The customs, iconography, and folklore of ancient civilizations have been unearthed time and again in contemporary pop culture, from Mary Shelley positioning “Frankenstein” as a modern retelling of the myth of Prometheus in 1818, to the Egyptian mythological hybrid of the “Stargate” franchise, to works of contemporary YA adventure writers such as Rick Riordan. “Kaos” was immediately met with a lot of buzz when it was first announced in 2018. But where does the show stand now, full three years later? This is what we know about Kaos series.
This is a theme that Netflix has hit before, and to great success — Norway’s “Ragnarok,” Brazil’s “Invisible City,” and the Greek-inspired American anime series “Blood of Zeus” are new examples of successfully picking up ancient myths which has been released by the streaming platform so far.
In this case, the big-budget and culturally ubiquitous live-action Netflix reimagining Greek mythology has been a long time coming. And that’s what “Kaos” promise. An original creation from “The End of the F***ing World” mastermind Charlie Covell.
Kaos: Release Date
Like every production that has hit the COVID-19 pandemic, “Kaos”’s journey to the big screen has been an arduous one. The show was originally announced by Netflix on June 10, 2018, when Deadline and other outlets reported that the show had been put on live 10-episode orders.
More than a year passed without further details, until creator Charlie Covell sat down with the Radio Times in October 2019 to further discuss his latest idea. At the time, Covell said the development stage of the production was progressing smoothly, adding that “we have to shoot late June next year, and then it will hit screens in 2021, I hope.” Of course, then the pandemic hit, shutting down all film production in the US and UK for over a year. “Kaos” finally got the official Netflix details page set up in April 2020 (via Pop Sugar), but no more official production info has been shared since, nor has any news emerged about the state of filming.
We know that most of the film and TV shoots scheduled for 2020 can only start shooting this year. With that in mind, we most likely won’t be getting a “Kaos” this year. But, given that Netflix is confident enough in the state of the project to set up an official page for it, we can feel safe betting on a release sometime in 2022.
Which Characters Will be in Kaos?
Plot details on “Kaos” are still a bit unclear. The ill-fated lovers Orpheus and Eurydice, from the famous myth of the musician who saved his wife from the underworld only to lose her again, are the only Greek mythological figures confirmed as characters for this series. However, given that the show divides its time between the “God, Earth, Underworld” realms, as Charlie Covell explained to the Radio Times, it’s likely that Hades, the king of the underworld in Greek myth, will play a role somehow, and the same can be said for the major gods known as the “Olympic Gods” — Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, and later one or both of them, Hestia and Dionysus.
As the casting went on, this was the only tiniest bit of information about “Kaos” available. And by “least”, we mean “none”. Neither Netflix nor production companies All3Media and Brightstar have made any casting announcements. But, given that the show is a British production, it’s entirely possible that it will favor stars as opposed to American ones — in this case Netflix, which is known to occasionally work with returning actor “treasury companies” (via Variety), will have a large selection of European stars, thanks to shows like Covell’s “The End of the F***ing World”. But that’s just baseless speculation for now.
Kaos Plot Story
While the amount of information about “Kaos” circulating is still limited, with Netflix yet to start an official publicity campaign, we know very little about the show’s goals. Described on its official Netflix page as a “genre-bending series” that “puts a modern twist on Greek and Roman mythology, exploring themes of gender politics, power, and life in the underworld”, “Kaos” will be a high-achieving film. -Epic fantasy series has become so agile to give us stories in the post-2010s era.
Indeed, for anyone wondering how ambitious “Kaos” will become, Charlie Covell described it to the Radio Times as “hopefully [having] some kind of Game of Thrones scale.” In terms of what scale it’s actually going for is unclear. however, Covell has promised something more in line with her past work, adding that “tonally it should [feel] End of the World-y, in terms of its humor and soundtrack and looks.” One of the highlights for me was Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet as a display.”
The idea of a “Game of Thrones” level blockbuster with a bite to the “End of the F***ing World” level is appealing, but Covell’s brief description of the plot is even more interesting: “We start with Orpheus and Eurydice, the gods are like a large dysfunctional family. should be funny and dark and sad.” With that being said, “Kaos” seems to have the makings of another big series for Netflix.
