‘Twilight of the Gods’ Interview: Zack Snyder and Wesley Coller

(L to R) Kristofer Hivju as Andvari, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as Hervor, Peter Stormare as Ulfr, Jamie Clayton as Seid-Kona, Sylvia Hoeks as Sigrid and Thea Sofie Loch Naess as Thyra in ‘Twilight of the Gods’. Photo: Netflix © 2024.

Premiering on Netflix September 19th is the new animated series from visionary director Zack Snyder (‘Watchmen’ and ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’) entitled ‘Twilight of the Gods’.

The series is based on Norse mythology and features Sylvia Hoeks (‘Blade Runner 2049’), Stuart Martin (‘Army of Thieves’), Pilou Asbeck (‘Game of Thrones’), John Nobel (‘Fringe’), Peter Stormare (‘Constantine’), Jamie Chung (‘Sucker Punch’), Lauren Cohan (‘The Walking Dead’), Corey Stroll (‘Ant-Man’) and Jessica Henwick (‘The Gray Man’) amongst the voice cast.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with co-creator and executive producer Zack Snyder, as well as executive producer Wesley Coller about their work on ‘Twilight of the Gods’, Snyder’s interest in Norse mythology, reinventing it for a new audience, the freedom of animation, bringing Snyder’s unique filmmaking style to the series, the voice cast, and Hans Zimmer’s score.

Related Article: Director Zack Snyder Talks ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’

Director Zack Snyder at Next on Netflix Animation Preview. Photo: Netflix.

Moviefone: Zack, can you talk about your interest in Norse Mythology and breaking the story for the series?

Zack Snyder: I’ve long had an interest in Norse mythology. I think it’s easy to be seduced and captivated by the adventures of these gods. Viking gods are interesting to anybody, obviously. When we talked about the show, we had this character of Sigrid and that she was this Warrior Shield maiden. We really wanted to focus on this love affair between she and Leif because I really love the idea of the tenderness and deep connection that these two have with each other, and that through it all, through the landscape of these gods on their whims that can destroy us, but their love the thing that holds the whole universe together for them. We really loved that idea. The great thing about doing a series is that you have time to develop those relationships and really dig into the whys and wherefores of these characters. So yeah, it was super fun and super satisfying to realize.

MF: Wesley, can you talk about the challenges of adapting Zack’s specific visual style to this animated series?

Wesley Coller: It was a great experience. We’ve done animation before, so it wasn’t wholly new to us, but doing 2D in a series space is a whole different ask. For me, what I loved about it is I could make no assumptions, which as a producer are my favorite junctures, where nothing’s on autopilot. I must really be open to learning and being a part of a process that is new in this 2D series space. I think in terms of having that work with Zack’s style, it was a natural fit. I think the fact that here’s this beautiful 2D landscape, the designs that Zack and everybody came up with is amazing. I think it’s an amazing foundation to tell this mythical epic story where there’s man and gods and giants and dragons. I think that it created a place for the story to be told at the scale, at the pace, all the things that directorially, Zack the team wanted to do. For me, I think that it was a really just organic fit and process, and watching that take place and being a part of that was really an honor and I’m so thrilled with how it turned out.

(L to R) Sylvia Hoeks as Sigrid and Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as Hervor in 'Twilight of the Gods'. Photo: Netflix © 2024.

MF: Zack, you make big movies based on big ideas, is there a certain freedom that comes with animation because you can execute anything that you can imagine?

ZS: There is. I think that it’s fun to do a scene with something outrageous in it and not have to worry about how we’re going to do it, because that’s a big part of being a filmmaker, is the sort of puzzling out of the production methodology that would be the most effective for rendering these crazy images. I think for me, I draw, so when you draw something crazy and you’re like, “Well, how are we going to film that?” It’s a big deal. Everyone’s like, “Oh, you can’t do that.” We do hear that a lot in live action. But here they’re like, “Yeah, we’ll just make that. Why not?” So, it’s quite liberating in some ways.

MF: Wesley, can you talk about assembling the voice cast?

WC: I think just like anytime you’re casting, you go into that process looking for the person, the voice, that presence that’s going to really embody that character. We were talking about at one point that because it’s animation, the ask of time is less. So even our busiest friends and people we’ve worked with before, it was not a huge ask to be able to carve out a little bit of time. Zack really got to say, “You know who’d be great for this?” And we got to just go straight for those people. I’m so thrilled with the casting and I feel like the performances they deliver are just amazing. You put those (voices) in this story, this world with this visual aesthetic and I just think it’s a captivating watch.

Twilight of the Gods (L to R) Sylvia Hoeks as Sigrid and Pilou Asbæk as Thor in 'Twilight of the Gods'. Photo: Netflix © 2024.

MF: Zack, can you talk about having the opportunity to reintroduce characters like Thor, Loki and Odin to a new audience that may only know of them from the Marvel movies?

ZS: I think that for me it was fun to get at their real Norse mythological origins. This is sort of the non-commercial version of the Norse gods and maybe it’s a fun dive to go see how flawed and crazy they really were. I think that’s just incredible. Like our Odin is just off the charts freaky, and I love him.

MF: Finally, Wesley, can you talk about Hans Zimmer’s score and what it adds to the series?

WC: Fortunately, we have a relationship with him and when we started talking about what to do for score, reaching out to Hans was something that we just immediately thought that would be amazing. We reached out and he put together the team and they just collectively came back to us with the most amazing score. It was funny because they came to us with the first pass, which was great, but there were some unique, edgy ideas that they had peppered in. We heard it and the note was just more of that. “Just go for it. There should be no restraints on this and have fun with it and get weird with it.” They came back on pass two and had infused so much more of that. I’m so thrilled with that. I feel like it is really part of the DNA of the story.

“We fear no Gods!”

TV-MA1 SeasonsSeptember 19th, 2024

Zack Snyder unleashes a bold and bloody vision of Norse mythology in this adult animated series about a warrior with an ax to grind against the gods. Read the Plot

What is the plot of ‘Twilight of the Gods’?

In a mythical world of great battles, great deeds and great despair, Leif (Stuart Martin), a mortal King, is saved on the battlefield by Sigrid (Sylvia Hoeks), an iron-willed warrior with whom he falls in love. On their wedding night, Sigrid and Leif survive a wrath of terror from Thor (Pilou Asbæk), which sets them – and a crew of crusaders – on an against all odds and merciless mission for vengeance. This heroic story of love, loss and revenge, is a journey to Hell and beyond… across fantastical lands, battlefields fierce and bloody, and wars waged against Gods and demons.