Zack Snyder’s Twilight of the Gods is an all-new daring and spectacular animated vision of Norse mythology, now streaming on Netflix as of September 19th. This heroic story of love, loss, and revenge is a journey to Hell and beyond. We spoke with Zack Snyder, Co-Creator and Executive Producer of Twilight of the Gods, about exploring the journey in adapting Norse mythology for a modern audience.

Zack Snyder is known for directing films such as Justice League, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and Man of Steel.

Zack Snyder’s Twilight of the Gods brings Norse mythology to life in a way that captivates audiences

We asked Zack Snyder what it looked like presenting Norse mythology in a way that makes sense to and engages audiences who are both familiar and unfamiliar with these stories. Snyder acknowledges that there are inherent challenges in translating the intricate world of Norse mythology onto the screen.

Zack Snyder said:

I think the through-line of the story, Sigrid’s kind of journey is like the human story that I think anyone could relate to. And everyone’s like, okay, I get her anger and her like, broken heart, and all the things that happened to Sigrid.

Snyder praises Sylvia Hoeks for her brilliant work of bringing Sigrid to life. He goes on to say:

Once you sort of had her story, you could hang some pretty complex mythological concepts on it and allow the audience to kind of really discover and kind of understand the weirdness that is that is Norse mythology.

With a laugh, Snyder explains that he means “weirdness” in a loving way. The mythology’s unique blend of fantastical elements, including shape-shifting, gender-bending, and family drama presented a thrilling dynamic in storytelling. Snyder continues by saying:

I think that it’s fun to sort of…get on…the team with Sigrid and Leif and just kind of, okay, take us into the world because, you know. You can’t you can’t get any weirder than this. But then it always does get a little bit weirder. I found it really fun to kind of use them as the anchor that allowed us to kind of have a lot of fun and do a lot of weird stuff with the sort of natural material.

Anchoring the story to the human experience allows the series to resonate with audiences who may not be familiar with Norse mythology.

Twilight of the Gods on Netflix September 19th

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). SIGRID is an iron-willed warrior with whom LEIF falls in love. On their wedding night, SIGRID and LEIF survive a wrath of terror from THOR (Pilou Asbæk). This bloody battle sets them and a crew of crusaders on an against all odds and merciless mission for vengeance. 

The animated series is from Stone Quarry Animation and co-created by Zack Snyder, Jay Oliva, and Eric Carrasco. Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Wesley Coller, and Jay Oliva are the executive producers. The animation house is Xilam Animation. Zack Snyder directs the first and final episode, while additional directors include Jay Oliva and Andrew Tamandl, along with Tim Divar and Dave Hartman.