Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s adult-animated comedy series, ‘Agent Elvis’ is set in an alternate reality where Elvis Presley is the world-renowned singer by the day and a crime-fighting vigilante by night. His chimpanzee Scatter and his friend, Bobby Ray, assist him in his missions. His adventures catch the eye of a secret agency known for recruiting many famous people as its agents. After joining them, Elvis fights many bad guys and discovers a startling truth about himself. Created by Priscilla Presley and John Eddie, the series presents a different look into the late superstar’s life. Many characters in the story have real-life counterparts. If this makes you wonder how much of ‘Agent Elvis’ is true, here’s what you should know about it.
Agent Elvis: Blending Reality with Animated Espionage
No, ‘Agent Elvis’ is not based on a true story. As far as is common knowledge, Elvis Presley was not a secret agent. However, he did express his desire to fight crime. His ex-wife Priscilla Presley revealed that this TV series would have been “a dream come true for Elvis” because he “wanted to be a federal agent.” “He was a beautiful human being and a very talented human being, and I want kids to see who he really was in this because he really was. He wanted to be an agent. And now he is,” she said.
John Eddie revealed that the idea for the story came from Elvis and Richard Nixon’s famous photo. In 1970, sometime before Christmas, Elvis met with then-President Richard Nixon. Reportedly, he wrote about his desire to help the country combat crime and the increasing drug abuse problem. “Sir, I can and will be of any service that I can to help the country out. I have done an in-depth study of drug abuse and Communist brainwashing techniques, and I am right in the middle of the whole thing, where I can and will do the most good,” he wrote.
This meeting with Nixon revealed just how invested Elvis was in the idea of fighting crime. He is also said to have talked about his desire to be a comic book hero, getting a chance to save the world. Eddie pitched the show as “Elvis fighting crime as if it were directed by Quentin Tarantino.” The idea of Elvis wanting to be a comic book hero led to the show becoming an animated series rather than live-action.
“That was why we made it; as opposed to doing a live-action thing or something, we specifically want to do animated. Also, with all due respect, Austin Butler did an amazing job, and other people have done. I’ve been a big Elvis fan since I was a little kid, and even as great as anybody does it, they can never capture Elvis’ [appearance]. He was such a beautiful man, he’s just crazy, and so we thought maybe through animation that similarity would be possible,” Eddie explained.
Despite the fictional nature of the series, the creators of ‘Agent Elvis’ were keen on keeping things as accurate as possible. In the show, Elvis’ sidekick is his chimpanzee Scatter. The chimp goes everywhere with the rockstar, whether to a concert or a top-secret mission. In real life, too, Elvis took Scatter to his film sets. As shown in the show, real-life Scatter was known to have a destructive streak where he would destroy things on the set and attack people, sometimes biting them. He is also said to have developed a drinking habit that worsened over time and might have contributed to his death.
Similarly, several character traits of Elvis are given to his animated counterpart, especially his love for guns. In real life, the singer had a massive collection of guns. In the first episode, he can be seen shooting television sets. He is known to have done the same in real life too. His desire to be a crime fighter led him to collect several honorary badges, two of which are shown in the Netflix series.
Apart from his crazy adventures and crazier friends, the show also focuses on his deteriorating relationship with Priscilla. His career takes up much of his time, and whatever’s left of it is claimed by his new job as a secret agent. This leads to turbulence in his marriage, which has already been rocky. Adding another twist of reality, Priscilla Presley, who wants this series to be Elvis’ introduction to the youth today, voices her animated counterpart in the TV show. Considering this, it is clear that while the show extrapolates some facets of Elvis’s life to outrageous levels, it builds the narrative around the events that happened in real life, thereby staying in touch with reality.
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