Forty-two years after the death of Elvis Presley, Netflix has announced that they’re bringing the King back to life in a new animated comedy series for the streaming service titled Agent King. While on the surface this sounds like an attempt to do an end-run around the Presley estate to cash in, it’s actually been co-created by Priscilla Presley and John Eddie, with Mike Arnold (Archer) serving as writer and showrunner.

Netflix describes the series as follows: “Elvis Presley trades in his white jumpsuit for a jet pack when he is covertly inducted into a secret government spy program to help battle the dark forces that threaten the country he loves — all while holding down his day job as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

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Says Priscilla in a statement, “From the time Elvis was a young boy, he always dreamed of being the superhero fighting crime and saving the world. Agent King lets him do just that. My co-creator John Eddie and I are so excited to be working with Netflix and Sony Animation on this amazing project and getting the chance to show the world an Elvis they haven’t seen before.”

Maybe not, but let’s forget that Elvis wanted a badge from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs from Washington, and was actually given one after a meeting with then-President Richard Nixon in 1971. Wrote Priscilla in her memoir Elvis and Me, “The narc badge represented some kind of ultimate power to him. With the federal narcotics badge, he [believed he] could legally enter any country both wearing guns and carrying any drugs he wished.”

As documented by Nixon aide Egil Krogh and reported by Smithsonian magazine, “Presley indicated that he thought The Beatles had been a real force for anti-American spirit. The President then indicated that those who use drugs are also those in the vanguard of anti-American protest. ‘I’m on your side,’ Elvis told Nixon. Elvis added that he’d been studying the drug culture and Communist brainwashing. Then he requested that badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous drugs. ‘Can we get him a badge?’ Nixon asked Krogh. Krogh said he could, and Nixon ordered it done.”

That’s pretty incredible, but not as awesome as being a jet pack-equipped spy!

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