Twilight of the Gods isn’t like most other mythology tales. First, it’s based on Norse mythology. Second, this isn’t the Thor and Loki you think you know. In fact, this might feature those familiar faces, but it isn’t even centered on them. Third, this is …well, bloody. It’s also very, very …let’s call it sexually free. Which, if we’re being honest, tracks with mythology.
Fangirlish had a chance to sit down with EPs Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, and Wesley Coller to discuss Twilight of the Gods, why they wanted to tell this specific story, and why Sigrid is such an interesting heroine.
“For me,” Zack Snyder explained as we dove into the question of why this didn’t feel like an entry-level story, “it’s almost like the native language. It’s like if you were going to make a film set in a place, and their culture and the subtleties of culture and stuff like that were going to be on display, you’re not going to explain to someone why the culture is the way it is.”
Instead, he said, “You have to immerse in it and then understand it through experience. And I think that’s the way we approached it, that all of it makes sense if you stay with it and give it, you know, it’s chance. And the way we get you to stay is that… we have our characters do outrageous things that are so intense, so crazy that you have to know why.”
Deborah Snyder added that “the writers did such a great job making these characters come to life. But Peter [Aperlo], who was one of our writers, wrote a book on Norse mythology. So, he was kind of like our Norse mythology police, in a way. And just kept everything we were doing in check. So, it was authentic because we really wanted to kind of go back to these origin stories and tell them and expose a new generation to these stories.”
Zack Snyder added that the intent was also to “approach the Norse characters in what I would consider the truth,” particularly because they’re also “rendering these Norse characters, which are existing popular culture in a way that people maybe aren’t 100% used to seeing, but it’s probably more true to the actual Norse representation than maybe the way they’ve been described.”
Spoiler alert, Twilight of the Gods Thor and Loki are more mythology-accurate than Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston’s version. You can still love the MCU version if you want.
To that, Coller added that “what makes this take so fresh is because these characters that many of us have been introduced through pop culture and all that, they’re being sort of approached from a different direction or occupying a different space in the narrative than maybe you’re familiar with. And I think it just allows the story in itself, outside of just the love story narrative, but also within this greater world of mythology to feel fresh and unique.”
But Twilight of the Gods isn’t just about bringing a different version of Thor and Loki to the screen, though it is, it’s about re-framing mythology as a whole. To that, Zack Snyder geeked about a bit about mythology in general, reflecting on the fact that “The Norse version of morality doesn’t exactly fit with our modern sensibilities of who’s a good guy, who’s a bad guy. There is a lot more ambiguous than that. It’s not as simple.”
“You know, the Norse gods did kill humans all the time and they were kind of rough on… you know, Thor was a rough character. And, you know, we’ve gotten a version of him that’s a little bit more sort of modernized and westernized, which is cool, but not necessarily the way he was in the true sort of mythological version.”
You can say that again. Mythology! Not really for kids.
Snyder continued. “It’s a pretty R-rated deal. And so, I just wanted to express how it would feel, not only from a violent standpoint, a moral standpoint, but also sexually, that the hang-ups that we might have, they might not have, and so it’s a little bit more, on its own wavelength that way.”
And it’s all centered on a woman, Sigrid.
“We knew that it was going to be her story,” Zack Snyder said. “But then it was a love story, between her and Leif. And that love story is really central to the thing.”
But above all, it’s about her. “And I think Sigrid does an amazing job at being like cool and at the same time like she’s always measured and like… I trust her judgment except for, I know she’s gonna probably go too hard, but I trust like she’s gonna make the right decisions.”
And isn’t that what you want in a heroine who can bring down the Gods?
Twilight of the Gods is now streaming on Netflix.
