Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix shared the first look at a scene from Agent King, the long-awaited Elvis Presley animated series. The show was announced in 2019 and features a fictional Elvis who juggles his day job as the King of Rock and Roll with being a spy. Netflix and Sony showed the first image during the streamer’s first Annecy International Animation Film Festivalย in France Wednesday.
The image gives a hint of the extreme stylized look of Agent King, without giving too much away. The series begins with Presley being recruited to work as a secret government spy, while still recording and performing music. Presley’s ex-wife Priscilla Presley co-created the series with John Eddie. Priscilla said the show has its foundations in Presley’s own dreams to become a crime-fighter.
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“From the time Elvis was a young boy he always dreamed of being the superhero fighting crime and saving the world! Agent King lets him do just that,” Priscilla said in 2019. “My co-creator John Eddie and I are so excited to be working with Netflix and Sony Animation on this amazing project and getting the chance to show the world an Elvis they haven’t seen before.”
Little was heard about the project until last summer when Priscilla was asked for an update during Elvis Week at Graceland. Although the show is intended for adults, Priscilla admitted that she asked the writers and animators to tone down the show a bit. “It’s those little things… I have to give slack on some areas and be really protective on others. I’m constantly having them do redo things,” she said at the time. Priscilla added that the show gives Presley “what he always wanted: to be a secret agent.”
There is still no release date for Agent King, but Priscilla said in October that it could come in 2022. Mike Arnold (Archer) serves as showrunner and executive producer. Matt Thompson, Jamie Salter, Eddie, and Priscilla serve as executive producers.
Agent King is not the only major Presley release of 2022. Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic finally hits theaters on June 24 and stars Austin Butler in the title role. Tom Hanks stars as Colonel Tom Parker and Olia DeJonge plays Priscilla. The movie has the full support of the Presley family, who have praised the film on several occasions leading up to its release.
