Jaden Smith will play a young Kanye West in the new show Omniverse and it is just as weird as it sounds. Jaden Smith is pretty tight with the Kardashian clan, being close friends with Kylie Jenner (through his friendship with Jordyn Woods) since they were both kids. And now the actor will literally become a Kardashian member for his next project. Starring as a young, alternate reality Kanye West in the rappers own new show, Omniverse.
Deadline reported that Omniverse will be a limited half-hour anthology. Lee Sun Jin, an executive producer on Amazon’s Undone is also signed on as the show’s writer. Both Smith and Jin will act as executive producers on the show alongside Kayne himself and his current manager Scooter Braun. Braun is also famously known for looking after the careers of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.
Lee Sung Jin explained the new show’s complex plot in a statement collected by Bustle. “I’m honored and thrilled to be collaborating with everyone involved to present an alternate world through the eyes of a young man somewhere in the multiverse who happens to also be a Kanye West. Omniverse is not set in our world nor about our world’s Kanye West as we aim to add a new spin on alternate realities, consciousness, and push the limits of half hour narrative.”
Plot details are pretty much under wraps, though Deadline has reported that the series will “examine the many doors of perceptions.” So while Jaden Smith is set to play Kanye onscreen, he will be playing a different, not real version of the rapper. Deadline explained, “Season One explores the Ego through an alternate reality Kanye West.” This makes sense being that it’s Kanye West and he’s been criticized and praised for his inflated ego over the years.
For example, BBC’s Greg Kot has argued that Kanye’s self-indulgent nature allows the artist to shine resulting in better music. In 2014 Kot wrote, “Those who think they can do no wrong or don’t care what others think of them are more prone to take risks, to push beyond what’s considered acceptable, to break rules in the name of furthering not only their own greatness, but their own conception of what art is and what it can do.”
Regardless of whatever supporters of West think, the rapper himself tweeted in June 2018 that he killed his ego.
This project marks West’s first major television adventure. Many are taking note that this may be the new trend among rappers given that Drake is involved in the upcoming HBO show Euphoria. There is no other news on casting right now; production schedule and release date are still to be determined.