Forget Yellowstone, Brian Tyree Henry’s Western Anime Is Here to Change the Genre
Born into slavery in Arkansas, Bass Reeves escaped during the Civil War and became a deputy U.S. Marshal, who is thought to have served as the inspiration for the Lone Ranger. Atlanta and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse star Brian Tyree Henry will play the lawman in the upcoming animated steampunk series Bass X Machina, and he told Polygon in a virtual interview ahead of the show’s Nov. 3 release date that he hopes it makes viewers rethink Westerns.
“The Wild West really involved Blacks and Latinos as cowboys, and you never really saw that reflected in the movies,” Henry says. “It was all very, very whitewashed. When I heard that Netflix was going to do a Western with the lead being a Black man and taking on the character of Bass Reeves from history, I was like, ‘Ohh, that’s cool.’ Then they were like, ‘We’re going to do steampunk,’ and I just couldn’t resist.”
This version of Bass is a cyborg who was experimented on during the Civil War. While the concept is fanciful, the series is using it to explore real racial injustice.
“We don’t want to shy away from what it really meant for a Black man to go across the country being a bounty hunter, how he was still looked at as property and not like a full human being, what it was like for indigenous peoples to deal with losing their land and being killed,” Henry says. “Bass is always moving forward trying to right the wrongs that were done to him. Every major story that follows a hero, there is something that has been taken from them, something that they’re trying to make right. We just wanted to make sure it was grounded in the reality of what his world was so people could really feel for him.”
Over the course of six episodes, Bass travels the frontier fighting a mix of outlaws, mechs, and supernatural threats while trying to protect his family.
“It’s episodic in nature because you’re going on a journey,” Henry says. “I love quest anime. They start with one thing in mind, and then the quest turns into this other thing. We just want to always keep things moving forward so the viewers are excited and want to play the next episode.”
LeSean Thomas, whose previous credits include The Legend of Korra and The Boondocks, created Bass X Machina. South Korea’s Studio Mir will animate the series with its signature action-heavy anime-inspired art style. Henry says he got into anime in college at a time when he was smoking a lot of weed, and he also sees the series as a way to change the face of the genre.
“I truly do love and appreciate how much anime has become such a deep part of my culture as well,” Henry says. “I don’t think people think of Black people watching anime as much, but we really fucking love it. I’ve never really seen any anime that has Black leads or Indigenous leads the way that we do, and that’s exciting. The biggest breath of fresh air I’ve had with the animation part of my career has been changing these narratives and showcasing characters in a completely different way.”
Henry is an executive producer on Bass X Machina and took a very active role in the series, working on the voice casting, sound design, and details of Bass’ uniform. He wanted to rethink the Western soundtrack, something that is obvious from the series’ first fight scene, which is set to Kendrick Lamar’s “The Blacker the Berry.” Henry asked Janelle Monáe, who often incorporates sci-fi themes in her music, to write the show’s theme song.
“When people see Western, they think a lot of strings, and they think a lot of whistle tones and things like that,” Henry says. “I want there to be all kinds of electronics. Music, especially in anime, elevates everything. I remember watching Dandadan, and I never skipped the opening. I turned my speakers up and blasted it. That’s what I want. It lets you know this is the world you’re about to embark on, and how the rhythm of the show is going to go.”
As a bloody, genre-bending, historic quest series, Bass X Machina shares a lot of sensibilities with Netflix’s 2023 hit Blue Eye Samurai. That’s another reason Henry was eager to take on the role when he was approached by Netflix’s director of adult animated series Jermaine Turner.
“I digested Blue Eye Samurai four or five times,” Henry says. “I try to make the things that I know I want to watch. I told Jermaine I really love the way that Netflix animation is branching out in an inclusive and experimental way. They’re unafraid to pick stories that aren’t considered mainstream. They want to experiment and play because there’s just a huge audience that wants that, and I’m part of that audience.”
Bass X Machina premieres on Netflix on Nov. 3.
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