When we first found out that Anthony and Joe Russo would be adapting Simon Stålenhag’s graphic novel The Electric State for a feature film, it was 2017, and so the world had yet to know them as the Avengers: Infinity War, Endgame, and The Gray Man brain trust. As a result, we probably didn’t think much of it.
But now, the Russos are synonymous with spectacle-driven franchise filmmaking, and given that the graphic novel is a slow, quiet, meditative musing on the human condition and the trajectory of it, this is an odd, worrisome pairing indeed.
And now that the first trailer for The Electric State has finally descended upon us, those aforementioned fears threaten to be realized in a (literally) big way.
Netflix princess Millie Bobby Brown stars as Michelle, a young orphan living in a future, post-war America ravaged by giant robots and an indifferent humanity, and who’s grieving her missing brother. One day, she meets a small, friendly robot who claims to know the location of her brother, and after later teaming up with a smuggler who looks a lot like Chris Pratt, the adventure begins.
Now, everything about The Electric State film adaptation is, from a production standpoint, out of control. The budget is reportedly $320 million (just shy of the $325 million low estimation of Infinity War‘s budget), and features such names as Ke Huy Quan, Stanley Tucci, Giancarlo Esposito, Brian Cox, Jenny Slate, Anthony Mackie, Billy Bob Thornton, Jason Alexander, Alan Tudyk, and Woody Harrelson. Together with the Russos at the directorial helm with a script from Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (also of MCU fame), “stacked” doesn’t even begin to describe The Electric State, and the epic spectacle inherent in the trailer only exemplifies this further.
The only problem? An epic spectacle is precisely what The Electric State doesn’t need to be. As mentioned previously, the graphic novel’s prestige isn’t predicated on giant robot battles or blockbuster quips designed to prevent tension rather than build upon it, but on thoughtful attention to how we’re losing ourselves in an unnatural world and the overwhelming-but-necessary emotions that come with such introspection. In this way, The Electric State film adaptation has not inspired hope with this trailer.
That’s not to say that we can bank on it being dead on arrival, though. The film’s apparent comedy stylings guarantee levity, which is an important tool when it comes to engaging with heavy themes and topics, and together with the action-packed scenes that help to comprise the film’s marketing promise, perhaps this is all a front to draw in mass audiences, who will then be confronted with a deeper film. This is precisely what Civil War — the second-highest-grossing film in A24’s history and also one of the most important films of 2024 — did with its marketing (sans the comedy).
And who knows? Even if The Electric State fails as an adaptation, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it won’t be a good movie. It’s just a matter of seeing what it accomplishes instead of a more faithful adaptation, and if that accomplishment justifies the use of this IP. Whatever happens, we’ll find out soon enough when The Electric State lands exclusively on Netflix on March 14, 2025.
