Young Kanye West to be portrayed by Jaden Smith in 'Omniverse', a show about alternate realities
It looks like the universe has offered Kanye West and Jaden Smith the opportunity to work on something together. And, true to their respective personalities, they are working on a project that is apparently set to examine alternate realities.
'Omniverse' - a limited half-hour anthology series - has been put in development by Showtime. The series comes from West, his long-time manager Scooter Braun's SB Projects, Westbrook Studios and writer Lee Sung Jin ('Undone', 'Silicon Valley'), with Jaden Smith to star and executive produce.
Written by Lee, 'Omniverse' apparently examines the many doors of perception. Season 1 of the series explores the ego through an alternate reality Kanye West. Smith stars as the alternate reality Kanye West.
Showtime has ordered a script for the series, which is written and executive produced by Lee, who is currently a co-executive producer on Amazon's 'Undone'. He has previously worked on 'Tuca & Bertie' and 'Silicon Valley'.
“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,” said Lee, according to Deadline. “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.”
'Omniverse' will be West's first major foray into television. While this association sure sounds exciting, things weren't all that good between the rappers once upon a time. As Smith started gaining popularity and acclaim for his songs, he had a slight falling out in 2018 with artists like Drake, Donald Glover and West himself.
“I always felt like Little Homie before and that allowed me in all of their circles,” Smith had said. “But now that I’m on the charts next to them, I’m not really Little Homie anymore . . . it’s more like, ‘You can’t hang out with us anymore. We didn’t know you were making an album this whole time. We thought you were just Little Homie giving us free water and sh*t. You’re not really cool with us anymore.’”