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Over the past year, Wu-Tang Clan has been popping up in the most random places from Jimmy Kimmel to NPR’s Tiny Desk, and they even crashed Good Morning America with their signature gritty rhymes. Clearly, Staten Island’s most celebrated rappers are expanding their territory with music, movies, and T.V., and we can’t be mad.
Now, the influential group is taking over Hulu with their upcoming 10 episode series Wu-Tang: An American Saga. The show is the brainchild of Wu-Tang frontman RZA and Superfly writer Alex Tse. A teaser trailer was released on Wednesday, and it features a star-studded cast, including Ashton Sanders as RZA, Dave East as Method Man and Joey Bada$$ as Inspectah Deck. Set in the early ’90s New York, the show will follow Wu-Tang’s formation in the midst of music, crime and the harsh effects of the crack epidemic.
The show marks a bit of a flip for Hulu, considering the streaming site hasn’t had the most diverse original content, at least compared to Netflix. With shows like Dear White People, On My Block, She’s Gotta Have It, Black Mirror and When They See Us, one can argue Netflix is the streaming site leading diverse stories.
It seems to be working too. According to CNN, Netflix is beating Hulu with close to 150 million subscribers globally compared to Hulu, which has 28 million subscribers as of May 2019. Granted, Hulu is only available in the U.S and their numbers are still a 3 million subscriber increase from 2018.
However, one must question how Netflix maintains diverse programming and how this might play into their audience building. While Hulu has shows like Runaways and PEN15 with Black or people of color leads, the rest of their programming is pretty White. Could Wu-Tang: An American Saga, a show about an iconic hip hop group, be the show to spark change? Hip hop heads — which range from Black to White to Asian — will surely take a break from their Netflix and chill to find out how Wu-Tang will be interpreted.
It’s also quite the gritty narrative compared to Hulu’s syndicated shows and lighthearted throwback movies. But considering the success of The Handmaid’s Tale, it could be a new addition to the site’s dive into darker subjects. Bringing in a diverse audience will be the cherry on top. Wu-Tang will also join a pretty diverse Hulu lineup, along with Four Weddings and a Funeral set to stream on July 31.
Meanwhile, you can mark your calendar for Wu-Tang: An American Saga when it hits Hulu on September 4. Hopefully, it’ll be one of many series that can keep Hulu interesting and for varied viewers.
