Star Trek: Picard captain and X-Men veteran Patrick Stewart will be returning to TV alongside a director we’re not generally used to seeing confined to the small screen—Michael Bay (Transformers franchise)—for an adaptation of Michael Moreci and Nathan Gooden’s hit Vault Comics title Barbaric.
Netflix and A+E Studios have picked up the project, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games, Daisy Jones and the Six) will star alongside Stewart, with Sheldon Turner, writer of X-Men: First Class, aboard to adapt the script and executive produce. Vault offers this description of its irreverent fantasy comic: “Owen the Barbarian has been cursed to do good with what remains of his life. His bloodthirsty weapon, Axe, has become his moral compass with a drinking problem. Together they wander the realm, foredoomed to help any who seek assistance. But there is one thing Owen hates more than a life with rules: Witches.”
First released in 2021, Barbaric became a surprise best-seller and has been translated into multiple languages. Clafin will play the witch-hating Owen, while Stewart will lend his distinctive pipes to voice the sentient Axe. Netflix feels like a good fit for this one, considering the streamer’s fantasy titles (humorous and otherwise) also include the likes of The Sandman, The Witcher, and the dearly departed Shadow and Bone. What do you think about this new team-up?
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