Twilight Of The Gods is a mesmerizing, brutal epic
Zack Snyder’s animated series might just be his best Netflix project to date
Image: Netflix
Zack Snyder has enjoyed a few prolific years at Netflix. With the Rebel Moon films, he has been given the chance to create his own Star Wars-esque universe. Now, with an Army Of The Dead sequel also planned, comes another Netflix project from Snyder—and it might be his best for the streamer yet.
The adult-animated series Twilight Of The Gods (which Snyder co-created with Eric Carrasco and Jay Oliva) follows the warrior Sigrid (Sylvia Hoeks) and the mortal Leif (Stuart Martin), who meet on the battlefield after Sigrid saves his life. We follow them as they fall in love and eventually plan to get married. On their wedding night, a beam of light crashes down from the sky, with Thor (Pilou Asbæk) coming behind it. Searching for his brother Loki (Paterson Davis Joseph), this mightier and more sinister interpretation of the god of thunder attacks Sigrid’s home, wreaking havoc on her village and its people and leaving Sigrid and Leif to devise a war in the name of those who’ve died, no matter the cost.
They are joined in this pursuit by a group of outcasts whose dedication and lust for battle just may be enough to kill a god: The ax wielding Hervor (Birgitte Hjort Sørensen), poet Egill (Rahul Kohli), sorceress The Seid-Kona (Jamie Clayton), her servant Ulfr (Peter Stormare), and dwarf Andvari (Kristofer Hivju) make for one hell of a cast of characters, and the series gives them all time to shine. While their initial reasons for joining Sigrid and Leif’s dangerous quest may have been rooted in self-interest—be it a thirst for glory, a desire for revenge, or the promise of riches—the shared trials and tribulations they face forge an unbreakable bond between them. As the journey progresses, we witness the transformation of these disparate individuals into a tightly-knit unit, their loyalties shifting from personal gain to a fierce protectiveness of one another.
From its first episode, which crackles with a tension that never leaves the show, Twilight Of The Gods is propelled into greatness with its unabashed brutality. Since the beginning of his career, Snyder has been known for his visionary battle sequences and languid storytelling, and the series nicely delivers on all these trademarks. While these qualities have often also aided in the director’s undoing, they work here better than in his live-action projects. The battle sequences are fueled by slow-motion rather than stifled by it, giving you time to admire the meticulously animated scenes in front of you.