Bass X Machina premieres on Netflix on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, with all six episodes dropping at once at 12:00 a.m. PT (3:00 a.m. ET). You’ll need a Netflix subscription to watch; in the US, plans start at $8.99 a month for Standard with ads, so there’s no separate rental or purchase — it’s included with any active plan.
If you’ve been waiting on this one since the AnimeNYC teasers, the wait is over as of today. Here’s exactly what you’re getting, who’s in it, and what it’ll cost to stream.
What is Bass X Machina?
Bass X Machina is an adult animated series — a gritty, steampunk-tinged Western built around a reimagining of a real American figure. The show takes Bass Reeves, the first Black deputy US marshal to serve west of the Mississippi, and drops a version of him into an alternate frontier crowded with steam-powered machinery, ruthless outlaws, and supernatural threats. This is not a history lesson: it keeps the social spine of a Western — a man forced to act as judge, jury, and executioner to protect the people he loves, with every act of justice threatening to cost him one of them — while leaning hard into mechanical armor, hybrid creatures, and brutal action.
The series comes from creator LeSean Thomas and is animated by Studio Mir, the South Korean studio behind some of Netflix’s best-looking action animation. That pedigree shows in the teasers, which trade in heavy machinery and kinetic gunplay rather than the softer look of a lot of streaming animation.
Who voices Bass X Machina?
Brian Tyree Henry voices the lead, Bass, and also serves as an executive producer. The supporting voice cast includes Janelle Monáe as Glory, Tati Gabrielle as Dana, and Cree Summer as Ahni, among others, with a score contributed by Wondaland. Henry — familiar to US audiences from Atlanta and from Marvel and Sony animated features — anchors a genre swing that’s as much character drama as it is action spectacle.
How many episodes, and how are they released?
Season 1 is six episodes, and Netflix is releasing all of them at once on November 3, 2026 rather than weekly — so you can watch the full season in one sitting. There’s no staggered schedule to track and no waiting between episodes.
How to watch and what it costs
Bass X Machina streams exclusively on Netflix; it is not sold or rented anywhere, so a Netflix subscription is the only way in. As of November 2026, US pricing runs $8.99 a month for Standard with ads, $19.99 a month for Standard, and $26.99 a month for Premium. Any of the three includes the full series — the differences come down to ads, video quality, and how many screens you can stream on at once. Because this is adult animation, note that it carries a mature rating, which you can manage through profile and parental controls if you share an account.
The real Bass Reeves behind the reinvention
Part of the appeal here is the source of the name. Bass Reeves was a real lawman who was born into slavery, escaped during the Civil War, and went on to become one of the most effective deputy US marshals in the Indian Territory, credited with thousands of arrests over a decades-long career. He has become a touchstone for a more honest telling of the American West, and he anchored a live-action series a few years back. Bass X Machina takes that legacy in a wholly different direction — it is not a biography and makes no claim to be — but the choice to build a steampunk myth around a Black frontier lawman gives the show a weight that a purely invented hero wouldn’t carry. If the premise sends you down a rabbit hole on the real Reeves afterward, that’s a feature, not a bug.
Is it worth your time?
If you liked Studio Mir’s previous Netflix work or you’re drawn to adult animation that takes a real historical figure somewhere strange, Bass X Machina is an easy recommendation — and at six bingeable episodes, it asks for a single afternoon, not a season-long commitment. The combination of a Western revenge framework, a steampunk setting, and a cast led by Brian Tyree Henry makes it one of the more distinctive animated launches of the fall.
Frequently asked
When does Bass X Machina come out? It premieres November 3, 2026, with all six episodes available at 12:00 a.m. PT (3:00 a.m. ET).
Where can I watch it? Exclusively on Netflix, in the US and in the more than 190 countries where the service operates. It is not available to buy or rent elsewhere.
How much does it cost to stream? It’s included with any Netflix plan. US plans start at $8.99 a month for Standard with ads, with Standard at $19.99 and Premium at $26.99.
Is Bass X Machina for kids? No. It’s an adult animated series with mature content and a correspondingly high rating, so it’s aimed at grown-up viewers.
Is it based on a true story? It’s inspired by the real Bass Reeves, a pioneering Black deputy US marshal, but it reinvents him in a fantastical steampunk Western rather than attempting a historical account.
