Though there are plenty of surprises to come (for one thing, we still don’t even know the names of most of the cast), we are eagerly anticipating the Jordan Peele-executive produced series. Here are some things we’re hoping to see and some others we would rather not.
Want: Josh Radnor Playing Against Type
Josh Radnor had quite the stint with a 10-season run of the popular series How I Met Your Mother. He tried to depart from his comedic role with a dramatic role on the PBS series Mercy Street, but with two seasons consisting of just 12 episodes, it mostly flew under the radar. His other non-comedic lead role in the show Rise barely made it through a 10 episode season before getting canceled as well.
The trailers have only given us a passing glance at Radnor, who is not easily recognizable with hair and makeup that hardly resembles Ted Mosby. With his role as, as Pacino’s character puts it, a master of disguise, we’re looking forward to seeing Radnor in a different light.
Don’t Want: Nazis As Victims
We know that Nazis are humans, too. In fact, American History X showed us the complexities (or lack thereof) surrounding those who join extremist groups. There is definitely a conversation to be had about the way those who feel disenfranchised find themselves uniting with terrorist organizations.
But with that in mind, what we don’t want Hunters to do is make Nazis feel like victims at the hands of the titular group. We do want to see dramatic portrayals of both sides, but we don’t need to feel sympathy for people who wreaked genocide on millions of people and wish to continue doing so.
Want: A Strong Supporting Cast
While Logan Lerman looks to be the center of the series attention (at least in the beginning), we’ll be getting to see him join forces with the rest of the gang, hopefully before too long. One of the trailers even featured what each member of the Hunters brings to the table.
While that is exciting, we don’t want them to just be that one specific skill and role. Given the fact that there are ten episodes to fill, we hope that we get a chance to know more people besides Logan Lerman and Al Pacino’s characters. After all, a strong supporting cast will only make the leads shine even more.
Don’t Want: A Sidelined Al Pacino
It may seem hard to believe, but despite having a long and illustrious career, this will only be the second time Al Pacino will appear in a series as a regular, the first being in 2003 with HBO’s Angels In America.
While there are definitely some good actors that have been cast in other various supporting roles, Pacino is without a doubt the biggest star power at the bat here. We’re hoping that he isn’t here just to sell the series, but that he gets to be an anchor throughout.
Want: Relevant Social Commentary
It is easy to understand why Hunters got a straight-to-series order; who wouldn’t greenlight a series with the premise of a period piece set in the ’70s following a group of Nazi hunters? With the rise of white supremacy in the 2010s, it has made a series with this kind of setting more timely than ever.
We’re already sold on the cast and production design of Hunters, but we don’t want it to be just that. There is plenty to be explored with the emergence of white supremacy after it was thought to be a relic of the past. We hope Hunters has this on its mind as well.
Don’t Want: Tarantino-Levels Of Violence
It is difficult to watch the promotional material for Hunters and not be reminded of Quentin Tarantino’s seminal film Inglorious Basterds. While it is a great film on its own merits and also deals with a group of Nazi hunters, we are not looking for a televised version of that film.
Cinematic revisionist histories are plenty enjoyable on their own, but Hunters can do more than just serve as a catharsis for one of the most traumatic events in world history. We don’t need to avoid violence altogether and we certainly won’t given what we’ve seen of Hunters so far. But we don’t want it to approach comical or sensational levels that make us feel like the stakes aren’t real.
Want: At Least A Little History
We don’t need to go Ken Burns style and have a 10-episode docudrama. The events of World War II are well documented in other films and TV series.
But the series is indeed “inspired by true events” and while that is a signal that most of what happens in the series probably didn’t happen in real life, we would really like to know about the true events. As the adage goes, those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it.
Don’t Want: Diversity Without Purpose
We are all for a cast featuring people from diverse backgrounds and luckily, Hunters definitely seems to have us covered on this front. But we also would like to really delve into their histories as well. Show us the lives of Black, Asian, Jewish-Americans; don’t just tell us that they exist.
We want these characters to feel distinct, not interchangeable. There is so much that can be explored through different lenses in this era, and we don’t want to see that potential go to waste.
Want: Plenty Of Jews Taking Out Nazis
Again, we don’t need Inglourious Basterds 2.0 here, but we don’t want to go too far between episodes without seeing Nazis get some comeuppance. It doesn’t need to be an all-out bloodbath by any means, but we don’t want to just see Nazis get on the radar; we want them taken out.
It’s not just about seeing violence depicted on-screen. There is a slew of other shows and movies readily available for that. It’s about feeling that justice is met, and it is a feeling that is hard to recreate by simply putting them in a court of law. If the trailers are any indication, though, it looks like we’ll be exploring what exactly justice means when it comes to dealing with this level of hatred and extremism.
Don’t Want: A Humorless Series
Genocide is an inherently weighty topic. There is almost no way to invoke the seriousness of Nazism without feeling that, even if the Nazis in this series aren’t the same as those that existed in WWII. Though Jordan Peele may only be involved in financial regard, he has proven that even when dealing with hot-button issues like racism, humor can be a way to cut through the tension and allow the audience some relief from time to time.
It doesn’t need to be manifest in one character alone, but we hope that Hunters doesn’t make us feel too disheartened after watching it.
