Showtime’s latest anthology series Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber marks the triumphant television return of 2011 Tumblr heartthrob Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and his tumultuous reign over the controversial company. Kalanick was the CEO of the ride-sharing company until he was pressured to resign in 2017 among accusations of a toxic work culture and assault allegations at the company.
Alongside Kyle Chandler, portraying financial analyst Bill Gurley, and Uma Thurman as Arianna Huffington, the show will go in-depth on the company’s success, juxtaposed with the long list of internal conflicts that come with any tech bro startup. The show was created by Billions co-creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien, who wrote and produced the first season of the anthology series, based on the 2019 book of the same name.
When you watch the premiere of the series, which airs Sunday, February 27th on Showtime, you might notice a familiar voice. That voice is none other than director Quentin Tarantino, who narrates the first season. The Once Upon A Time In Hollywood director is a huge fan of Koppelman’s show Billions, which led him to getting the narration gig for Super Pumped.
Koppelman sent the director an email, hoping he would guest star on his podcast, and join Super Pumped as a narrator. To his surprise, Tarantino said yes to both. “I wrote back, ‘You know you said yes to both things?’ and he said, perfect Tarantino-ish, ‘Yeah I know what I said yes to,'” Koppelman shared in an interview with The Wrap. The rest was history!
As for the future of the show, season 2 will take on a much larger company: Facebook. Tarantino has yet to be confirmed for the show’s second season.
