Ke Huy Quan, Anthony Mackie, and Giancarlo Esposito join the Russo Brothers’ The Electric State
Billy Bob Thornton also hops on board the Netflix sci-fi film starring Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown
Aux News Mackie
Looks like a few familiar faces have been added to Joe and Anthony Russo’s sci-fi epic for Netflix. Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once), Anthony Mackie (The Falcon And The Winter Soldier), Giancarlo Esposito (The Mandalorian), and Billy Bob Thornton (The Gray Man) have joined the cast of The Electric State, already starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, per Variety.
Based on the graphic novel from Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag, The Electric State follows an orphaned teenager (Brown) traveling across a desolate 1990s United States to find her brother following a civil war between humans and “the robots that once served them,” writes Variety in their description of the film. On her journey, she’s joined by a drifter (played by Pratt) and his robot sidekick (voiced by Mackie). Thornton also voices a robot in the film, described by Variety as “a key figure in the civil war,” helping round out the cast with the previously announced Stanley Tucci and Jason Alexander.
Esposito is (of course) portraying the villain of the film, Marshall, who utilizes a robotic drone as he attempts to hunt down the robot helping Brown’s protagonist on her adventure. In a non-robot role is Ke Huy Quan, who’ll play a doctor that Brown’s character has to find along the way. In a wild bit of coincidence, Quan’s character originally had been cast as Michelle Yeoh (who he starred beside in his career-returning Everything Everywhere All At Once role), but scheduling conflicts caused her to leave the project.
Directed by the Russo Brothers, the script was adapted by frequent Russo Brother collaborators Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War).
The Electric State joins the list of ongoing projects the Russo Brothers have currently with Netflix, with their big-budget spy feature The Gray Man being green-lit for a whole dang cinematic universe on the streamer. Though, this hasn’t stopped the directors from eyeing a return to the MCU, as they’ve discussed wanting to work on their favorite Marvel comic-arc Secret Wars, which as of yet doesn’t have any attached directors to the film.
7 Comments
The Gray Man was the worst movie I’ve seen since Cherry.
Everything Everywhere All at Once was a FANTASTIC movie. Totally bonkers in many spots but at the same time truly emotional and heartfelt in others.
You got the ‘electric’ but you ain’t got no ‘boogaloo’!
Where all the boogaloo at?!
Worth noting that Stalenhag also created “Tales from the Loop”.
a drifter (played by Pratt) and his robot sidekick (voiced by Mackie)Is it too late to swap that casting? I actually like Pratt, but Mackie has been just terrific in the films I’ve watched him in. Besides, I thought Hollywood was bound and determined to have Pratt in a voice role in every major film requiring voice roles.
Pratt must have a hell of an agent, because while he’s fine in all of his roles, he keeps landing spots in films where he’s the least interesting thing about them.
Most of that cast list was exciting to read — or at least intriguing — and then it ends with “and also this guy.”
Damn, all the new additions to the cast sound great, but Brown and Pratt are blah.