Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks take to the skies in the Masters Of The Air teaser

With their companion piece to Band Of Brothers and The Pacific, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks return to World War II

By Matt Schimkowitz | November 9, 2023 | 2:00pm

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Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks take to the skies in the Masters Of The Air teaser

Austin Butler in Masters Of The Air Photo: Apple TV+

Over the last two decades, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have frequently returned to their base-level supporters: World War II-obsessed fathers. Between Saving Private Ryan and Greyhound, Spielberg and Hanks, both together and apart, have routinely returned to the Greatest Generation and admired how they fought and why. They’re poised to do it again.

With Masters Of The Air, the dynamic duo of World War II miniseries ditches HBO for Apple and takes the third installment in their Band Of Brothers franchise to the skies. Led by a who’s who of up-and-coming leading men, including Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Barry Keoghan, and Nate Mann, Masters Of The Air rides with the 100th Bomb Group, a.k.a The Bloody Hundred. Known for their bombing raids on Nazi Germany, the Bloody Hundred aims to show a new perspective on how the U.S. defeated the Nazis.

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Masters of the Air — Official Teaser | Apple TV+

We’ve heard very little about the series over the past year, despite its pedigree and maybe because of it. Like the previous series, Spielberg and Hanks amassed an impressive list of directors, including Captain Marvel helmers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Mudbound’s Dees Rees, and Sopranos vet Tim Van Patten, who previously directed an episode of The Pacific, for the show. However, the first four episodes were directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, which might explain the lack of details. Fukunaga was hired just after the release of his Bond film, No Time To Die, and just before he was accused of sexual harassment and grooming his young female actors. The most recent reports came from the set of Masters Of The Air. How is Apple handling this? Well, by keeping his name (and the other directors’) out of the trailer, of course.

The nine-part series premieres on Apple TV+ on January 9, 2024.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported that Cary Joji Fukunaga directed five episodes. He directed four. We regret the error.