Showtime has released a wild trailer for The Good Lord Bird, a seven-episode series which is based on the National Book Award-winning novel "The Good Lord Bird" by bestselling author James McBride. The series is told from the point of view of Onion (Joshua Caleb Johnson-Lionel), a young boy who becomes a part of John Brown's (Ethan Hawke) motley crew of abolitionist soldiers, eventually going on to participate in the raid on the Army depot at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, an event which was a catalyst for the American Civil War.
Ethan Hawke as John Brown is absolutely bonkers in the best way possible, and his performance makes me think that he's been snorting ground-up Nicolas Cage. This one will be a must-watch. In addition to starring, Ethan Hawke also created the series and serves as executive producer alongside Blumhouse Production's Jason Blum. The Good Lord Bird also stars Daveed Diggs as Frederick Douglass, Wyatt Russell as First Lieutenant J. E. B. Stuart, McKinley Belcher III as Broadnax, and Rafael Casal as Cook.
The official synopsis for The Good Lord Bird:
The Good Lord Bird is told from the point of view of Onion (Joshua Caleb Johnson), a fictional enslaved boy who becomes a member of Brown’s motley family of abolitionist soldiers during Bleeding Kansas — a time when the state was a battleground between pro- and anti-slavery forces — and eventually finds himself participating in the famous 1859 raid on the U.S. Armory at Harpers Ferry. Brown’s raid failed to initiate the slave revolt he intended, but it was the event that started the Civil War. ‘The Good Lord Bird’ weaves a humorous, dramatic and historical tapestry of Antebellum America, spotlighting the complicated and ever-changing racial, religious and gender roles that make up the American identity.
The Good Lord Bird will debut on Showtime on August 9, 2020.