“Fuck the gods” is a sentiment that seems to be everywhere right now, from the more literal interpretation of Netflix’s Chaos to the variety of “eat the rich” stories that play on the simmering anger over today’s growing inequality. Ragnarök, the mythological end of many gods in a fit of brutal battle and revenge, is just the sort of thing that can speak to how freakishly unfair and end-of-times bordering modern life can feel right now. Especially when, as in Twilight of the Gods‘ In this version we are dealing with a mortal who is seriously offended by the gods.
You don’t have to have been a bride to understand that it would be very annoying if Thor showed up in the middle of the ceremony and murdered your entire family. Twilight of the Gods‘ Sigrid (Sylvia Hoeks) need not worry, however; after traveling home to marry her one true love, Leif (Stuart Martin), the Norse god of thunder murders her loved ones right before her eyes. And now she has sworn revenge, no matter what.
That revenge saga is the beating, bloody heart of Twilight of the GodsCreated by Zack Snyder, Eric Carrasco, and Jay Oliva, it’s the kind of story that really shines through animation; as Sigrid assembles a team to invade Valhalla and kill the hammer-wielding god once and for all, she and her cohort can encounter a sorceress in the woods or ride across a magical bridge to the land of giants without the show ever losing its stride. Plus, the character design teases the show’s various influences and colors our sense of the characters for an extra bit of fun. Sigrid looks like she’s stepped straight out of The Secret of Kellsflatter and harking back to older art, while some in her company feel closer to 90s DreamWorks, with all their hopeful humanity. It reflects how slightly out of step she is with those around her — changed by everything she’s been through.
As with Rebel Moon or Zack Snyder’s Justice League or Man of Steel (or 300 or Sucker punch), those who may or may not be on board with Snyder’s storytelling sensibilities will likely find their instincts validated here. This is a man who paints with bright colors, big emotions, and bombastic sex and violence. Yet at times it can feel as though the chosen medium gets in the way of a part of the palette that really packs a punch. As the journey progresses and the fights become more intense, the cartoonish nature of the animated violence never really holds the story back.
In that way, Twilight of the Gods can often feel less like the mythic highs of Ragnarök and more like Prime Video’s The boys. Like Twilight of the Gods, The boys is deeply concerned with what divine beings owe us, and how their indestructibility can kill them for cruelty of the highest order. Both shows begin with horrific tragedy that gives way to brutal retribution. And both shows eventually move beyond the sex scenes and gruesome violence to a more thoughtful exploration of grief, rage, connection, and malice. It’s nice to see Snyder’s take on the superheroes of the moment carrying a bit more epic weight. The battles between gods and humans have long been his domain, and seeing it literally here (with a few giants and other Norse mythology thrown in) only reinforces the themes he’s so often willing to explore around power and control.
Twilight of the Gods‘ ultimate success seems best reflected in the fact that no one goes out of their way to kill a god for the same reason. It allows what could have been an animated retelling of a myth to become something more intricate, fraught, and brutal, as we see just how brutal a saga it can be. While not all beats are served by the animated world, the show is far from just more fodder for the Netflix animation queue, filled with richly conceived and varied takes on gods, empires, and, yes, sex scenes. This is a series with somewhere to go, as evidenced by the brutality on display in its final episodes. It’s worth making the time for — gods be damned.
Twilight of the Gods is now available on Netflix.