The Electric State: Plot, Cast, and Everything Else We Know

A book by Simon Stålenhag, The Electric State, is being adapted for film by none other than Anthony and Joseph Russo from Avengers: Endgame. Already, there’s a lot of excitement surrounding The Electric State simply from all the big names associated with it. Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things will be starring, and Ke Huy Quan from Everything Everywhere All at Once also signed on to work on the film. There’s more star power where that came from.

The Electric State was just announced, and production is expected to start later this year. But the omens are good for the film as industry people and readers alike are enthusiastic about how the film is coming together.

The Electric State book describes the journey of a young girl and her robot as they head West across America through the ruins of a techno-apocalypse in search of her younger brother. The aesthetic in the book has been described as retro-futuristic, which usually means that it takes place so far in the future that the futuristic stuff happened so long ago. Now we’re left with the decaying remains of incredible things. This story takes place in 1997, but in Stålenhag’s alternate universe, the wrecks of giant robots lay strewn over highway flyovers that no longer connect to the ground. If nothing else, this will be a visually-stunning movie. Here’s everything we know about The Electric State.

The Russo brothers have recently added four new stars to their already prominent cast. Michelle Yeoh, who once had a role in the film, unfortunately, had to leave due to scheduling conflicts and will be replaced by her co-star from Everything Everywhere All at Once, Ke Huy Quan. The auspices for the movie are quite good. Along with this now expanded star-studded cast, the Russo’s production company AGBO is considering creating an expanded universe with the scaffolding established in this movie.

Updated November 2022, by Ted Bajer: If you’re looking for more information about casting for The Electric State, you’ll be happy to know that we’ve updated this article with more details.

The Electric State: The Plot

Simon Stålenhag

The Electric State will follow a teen girl looking for her younger brother in this retro-futuristic, western American wasteland. The image it invokes is almost reminiscent of a Fallout game. But where Fallout focuses its aesthetic on atomic-age America, The Electric State seems to pull its Western feel from a new-age wild west that might occur in a ’90s post-apocalypse.

Related: Best Cyberpunk Movies, Ranked

On her search, the girl is accompanied by a small robot and an eccentric drifter who travels with her to the West Coast. Along the way, the girl discovers that the robot was sent by her brother, and despite its mysterious nature, she lets it join her on her quest, hoping it will lead her to him.

It’s an interesting pitch, to be sure. Many things can happen in the middle of a post-apocalyptic techno west with a robot and a drifter. This movie has all the makings of a new-age cyberpunk classic. With its western setting and retro sci-fi imagery, we can’t wait until it hits Netflix.

The Electric State: The Cast

Simon Stålenhag

The stars already announced to work on the film are huge. As mentioned, Millie Bobbie Brown has been cast as the protagonist. As well as Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games), Jenny Slate (Parks and Recreation), Jason Alexander (Seinfeld), and Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy, Succession) have all been named as having parts in the movie.

None of their roles have been named yet, but Jason Alexander is expected to play the robot, while Chris Pratt will likely play the drifter. Pratt is usually good at playing characters that are described as “eccentric.” Plus, it would be delightful to see Brown travel with Pratt since Brown’s character would likely have to be the grown-up in that situation.

These are some big names to put together a movie like this. Having the Russo brothers direct is quite an announcement alone. However, some people seem to have a split opinion on their involvement. Despite the success of Avengers: Endgame, their more recent film, The Gray Man, wasn’t received so well by audiences. Though this was the case, The Gray Man is being turned into a film franchise series.

Related: How TV Helped The Russo Brothers Become Big Screen Directors

Regardless, the two are experienced filmmakers who have worked with many of the cast before and have proved capable of making many entertaining movies and television shows. The brothers’ frequent collaborators, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have shown up to work with them again. The directors and writers, respectively, have worked on several past Marvel films. Markus and McFeely will now adapt The Electric State into what is sure to be an excellent screenplay.

The film seems like a perfect project for Markus and McFeely since they have continually adapted comics and graphic novels in the past. The Electric State is not so much a graphic novel as it is a science fiction artbook. Stålenhag interposes his writing with incredible photorealistic illustrations of gigantic broken robots that become part of his landscapes. So, an excellent cinematographer is the only thing missing from this movie’s equation.

The Russo brothers are expanding the cast of The Electric State. Michelle Yeoh was originally meant to be a part of her film but had to leave for scheduling conflicts. She will be replaced by her co-star from Everything Everywhere All At Once, Ke Huy Quan, who will play a doctor that the protagonist needs to find. The film will also include Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), who will play a character called the Marshall, a drone hunting down Brown’s sidekick robot. Anthony Mackie (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) was cast along with Billy Bob Thornton (The Gray Man). Mackie will play a sentient robot sidekick to Pratt’s character, while Thornton will play a key figure in the civil war.

Shooting for the film begins in October 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia, and should be complete by spring 2023. Although no release date has been confirmed, The Electric State will stream exclusively on Netflix.