Zack Snyder’s upcoming Norse mythology fantasy epic animated series Twilight of the Gods has been getting good reviews so far, which is good to hear.
This series tells a revenge story and in telling it, Snyder and his team didn’t hold back on the blood and violence. They made this a hardcore R-rated animated project and during an interview with GamesRadar+, the filmmaker talked about that.
Snyder said: “From the start, when they asked me whether I’d be interested in doing an animated series, I was like, ‘Well, I’ll do it if it’s adult animation.’
“Because, for me, that’s a new frontier, especially in America, this idea of animation that’s not for kids, an adult animated series. And so I thought, in that way, if we could do that, that would be something I haven’t seen a lot of.”
He continued: “It’s funny, because, also we’ve just had Blue Eye Samurai, which is also a sort of insane tone, but really fun. [It was] super fun to make, and the artists are all dying to do adult, something adult, so it was fun. Really, for me, it’s just kind of my natural aesthetic, and it’s just easier.”
Executive producer Wesley Coller added: “With the scale of the mythology and the themes and the story that [Snyder] wanted to tell, it leaned into that naturally, again, with [his] aesthetic. And so I think to have the opportunity to explore this story in this world, in a mature space, was just a no brainer.”
Snyder went in to say: “And frankly, Norse mythology is kind of an R-rated deal anyway, to be 100% honest. It’s pretty intense.”
When asked if Netflix gave him any guidelines to what was acceptable and what wasn’t, he said: “No, not really. I was waiting for them to tell me to stop, but they never did. So, it’s great.
“It’s the kind of thing that’s good for everybody. I’m trying to think, was there anything they said was too much? I don’t think so. I really don’t think so. I can’t think of anything off the top of my head.
“I was trying for them to tell me it was too much. I was looking for someone to say, ‘Stop, that’s enough!’ But no one did. So I was like, ‘Okay, I guess this is cool.'”
The synopsis reads: “In a mythical world of great battles, great deeds and great despair, LEIF, a mortal King, is saved on the battlefield by SIGRID, an iron-willed warrior with whom he falls in love.
“On their wedding night, SIGRID and LEIF survive a wrath of terror from THOR, which sets them – and a crew of crusaders – on an against all odds and merciless mission for vengeance.
“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 Gods and demons.”
When talking about the story for the series, Snyder said: “It’s basically this: there’s a king and his queen in a small Viking village, and they want to get married. An event happens to them at their wedding that causes Sigrid, who is the bride to be, who is the child of giants, to go on a crazy mission of revenge.
“She enlists a cast of characters – a seer, a dwarf – and they come together to form a band that has this one mission to find a god and fight him. It’s a mission, it’s a revenge story.
“Sigrid is this beautiful, very Scandinavian kind of cold but passionate character that I’ve really enjoyed working through and with because she’s just so cool. Sylvia Hoeks voices her.”
Snyder also said that the show will have “a lot of sex […] because that’s fun” and that the first season will consist of eight episodes.
The full voice cast for Twilight of the Gods includes Sylvia Hoeks as Sigrid, Stuart Martin as Leif, Pilou Asbæk as Thor, John Noble as Odin, Paterson Joseph as Loki, Rahul Kohli as Egill, Jamie Clayton as The Seid-Kona, Kristopher Hivju as Andvari, Peter Stormare as Ulfr, Jamie Chung as Hel, Lauren Cohan as Inge, and Corey Stoll as Hrafnkel.
Twilight of the Gods co-created and written by Zack Snyder, Jay Oliva and Eric Carrasco, developed and produced by Stone Quarry Animation. With animation from Xilam Animation.
Snyder directs the first and final episode, and other directors include Jay Oliva and Andrew Tamandl with Tim Divar and Dave Hartman. Executive produced by Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Wesley Coller, Jay Oliva.
The series is set to be released on September 19th.
