Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.polygon.com
Transformers is a franchise that has built-in appeal in more ways than one. Apart from the concept of giant robots transforming into vehicles, there’s the fact that two factions of these robots have been engaged in a war that spans millenia. There have been highs (including the grossly underrated Transformers One) and lows (including most of Michael Bay’s films), but it’s more than likely that we’ll be seeing Transformers stories until the heat death of the universe. Netflix is aiming to deliver its own take on another property that features giant robots, and it’s tapped Sydney Sweeney to play a leading role in this potential franchise.
That series is none other than Mobile Suit Gundam. Like Transformers, the Gundam franchise has had multiple installments over the decades, and zeroes in on a conflict between two opposing factions, with each of them piloting the massive “mobile suits” that are Gundam’s namesake. Sweeney leads a star-studded cast that includes Noah Centineo (Street Fighter), Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter), and Michael Mando (Spider-Man: No Way Home), with Jim Mickle serving as writer and director. Mickle’s no stranger to adapting genre fare for Netflix, as he previously gave the streamer one of its best series with Sweet Tooth. Gundam might pose a different challenge.
‘Gundam’ is deeper than most people think
Image: Netflix/Legendary Entertainment/Bandai Namco
While most people watch a Gundam series and see giant robots fighting in outer space, its creator had much deeper themes in mind. Tomino Yoshiyuki has been fairly open about how growing up in the thick of World War II shaped his approach to Mobile Suit Gundam, and how ‘he realized the only reason to build a giant mobile suit was to use it for war. Kenji Kamiyama, who’s working on the upcoming Mobile Suit Gundam RG: XARX-ZERO, beautifully summed up why Gundam continues to thrive.
“Mobile suits themselves are weapons of war. So how have humans evolved their way of fighting through that?”
That’s a question that Netflix’s take on Gundam should answer, and for a time, it looked like that was going to happen. Jordan Vogt-Roberts and Brian K. Vaughn were originally attached to the project; both men previously helmed projects that dealt with themes similar to Gundam, with Roberts setting Kong: Skull Island in the thick of the Vietnam War and Vaughn penning thematically deep comics like Saga and Y: The Last Man. Roberts and Vaughn eventually departed the project, but Mickle is no stranger to stories with big themes himself. Anyone who’s watched Sweet Tooth can tell you that.
If Netflix tackles big themes in Gundam, it could launch a franchise that’s action-packed and thought-provoking, and take Transformers’ place as the giant robot movies to beat. A success would also give Sydney Sweeney a major win, cinematically; apart from the surprise success of The Housemaid and Anyone But You, she hasn’t had much luck headlining major hits. But if Transformers has proved anything, it’s that people love giant robots.
