"We fear no gods!"
Twilight of the Gods is a 2024 Dark Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery animated series inspired by Norse Mythology. It was created by Zack Snyder and is produced by his company The Stone Quarry and Netflix, with French studio Xilam handling the animation. Snyder and regular DC Animation director Jay Oliva directed two episodes each, and Eric Carrasco handled the others. The soundtrack has been composed by Hans Zimmer, Omer Benyamin and Steven Doar.
The story follows half-human half-giant warrior Sigrid, a bride from a Viking village who embarks on a bloody quest for revenge after her whole family is slaughtered by the god Thor at her wedding.
For the teaser and trailer, see here and here. The series premiered on Netflix on September 19, 2024.
The voice cast includes:
- Sylvia Hoeks as Sigrid
- Pilou Asbæk as Thor Odinson
- Stuart Martin as Leif
- Rahul Kohli as Egill
- Paterson Joseph as Loki Laufeyson
- Peter Franzén as Glaumar
- Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as Hervor
- Paget Brewster as Jarnglumra
- Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Baldr
- Susan Denaker as Geitla
- Josefin Asplund as Fenja
- Ben Prendergast as Fjolverkr / Somr / Heimdall
- Jamie Chung as Hel
- Kristofer Hivju as Andvari
- Jamie Clayton as Áile, the Seid-Kona
- Peter Stormare as Ulfr
- John Noble as Odin
- Ray Porter as Jorg / Bolverkr
- Morla Gorrondona as Marja
- Roger Craig Smith as Bjorn
- Corey Stoll as Hrafnkel
- Lauren Cohan as Inge
- Thea Sofie Loch Næss as Thyra
- Tracy Ifeachor as Freya
- Anya Chalotra as Sif
- Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Tiwaz
- Jessica Henwick as Sandraudiga
- Dave B. Mitchell as Fáfnir
- Yetide Badaki as Dahl
- Tove Lo as Jörmungandr
- Helena Mattsson as Angrboða
- Tómas Lemarquis as Odd
Twilight of the Gods provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Sigrid is a very skilled and very fierce warrior in battle.
- Adaptational Context Change: The leader of the Vanir is a god known as Tiwaz. Tiwaz is the reconstructed name proto-germanic name of the god Tyrnote. Tyr is consistently an Æsir in the sources, as the son or foster-son of Odin.
- Adaptational Villainy: With the exception of Baldr, the Æsir in the show are depicted as being incredibly antagonistic towards humans, while they were at worst ambivalent to them in the original myths and rarely actively engaged in Jerkass God antics. This Æsir honestly has more in common with the Greek pantheon in regards to their dysfunctional personalities. The crowning example of this is Thor, who goes from someone described in the myths as the champion of the common man to an uncontrollably violent barbarian who is a threat to everyone.
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Characters frequently sprinkle alliteration into their lines, reflecting the importance of poetry in Norse culture.
- Animal Eye Spy: As expected from Odin, he can use ravens to see through their eyes.
- Anyone Can Die: This being a story based on Norse mythology, there's going to be a lot of blood, starting with the entirety of Sigrid's giant clan. By the end of the first season, Tiwaz, Baldr, Andvari, Hervor, and Ullfr are all dead. And Loki kills Sigrid and sends her to Valhalla so she can continue hunting Thor.
- Attack the Mouth: Sigrid impales an enemy warrior by his mouth with her sword in battle at one point.
- Awful Wedded Life: The story shows Thor and Sif's marriage has been miserable for a very long time.
- Breath Weapon: A dragon that breathes a green energy beam is seen in the teaser.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When Sigrid is surprised that Thor doesn't recognize her, he boasts "I've made many widows and wagonloads of orphans".
- Death of the Old Gods: The vision Odin is given in the season finale shows the demise of the old Norse faith after Ragnarok in favor of Christianity, with the scene cutting from a set of Pagan relics being burned on a pyre to a church in a modern city, ending with Odin being confronted by Christ.
- Equal-Opportunity Fanservice: There's plenty of nudity from both attractive men and women, regardless if they're mortals or gods.
- Fiery Redhead: Sigrid is a fierce redhead. Thor is just as fierce, but he qualifies also as an Evil Redhead.
- Full-Frontal Assault: The Valkyries, beside a helmet and shoulder armor, are completely naked.
- Gorn: It wouldn't be a Zack Snyder work without a lot of blood and entrails.
- Götterdämmerung: The title does not lie. The story covers the events leading up to Ragnarok, and Season 1 ends with Sigrid accidentally killing Baldur, making the coming end of an age inevitable.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Sigrid is half-human half-giant.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: In the teaser, Sigrid plunges her sword into a warrior's mouth and runs another's torso through in battle.
- Jerkass Gods: The Aesir – especially Thor – aren't exactly presented in the best light here, having Sigrid's entire family slaughtered on her wedding day because said wedding angered them. Is it any wonder that Sigrid decides to turn to Loki for help with exacting her vengeance upon them?
- Jesus Was Way Cool: The Aesir being Jerkass Gods finally catches up with them when their worshipers willfully change to venerating a much more caring god in Christ. Jesus himself is shown as caring and solemn, calmly approaching a dumbstruck Odin who was cast in shock seeing a church within a modern city.
- Male Frontal Nudity: There are full frontal shots of Leif, Egill, Thor, Odin and Ulfr.
- Mouth Cam: The poster is seen through a monster's open mouth.
- Our Dragons Are Different: The fire-breathing dragon seen in the teaser looks serpentine in appearance.
- Pelts of the Barbarian: Sigrid wears pelts on her shoulders along with a Badass Cape and a fur skirt in battle.
- Rage Against the Heavens: In the teaser, Sigrid says "We fear no gods!" in a fierce tone.
- Sequel Hook: The final episode ends with Sigrid dead at Loki's hands and sent to Valhalla, where she intends to continue her conflict with Thor.
- Shield Bash: In the teaser, Sigrid bashes an enemy warrior with her shield in battle at one point.
- Shown Their Work: Odin's name is pronounced "Othin", reflecting the original Old Norse spelling.
- Taking the Bullet: Baldr does this to protect his brother Thor from Sigrid’s spear throw, resulting in him getting killed.
- A Threesome Is Hot: Sigrid, Leif and Thyra have a threesome on the night before the battle against Asgard.
- Thunder Hammer: Thor is seen in the teaser, and lifts his hammer which then emits a ball of lightning.
- Token Good Teammate: Baldr is the only Aesir who's neither a dick nor does he scorns humans.
- Villainous Breakdown: Thor goes through this after Baldr dies protecting him from Sigrid’s killing blow, and as he tries to retaliate in a rage only for Freya to stop him from harming Sigrid anymore, Thor calms down and finally grieves, crying and wailing for the loss of his brother while being comforted by Freya.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: As expected from a show about Norse mythology, there's plenty of shapeshifting. Loki has been seen turning into a lizard and a worm, Andvari can turn into a huge pike, and the brothers Fafnir and Otr could turn into a bird and an otter.
- We Used to Be Friends: Andvari the dwarf used to be friends with prince Fafnir, until he became obsessed with cursed gold and became the dragon of myths.
- Wham Shot: Odin is given a vision of the future and sees both a modern day city, a church, and Jesus Christ. And just as it seems it might just be a vision, Jesus sees him and touches his cheek.