The upcoming Netflix drama “Kaos” is an old story with a decidedly modern twist. Jeff Goldblum stars as Zeus, the king of the gods, but in this telling he’s an aging, sexually incontinent, increasingly paranoid figure — Logan Roy comes to mind — trying to maintain his grip on his family and his empire.
KAOS | First Look at Jeff Goldblum as Zeus | Netflix
“Why do we keep coming back to myths?” says creator Charlie Covell, musing about the source material for the series, which debuts Aug. 29. “They’re timeless; the problems are eternal.” Indeed, the story has been a long time in the making for Covell, who sees the series’ themes of “power, abuse of power, love, death, family, dysfunctional families” as continually relevant — and eternally fascinating — to audiences.
"Kaos," like "Succession," centers on powerful siblings at war, but these aren't mere mortals fighting for control of a media corporation. Instead, Covell's darkly funny saga is a fantasy/modern mashup set between Zeus's glittering palace on Mount Olympus and the underworld, which is presented as a Kafkaesque nightmare of humorless bureaucrats. In between is modern-day Crete, full of cars, falafel trucks and everyday citizens in modern clothing. Even the gods have a go at athleisure: Zeus wears a tracksuit embroidered with lightning bolts; Poseidon (Cliff Curtis) parades around in a pair of swim trunks on his yacht in the middle of the Mediterranean, where he's having a steamy affair with Zeus' wife, Hera (Janet McTeer).
Not that Zeus has noticed; he’s busy thwarting an ancient prophecy that spells his doom, while his party-loving son Dionysus (Nabhaan Rizwan) is searching for a greater purpose — and one that Zeus takes seriously. We’re soon introduced to a list of Greek mythology MVPs, including Medusa (Debi Mazar), Orpheus and Euridyce (Killian Scott and Aurora Perrineau), and Ariadne (Leila Farzad), whose paths will eventually cross in an epic climax.
