“I have more control with animation…” Zack Snyder on Twilight Of The Gods

Out on Netflix on 19th September, Zack Snyder presents Twilight Of The Gods, an all-new animated vision of Norse mythology.

Set in a mythical world of great battles, great deeds and great despair, the series finds LEIF, a mortal King, being saved on the battlefield by SIGRID, an iron-willed warrior with whom he falls in love. On their wedding night, SIGRID and LEIF survive a wrath of terror from THOR, 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.

We speak to Zack Snyder and Deborah Snyder to find out more…

What are you most excited for audiences to see in Twilight Of The Gods?

ZACK SNYDER: For me, the most exciting thing that I hope for audiences to experience is the scale of the characters and their giant arcs over the course of this super-long experience. When you do a series, your relationship to the characters is so much deeper than in a movie. In a movie, there’s a lot more story and plot to put over, whereas we have so much time in this to really understand what Leif and Sigrid are going through. We can root for them. We get to take a deep dive with them. We can care about what they feel and we can really try to understand Sigrid’s motivation. I’m excited for audiences to hook in on these characters and go for the ride with them, because it’s such a fun, long journey.

What is it about Norse mythology that speaks to you?

ZACK SNYDER: We took a pretty deep dive into Norse mythology for the show, but I’ve been a fan of Norse mythology long before we did this. I was always interested in Baldor and the killings of gods. I was always interested in how gods live and die – and what they really represent. Are they an idea? Are they a way of understanding the world? Or are they actual personalities? 

What else makes Norse mythology such a rich playground for story?

ZACK SNYDER: For me, the really cool thing about Norse mythology is that they’re really quirky gods. With a lot of these stories, I feel like you couldn’t make it up. You think, ‘Wait, the gods did what?’ In a lot of ways, that makes them really relatable, because what happens is you don’t feel the hand of a single voice manipulating them. When you read a story, a lot of the time the main character has to do certain things for the story. I think the cool thing about Norse mythology is the way that a lot of the time the characters will do unexpected and impossible things that make them feel more real. To me, anyway, because they’re not doing exactly what you think they would do.

How would you describe the story of the show?

DEBORAH SNYDER: This is a love story that has so much action and battle, but it’s also about revenge. There are many, many layers to it. The characters at the heart of it are these rich characters who are played very believably. I think that Sylvia [Hoeks, who plays Sigrid] and Stuart [Martin, who plays Leif] did such a good job with the nuances of their relationship that you’re interested to see what happens and you’re rooting for them. And then, we also get to see all of these gods, as well as dragons and magic. It’s so rich.

How sexy is the show?

DEBORAH SNYDER: This is a show that’s co-created by Zack Snyder, so I think there’s an expectation about the level of action and there’s a level of sexiness that is akin to what we would do in our live action films. It’s a love story between Leif and Sigrid. You know, you really want to see that encapsulated. Plus, this is adult animation, so we can do this. We can push the envelope. 

What are the underlying themes of Twilight Of The Gods?

ZACK SNYDER: Everything. It’s not Ragnarok yet. And I say yet! But the themes are about mortality and immortality – and whether or not immortality is a curse or a blessing. For me, the love story between Sigrid and Leif is at the heart of it. What will we do for the person we love? How far will we go? How deep down will we go?

How does that love story play out in the narrative?

ZACK SNYDER: There’s a scene at the beginning of the show – in the first episode – where Leif tells the story of when he first saw Sigrid. She’s jumping over him and killing that guy. At the end of that scene, the Valkyries come to take the dead from the battlefield and one of them sees Sigrid. They have this moment together; the Valkyrie and Sigrid, because she’s so fierce. There’s this idea that Valkyrie understands where Sigrid’s headed right in the first second – and then Sigrid misreads that relationship. Leif is thinking, ‘Oh, shit. That’s not an awesome thing to have the Valkyrie hooked in on you.’ They [the Valkyrie] are thinking, ‘We will meet up again later.’ Those are the kinds of things that I really enjoy.

Does the first season come to an end in the story or is there potential for more seasons of the show in the future?

DEBORAH SNYDER: Norse mythology is so vast and we only see a tiny bit in this series, so what’s exciting is there’s an opportunity to follow these characters enduring lots of different journeys in the future.

How did you translate your style into an animated medium?

ZACK SNYDER: When we’re storyboarding a sequence in a movie, I draw it and then when we shoot it – but the actors don’t necessarily do exactly what was drawn. There’s always a little bit of, ‘Oh, okay. That’s close.’ I have more control with animation. When we make an animated frame, I’m like, ‘That’s exactly what we drew. That’s exactly the way I imagined it.’ In some ways, the animation is closer to my aesthetic heart.

You’re working on a new 300 project. Will it be animated?

ZACK SNYDER: The new 300 will not be animated, but there certainly could be an animated 300 series. That would’ve been an absolutely cool way to do it. It’s half-animated anyway!

 Catch Twilight Of The Gods on Netflix from 19 September.