Agent Elvis Trailer: Matthew McConaughey Is The King (And A Secret Agent)

Animation fans are eating good. Between anime being more popular and accessible than ever before, major studios experimenting with visual styles, and streaming giving an avenue to auteurs to make passion projects — even giving stop-motion the comeback it so dearly deserves — this is a great time to be a fan of one of the oldest filmmaking mediums there is.

Still, with so much animation comes the fact that not everything is special or outstanding. But every once in a while there comes a project, a movie or a film that fully understands the medium of animation's ability to deliver stories in a different reality — be it a heightened reality that feels mostly like ours, or a cartoony one. These projects remind us of how special animation is, both to deliver exquisitely artful stories or just cuckoo bananas, off-the-wall, incredibly silly yet fun experiences.

The latter is why I've been so excited about "Agent Elvis" (formerly titled "Agent King") ever since I saw a sizzle reel of the upcoming cartoon at last year's Annecy Animation Film Festival. Now, the trailer is finally here, giving us a proper look at what can only be described as what if "Archer" but with Elvis and a chimp with a gun?

The show is created by John Eddie and Priscilla Presley, with "Archer" writer Mike Arnold serving as showrunner and writer. The gorgeous and rather gory animation courtesy of the folks at Titmouse Inc. ("The Legend of Vox Machina," the remake of "Animaniacs"). You can clearly see the "Archer" influence, with the 2D, Adobe After Effects-like art style giving the show a pulpy and cartoony look that matches its silly and delightfully weird concept.

After all, this is a show that takes shall we say, a few liberties with history. The team of writers went a long way to match Elvis' real life with real historical events of the '60s and '70s to try and explain away how the king got involved. The result, as the trailer shows, is a cartoon where Elvis is the first man on the moon, and also a show where Elvis kicks both Charles Manson and Castro in the face. And to make sure the singer-turned-superspy looked fly as hell in animated form as he did in real life, fashion designer John Varvatos handled Elvis' wardrobe.

More exciting is the reveal in the trailer that Matthew McConaughey is set to voice Elvis Presley himself, which is honestly as inspiring casting as you can imagine for a show like this.

"Agent Elvis" is set to premiere on Netflix in March 2023.

Here's the synopsis for "Agent Elvis."

Elvis Presley trades in his jumpsuit for a jet pack when he is covertly inducted into a secret government spy program to battle the dark forces that threaten the country he loves – all while holding down his day job as the King of Rock and Roll.