Twilight of the Gods is basically Zack Snyder in animated form: 'It's not meant to be a cartoon'

It seems Norse mythology has been on Zack Snyder's mind for a while. Just look at his work. The influence is most prominent in 2023's Rebel Moon, the sci-fi epic that begins on the moon of Veldt, where a humble farming village works to bring in the season's crops. That set was filled with Scandinavian-inspired structures, including their own Viking longhouse.

"I don't think it's a reach at all to say that Norse mythology has been an influence over my work," the director behind Justice League and 300 tells Entertainment Weekly over Zoom beside his wife and producing partner Deborah Snyder. "It's the things that I'm drawn to, whether it be the Wagnerian operas or the Arthurian legends."

It's only now that the Snyders actually get to make their Norse myth epic — in animated form. Twilight of the Gods brings Thor, Loki, Odin, the Valkyries, and the rest of the Viking god gang to Netflix with an eight-episode series premiering on Sep. 19. In case you didn't pick up on all the blood, action, and even sex, Deborah prefaces, "It's not meant to be a cartoon. For a while, there wasn't a lot of adult animation. If there was, it was always comedic. So to have this action fantasy is something that we take very seriously."

Twilight of the Gods is the story of Sigrid (Sylvia Hoeks), a shield-maiden born of giants who falls in love with Leif (Stuart Martin), a mortal king she saves on the battlefield. Their wedding night is interrupted by the sudden emergence of Thor (Pilou Asbæk), the God of Thunder, who slaughters Sigrid's family and destroys their village. At a vulnerable moment when she can think of nothing but vengeance, the mischievous god Loki (Paterson Joseph) summons Sigrid to Hel, ruled by his daughter, also named Hel. He gives Sigrid glorious purpose: a mission to kill Thor. With the support of Leif, Sigrid assembles a crew to trek across different realms to get the job done.

Despite the vengeance-fueled odyssey, "It was always a love story," Zack recalls of developing the narrative with famed animated film director Jay Oliva (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Justice League: War), who brought the idea to the Snyders in the first place. "It was always about this struggle that they could take you into the afterlife or into the god realm. We really loved the idea of a love so strong that it could cross time and space and barriers."

The whole thing looks like a live-action Snyder production, just in animated form. "If you're feeling that, that's real," Zack responds. He did direct both the first episode and the season finale, but he also oversaw everything and had a hand in shaping each episode.

The premiere of Twilight of the Gods features Sigrid and Leif's meet-cute: Leif is cutting down enemy after enemy in the heat of a massive battle, streaks of blood splashing everywhere. Then Sigrid rushes in when it looks like a brute is going to gouge out his eye. She leaps over Leif with her sword thrust forward in slow motion, an effect Zack loves to employ in many fight scenes across his work.

"Even just having Stuart and Sylvia as the leads, they literally could play those parts in a live-action thing and they look almost exactly like their characters," Zack remarks. "When we were casting, I instinctively thought about, what if we ever shot a live-action version? We should do a version where we just cut it all together into two hours and see if it feels like a movie."

Don't threaten Zack with a good time. He'll do it. (See the four-hour cut of Zack Snyder's Justice League.)

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Netflix hasn't officially announced a renewal for Twilight of the Gods, but (without giving away spoilers) the finale clearly leaves the story open ended. The Snyders confirm they already have plans in place for where the show can go in a potential season 2. "We really were trying to craft it so that there was room to grow, but at the same time, we really wanted to have this season be satisfying and interesting," Zack comments. "We have that on the back burner, but you got to have a good first season."