Image: Nicole Cammorata / Mashable
What: The Nevers
Where to watch: In theaters and on HBO Max
Premiere date: April 11, 2021
Get your popcorn ready: HBO’s new period fantasy series The Nevers follows a group of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that may change the world.
Featuring a relatively unknown ensemble cast with Laura Donnelly (Outlander), Eleanor Tomlinson, Ann Skelly (Vikings), and James Norton, the series was created by Joss Whedon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and The Avengers fame.
Check out the trailer below:
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Thinking about tuning in? Here’s what you need to know.
How can I watch The Nevers?
The Nevers hit HBO Max on Sunday April 11. The first six episodes all dropped at once, while the final six are still in production (at the time of this writing) and will launch at a later date.
I thought The Nevers was a Joss Whedon show. Why is he no longer involved in production?
In the fall of 2020, Whedon cited exhaustion as his reason for stepping away from The Nevers. However, it came after multiple former colleagues accused him of inappropriate behavior. Philippa Goslett has since taken over as showrunner, and this change in leadership is likely to show a difference between the first six and second six set of episodes.
What are people saying about The Nevers so far?
While the reviews are scarce at the time of this writing, the consensus among reviewers seems to be that it is filled with unexpected surprises and novel turns, and that the largely unknown cast is “packed with powerhouses and charmers.” Some highlights:
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“The action is full of inventive touches, the dialogue confident in its wit, and the largely unknown cast is packed with powerhouses and charmers.” — Liz Shannon Miller, senior TV editor at Collider
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“The premise immediately invokes the X-Men, maybe leaning a little in the direction of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. (Some of the Touched don’t exactly have powers — they’re just different. While one girl throws fireballs, another is simply 10 feet tall.) Given The Nevers’ status as a Whedon show made [SIC], the superhero idea finds credence — he’s written X-Men comics and directed two Avengers movies — but even in his earliest Buffy the Vampire Slayer days, Whedon has long been associated with work that embraces the pacing and rhythms of comic book-style storytelling.” — Joshua Rivera, entertainment writer at Polygon
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“It’s a historical drama awash in lush costuming and production design. It’s a sci-fi epic unraveling the mysteries of the universe. It’s a screwball comedy and Harlequin romance starring quick-witted heroines, surly detectives and devastatingly handsome heirs. Even when it errs towards the silly, it’s fun and twisty enough to be an engaging page-turner of a show that should grow its own fanbase without much trouble.” — Caroline Framke, chief film critic at Variety
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