Showtime has been one of the gold standards in terms of high-quality television over the last few decades. Their next show, The Man Who Fell to Earth, is set to premiere later this month and the network just dropped a trailer promoting the new series.
The trailer goes through the general story of the series with Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Faraday becoming a human to save his own alien race with the help of Naomie Harris’ Justin Falls. While this new footage teases some classic genre conflicts of the military going after Ejiofor’s character forcing him to go on the run, it also showcases a compelling mission of an alien learning and rising through the ranks of humanity to save the world.
The visuals are also very stunning with a lot of thought-provoking color work. Different blues, purples, and oranges contrasting with some deep shadows give the show such an elevated feeling. It sets up an epic mood and a multilayered story with mysterious threats perfectly. Going off that, this trailer makes the show feel like it will blend many eras and genres together. From scene to scene, it excitingly switches from an awe-inspiring style found in sci-fi films of the 50s to the visual intrigue of classic noir films while still having a distinctly modern feel to the overall story.
This all makes sense as this series is based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Walter Travis which was later adapted into a 1976 film starring David Bowie. The series itself looks a lot different from your average modern sci-fi offering. The epic scale here does not come from large space battles or bombastic conflicts. It appears to come from the emotionally heavy visuals that get you lost in this world’s human core. What is intriguing about this show, at least from this trailer, are the things left unsaid, and the compelling imagery makes it hard to look away from everything. It also just helps that this series has an insanely talented cast. Besides Ejiofor and Harris, this ensemble features Bill Nighy, Rob Delaney, Sonya Cassidy, Clarke Peters, Jimmi Simpson, and Kate Mulgrew.
Showtime has done a few horror series, but they really have never delved deep into the sci-fi genre before. That is yet another reason to be excited about this show. The Man Who Fell to Earth looks to be continuing the great quality standards that we come to expect from this network while also exploring uncharted territory.
The series will premiere on Showtime April 24, 2022. You can watch the full new trailer for The Man Who Fell to Earth down below:
via Collider