There was once a time when there were tons of American live-action adaptations of popular anime set to start filming that just never came to fruition, and we were all thankful for that. But now, it’s finally happened – Death Note has an American live-action remake, courtesy of Netflix.
The adaptation will be one film which covers the basic story of Light finding the Death Note and using it to right the world, though how much of the story it will encapsulate is not clear. Nat Wolff will play Light, Margaret Qualley will play Mia (aka Misa), and Keith Stanfield will play L. Willem Dafoe will voice the Death God Ryuk, which sounds as weird as a concept as it does in the trailer, but we don’t catch a glimpse of him in this trailer. Director Adam Wingard is best known for his directorial work on You’re Next and The Guest, which were both dark and mood-heavy pieces.
In terms of the trailer, it looks a little more action oriented than I would have assumed, but they do get a lot of the darkness and shadow right. The major plot points seem to be in there pretty accurately, but it might be further Americanized, like its setting, which is now Seattle. I would say Wolff comes off a little too teen-heart-throb and less bordering-insanity, super ambitious teen. It will be interesting to see how the Internet reacts to the casting of Stanfield, a Black actor best known for his role in Get Out, as L — it could either be a weirdly popular move or the cause of many angry tweets and posts…or both, really.
Death Note will debut on Netflix on August 25, 2017.
