Vampires, werewolves, rock bands, superheroes, even Nazis. Taika Waititi has made all of them funny. And next he’ll try and do it so on the seven seas with a very offbeat band of pirates.
The show is called Our Flag Means Death and it’s coming to HBO Max in March. It’s created and showrun by David Jenkins, but Waititi is on board as an executive producer as well as the director of the pilot. It stars Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords, Jumanji) as Stede Bonnet, “a pampered aristocrat who abandoned his life of privilege to become a pirate.” The trailer also reveals a peek at Waititi’s co-starring turn as the evil pirate Blackbeard, as well as a look at other co-stars like Kristian Nairn (Hodor from Game of Thrones), Joel Fry (Jasper from Cruella), Nat Faxon (Reno 911), Leslie Jones (Ghostbusters), and several other very recognisable actors. Check it out.
Showrunner Jenkins is best known for the 2016 TBS show People of Earth and this certainly looks like it has the fish out of water feel of that show, with the oddball irreverence of Waititi’s work like What We Do in the Shadows, Flight of the Conchords, Thor: Ragnarok, and Jojo Rabbit. And that cast is just pulled from every amazing supporting role in genre we’ve seen in years.
And you might not believe it but the story of Stede Bonnet is a true one. This show is described as “loosely based” on it, which basically means the concept of a wealthy man kind of real-life cosplaying as a pirate is just being mined for as much wild humour as possible.
“A series concept like this jumps off the page and you can instantly envision every moment,” Sarah Aubrey, head of original content for HBO Max said when the show was first announced. “David and Taika’s unique take on Bonnet’s rollicking misadventures on the high seas are sure to thrill and delight audiences everywhere.”
We’ve only seen the trailer but we tend to agree. Will it be up to the quality of a What We Do In the Shadows? Time will tell. But even a fraction of that will make it a show worth checking out. It arrives on HBO Max in March.
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