The Russo Brothers have added Giancarlo Esposito, Ke Huy Quan, Anthony Mackie, and Billy Bob Thornton to the cast of their upcoming Electric State feature film adaptation for Netflix. The film stars Millie Bobby Brown in the lead role, with Chris Pratt, Stanley Tucci, and Jason Alexander among the already-announced cast members.
Based on the book of illustrations titled The Electric State, Netflix's adaptation stars Brown as a young girl travelling across an alternate America in the mid-1990s in search of her missing brother. Complicating matters is the fact that the country is in the midst of a civil war between humans and robots.
Variety broke the news of Esposito, Quan, Mackie, and Thornton joining Brown in the Russo Brothers' Electric State, providing some key character details as well. Esposito will play a villainous character known as The Marshall, a drone manned by Esposito's character that is tasked with hunting down the robot providing aid to Brown's character. However, the drone itself will be played by a motion-capture performer, while Esposito will film his material later in the production schedule.
Quan will play a doctor who Brown's character needs to find Electric State, taking over a role originally played by his Everything Everywhere All at Once lead Michelle Yeoh, who had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Meanwhile, Mackie and Thornton will be on voice-acting duties as sentient robots. Mackie's character is described as a sidekick to the smuggler played by Pratt, while Thornton's robot is characterized as a "key figure in the civil war" between man and machine.
Esposito should have no trouble taking on the role of Electric State's villain considering he is perhaps best known for playing Gus Fring in Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad. While his turn as the drug kingpin has led to him being cast as a villain more often than not, there's no doubt Esposito will still find a way to make this character just as compelling as his other antagonists.
Quan, on the other hand, recently charmed audiences as the husband of Yeoh's character in 2022's Everything Everywhere All at Once. Though he was previously best known as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom or Data in The Goonies, his star has risen since Everything Everywhere All at Once, leading to new roles in high-profile projects like Tom Hiddleston's Loki season 2.
Electric State is eyeing a 2024 release date on Netflix.
Source: Variety