At the top of Netflix’s premiere showcase at Anime NYC, the excited crowd at the Main Stage room was given an exclusive look into Bass X Machina with none other than executive producer and star Brian Tyree Henry. Henry took the stage alongside panel host Straw Hat Goofy for a detailed discussion about the series and its production process.
Created by LeSean Thomas (Cannon Busters, Yasuke) and produced by Studio Mir (Devil May Cry, Skull Island), Bass X Machina is a steampunk western infused with the legendary story of Bass Reeves, the first Black U.S. Marshal. In this gritty, hyper‑stylized, kinetic action series, Reeves operates as a cool and slick bounty hunter in a realm full of homicidal outlaws, enormous war machines, and even supernatural terrors.
Here is a complete breakdown of everything revealed during the presentation, including details from the series’ footage (see here if you missed our news coverage of just the trailer):
The First Five Minutes
Fans were treated to the first five minutes of the series in a high‑octane, dazzling, and bloody sequence. The footage opens in a wintry setting with Bass Reeves on a speedy horse, pursuing a train. A mob of criminals has hijacked and robbed a cart full of gold, with the slain security graphically deceased on the ground.
Bass leaps onboard, face covered with cloth and eyes as cold as the air. He suggests the criminals disarm and surrender, as he’s looking for a wanted man. When one pulls out his gun, Bass quickly head‑shots everyone except his target. It also appears that the man he’s looking for is one of the twin brothers. “But you’re a lawman,” one of the twins says, shocked.
“Not a lawman. Bounty hunter,” he responds. Both twins suggest they’re triplets, claiming his target isn’t in the room. They both try to get the jump on Bass at once. An exterior shot of the train passes with only two gunshots heard in quick succession. Cut back to the cart, and both brothers lie dead on the ground.
The third brother slides open the door and tries to flee. On a cart full of criminals and innocent passengers, a shootout erupts. Concerned about a mother and child in fear and other casualties, Bass cautiously takes out the adversaries. A man touches his shoulder to thank him, but Bass flashes over an ominous past regarding his reconstruction, similar to Wolverine’s traumatic Weapon X flashbacks. He pulls out a gun on him, before regaining his sanity. He pursues the last brother into a cart where he sets off a nine‑barreled machine gun, laughing maniacally. A hip‑hop track blares in the background as Bass evades and shields the incoming bullets. Finally revealing his mechanical arm, Bass transforms it into a double‑barreled shotgun, loads his bullets, and shoots straight through the weapon, exploding the weapon and his target.
The footage ends with stylish opening credits, highlighting his navigation of a lawman operating in Confederate‑era America, his journey to becoming a weapon, and being chained to a machine that turned him into a metal‑arm gunslinging badass, all set to an original theme called “Sand” by co‑star Janelle Monáe.
Bass X Machina S1. Brian Tyree Henry as Bass Reeves in Bass X Machina S1. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix
Production Details
Before the footage was revealed, production images showcased Bass’s geometric linework and full‑body colored rendered design, along with his mechanical arm in its rustic, steampunk glory.
Henry said, “It’s been the most exciting ride I have ever taken. We have some really great people who are a part of it…” The full cast was also revealed: Janelle Monáe as Bass’s wife, Glory Reeves; Tati Gabrielle as Dana; Cree Summer as Ahni; Chaske Spencer as Lighthorse; Starletta DuPois as Etta; and Currie Graham as Rivenbark—all rounding out this gritty, lawless realm.
Henry detailed his passion for his executive producer role, expressing his disinterest in doing a conventional historical series while wanting to honor the real Bass Reeves. He shared how history has rarely featured a Black protagonist in the steampunk genre, how Reeves inspired the beloved fictional hero The Lone Ranger, and how the show is the first Black western anime ever made.
“The thing that I always say about this show is I wanted to be so damn punk rock,” Henry lamented. “I’m interested in the punk rock Western. That’s what I want. Because most of the time in Westerns, our visibility is excluded. And I was like, there were a lot of Black and brown cowboys. There were a lot of people who found the frontier, indigenous wise, and we never get to see that. So what I wanted to do in the show is to give an homage to them and celebrate them and also do it in an incredibly crazy punk rock way that you saw.”
Bass X Machina S1. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix
Henry also discussed how hands‑on he was in the production and voice direction to make the series feel real to the viewer and heighten the show’s overall stakes.
The conversation also detailed the involvement of co‑star and musician Janelle Monáe, who provides the series’ opening tune, “Sand.” Henry discussed how she was the only person he could think of asking and how they’d been wanting to work together for a while. “And we’ve been trying to figure out a way to work together, and her wonderful team at Wonderland—Roman GianArthur and Nate Wonder—I don’t think you understand. We are all fans of animation and anime. But we came in, we played, and we experimented because this whole show is an experiment. And it is an experiment that I think you’re going to love. The sound of it is out of this world.”
The series makes its shot sooner than you think. It’s slated to hit Netflix globally on November 3rd, 2026.
