After putting his spin on vampires in What We Do In The Shadows and Norse mythology superheroes in Thor: Ragnarok (and the upcoming Love & Thunder), Taika Waititi is wading into pirate territory for his upcoming HBO Max comedy, Our Flag Means Death. The show premieres on the streaming platform on March 3.
The comedy is loosely based on the true adventures of would-be pirate Stede Bonnet. As seen in the newly released trailer, Stede (Rhys Darby) is a spoiled aristocrat who voluntarily gives up all his fortune to find a new home and career on a pirate ship, much to the surprise of his fellow wealthy elite. Stede wants to be compared to the likes of Captain Blackbeard (Waititi in glorious facial hair and a wig), and possibly gain the title of Gentleman Pirate for all his adventures—even though he hasn’t gone on any looting quests yet, except for maybe stealing books from a library.
He becomes the swashbuckling captain of a ship named Revenge anyway, where he struggles to earn the respect of a possibly mutinous crew—that is, until he finally meets his hero, Blackbeard. Together they attempt to navigate dangerous waters and survive life on the high seas.
Waititi is a co-producer along with series creator David Jenkins, Garrett Basch, and Dan Halsted. He also directs the pilot episode. The ensemble cast includes Guz Khan, Nat Faxon, Fred Armisen, Leslie Jones, Joel Fry, Rory Kinnear, Kristian Nairn, Samson Kayo, Nathan Foad, Vico Ortiz, Ewen Bremner, Matt Maher, Con O’Neill, David Fane, and Samba Schutte.
Our Flag Means Death’s first season consists of 10 episodes. It debuts with three episodes on March 3 on HBO Max, continues with three more on March 10, two on March 17, with the final two installments dropping on March 24.