GET # HEARTH-CALL THE MYTHIC: ZACK SNYDER’S ‘TWILIGHT OF THE GODS’

Animated Series‘Twilight of the Gods’, from the director Zack Snyder, who has previously worked on ‘The Watchmen’ (2009), ‘Army of the Dead’ (2021), and ‘Rebel Moon’ (2023), looks set to be the jewel in the crown of the world of animated series when it is released. The live-action treatment of Norse myth, set in the world’s most ancient religion, is set for release in Netflix’s new animated series. With the trailer dropping, the time has come for the world to enter this realm on 19 September 2024.

A GLIMPSE INTO THE REALM OF GODS AND MORTALS

There is something about “Twilight of the Gods” that feels unambiguously grounded within the world of animation, but it is unmistakably propelled by an energy reminiscent of kinetic drawing. The series is unveiled through a meticulously crafted trailer chronicling what the series is about, and it does more than merely giving a glimpse at the artistically arresting journey that awaits us – it creates a sense of anticipation for the saga that lies ahead. Though the trailer is terse in revealing too much of the story’s core, it does give us a taste of Viking glory through an art style reminiscent of ‘Samurai Jack’.

CHARACTERS SET IN MOTION

It’s a story about Leif, a mortal king, whose life is saved by the Viking warrior-queen Sigrid, only to become mired in a saga of lust and revenge that is interrupted by Thor, who rides in to carry the newlywed king, his bride, and an army of badass warriors through the worlds of Norse myth to the gates of Hel.

This fantasy sea chase is created by the French studio Xilam Animation, whose other work includes Chip and Dale: Park Life. The stellar voice cast includes John Noble as Odin, Paterson Joseph as Loki and Kristofer Hivju as Andvari.

THE MASTERMINDS BEHIND THE MYTH

They’re joined by Jay Oliva, of animation on the DC Universe, and Eric Carrasco, of Foundation. Snyder will be directing the first and final episodes of the series, with a bevy of other directors including Andrew Tamandl, Tim Divar and Dave Hartnington. The series looks set to be as much a storytelling as much a visual feat.

SNYDER'S VISION IN MOTION

Finally, this industrious year for Zack Snyder, which has seen him jump from Rebel Moon to interviews on filmmaking and storytelling, frames Twilight of the Gods not just as a continuation of his explorations in animated storytelling but also as a reflection of his growing interest in the epic where characters and audience alike are carried along by the drama.

THE PRELUDE TO A MYTHIC ODYSSEY

But as 19 September 2024 draws closer, excitement for ‘Twilight of the Gods’ is rising. Animation, it turns out, is a powerful medium for curating the motion of myth on the cutting edge of modern storytelling. It offers to power a mythological revenge epic, a tale of heroic struggle and the inevitability of fate that should keep audiences caught up in the Norse mêlée for years to come.

THE ESSENCE OF MOTION IN "TWILIGHT OF THE GODS"

‘Twilight of the Gods’ is pulse-pounding in its logical but spellbinding essence – it distills movement in its most elemental storytelling form. In the animated sequences which breathe life into the sagas, narrative movement enchants and plays in the bodies of protagonists. Motion is the jazz and the instrument through which protagonists, their journeys and the worlds they traverse develop.

Motion is no longer mere displacement: it is narrative motion, a force of growth and change, of ‘yoking’ to destiny When audiences follow this ‘voyage across the bridge’ across the bridge of film, they are invited to think of motion in the many senses in which it is wielded in the poem: as a force of change, a foreboding of destiny, the very dance of life and story in the world of gods and men in Norse mythology.

With its two senses of motion, a literal and a metaphorical one, we could consider Twilight of the Gods as a manifesto for ‘animated’ storytelling, in the sense that it really shows us how to navigate the storytelling ocean, the shores of art and ideas.