presents the show as personal to them as a self-described Black nerd. They say they want it to widen representation in anime and geek culture, to speak to Black audiences and to be global. They also say it confronts segregation and oppression.
“I want Bass x Machina to create space for other Black nerds like myself who maybe don’t really feel like they’re seen” — Den of Geek
“We’re dealing with segregation. We’re dealing with oppression.” — Den of Geek
Left0 articles
No coverage yet.
Centre2 articles
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A Taylor Sheridan Favorite Officially Returns With a Wild New Western Series
Celebratory Promotional preview that ties the series to the Sheridan and Lawmen: Bass Reeves legacy and sets out the premise and cast.
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Brian Tyree Henry On New ‘Spaghetti Western Steampunk’ Anime Bass x Machina
Sympathetic Interview-driven magazine feature that gives space to Henry's views on representation, themes and music, and praises the animation.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 25 Oct 22:45 First ColliderN A Taylor Sheridan Favorite Officially Returns With a Wild New Western Series
- 29 Oct 16:00 +89h 15m Den of GeekN Brian Tyree Henry On New ‘Spaghetti Western Steampunk’ Anime Bass x Machina
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.
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