Miami Vice ’85 Has Already Triggered My Fandom in Good and Bad Ways

Related reads:Miami Vice ‘85: New Set Photos Highlight Crockett and Tubbs’ Fashion

The latest photos and videos from the set of Miami Vice ‘85 making the rounds on social media reveal Michael B. Jordan and John Leguizamo in costume filming scenes that appear to be faithfully recreating the opening sequence of the original TV series pilot.

Jordan plays New York City police detective Ricardo Tubbs and Leguizamo recently confirmed on his Instagram account that he portrays Esteban Calderone, the Columbian cartel boss who was the antagonist of the series pilot and returned in a later episode of the first season of the 1984-89 TV series. (Fittingly enough, Leguizamo got his big break playing Calderone’s son in the original series.)

The recent batches of set photos and videos from the New York set of Miami Vice ‘85 reveal Jordan and Austin Butler, who plays Tubbs’ future partner Sonny Crockett, shooting the earliest sequences that introduced their respective characters in the original pilot.

It’s been known that Miami Vice ‘85 is inspired by the series’ two-part pilot (“Brother’s Keeper”) and the show’s first season in general. The images and footage from the set reveal the movie looks very faithful in those recreations.

John Leguizamo on the set of ‘Miami Vice ‘85’ 🚨🎬👀 https://t.co/zluTYrPqZt— Miami Vice ‘85 Crave (@MiamiViceCrave) October 23, 2026

For example, Jordan’s Tubbs is basically wearing the same outfit as original Tubbs actor Philip Michael Thomas wore in the opening scenes of the pilot. Similarly, Leguizamo’s slicked back hair, mustache and cigar are a spot-on nod to Miguel Piñero’s look in the same episode. Beyond the clothes, though, Jordan is recreating the same actions and facial expressions as Thomas’ in the sequence where he runs out into an alley in pursuit of the slippery, enigmatic Calderone. The only major difference is that Jordan’s Tubbs has a beard while the character didn’t grow one until the later seasons of the show.

In the series, Calderone was responsible for the deaths of people close to Crockett and Tubbs so that’s why a New York cop ends up partnering with a Miami Dade P.D. undercover detective. As a lifelong fan of the show, I couldn’t be more excited to see a new Miami Vice movie set in the 1980s and that treats the subject seriously and faithfully. However, a beat-for-beat remake of the TV series pilot could end up being a bit frustrating for fans like myself who know what’s going to happen next and to whom. 

Look, my Miami Vice fandom has already gotten the better of me. When the first look images of Jordan and Butler in costume were released, I hastily wrote an op-ed expressing my concern about the dark color palette rather than the pastels that were used in the show’s early seasons. However, my entire thesis was rendered moot just a few hours later when set photos online revealed Butler dressed exactly like Don Johnson’s Sonny Crockett in 1984-85, white suit and all. I had to update my piece with a mea culpa. So I’m concerned I’m similarly rushing to judgment here. Everything from Miami Vice ‘85 looks cool so far and accurate to how it was depicted on the show, but I guess I was hoping for a story that was in the spirit of the show while telling a brand new tale. I’ll just have to wait and see.

Michael Mann’s Miami Vice film from 2006 also riffed on one of the first season’s episodes (“Smuggler’s Blues”) but everything else surrounding that subplot was an entirely new and different experience for fans of the show albeit without the flash and charm that was a hallmark of the series. So I do appreciate that Miami Vice ‘85 is at least going back to its roots.

Miami Vice ‘85 is currently shooting in New York before moving production to Miami, Florida after hurricane season is over. The film opens in theaters on May 19, 2028.