Here comes another Netflix series grounded in mythology, following the breakout success of the live-action Jeff Goldblum drama Kaos which draws on Greek mythology — and which is one of the biggest Netflix series in the world at the moment. Next up: Twilight of the Gods, Zack Snyder’s first post-Rebel Moon project for Netflix that will combine the Justice League director’s distinctive visual and storytelling style with elements of Norse mythology.
And despite the fact that the new eight-episode TV series, which hits Netflix on Sept. 19, is an animated project, you can nevertheless expect it to be filled with the blood, battles, action, and even sex that Snyder’s feature films are known for. “Norse mythology in the traditional sense is very much an adult sort of adult content, if you will,” Snyder said in a Netflix promotional interview.
“I think what [animation] does is, it allows us to be really truthful in our storytelling. And it allows the audience to experience a thing that’s really unexpected and really exciting.”
Honestly, one doesn’t have to look too hard to find an appreciation for Old World mythology lurking in much of Snyder’s filmography. What are gods and goddesses, if not the kinds of idealized superheroes that have populated so much of the director’s movies? Snyder could just as easily have given us, say, Thor v. Loki: Dawn of Odin. Or, say, God of Steel.
In Twilight of the Gods, the mortal king Leif is saved on the battlefield by Sigrid — described as an iron-willed warrior with whom he falls in love. “On their wedding night,” Netflix continues, “Sigrid and Leif survive a wrath of terror from Thor (Pilou Asbæk), which sets them — and a crew of crusaders — on a merciless mission for vengeance, against all odds. This heroic story of love, loss, and revenge is a journey to hell and beyond … across fantastical lands, battlefields fierce and bloody, and wars waged against deities and demons.”
It’s certainly an interesting choice that Snyder made to go the TV route here, also forgoing live-action for animation. His oeuvre obviously has its fans as well as detractors, while at times his films bomb completely with everyone (Rebel Moon). Time will tell, of course, whether he’s given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his foray into animation with Twilight of the Gods.
“I think there’s an expectation when you see something that Zack Snyder’s involved with, that it’s going to have really great hardcore action and that it’s going to be sexy,” said Snyder’s wife and Twilight of the Gods executive producer Deborah Snyder. “For all the Zack fans out there, we needed to really deliver on that.”
