With his Marvel Cinematic Universe return on the horizon, an underratedWyatt Russellmovie is getting a new streaming home. The youngest son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn,Wyatt Russell first began actingas a kid, with small roles in a few of his father’s movies, includingOverboard,Escape from L.A.andSoldier, eventually taking a hiatus while playing for various hockey teams. He would later return to acting in the early 2010s with roles in the likes ofThe Walking Dead: The Oath, the English-language remake ofWe Are What We Areand22 Jump Street.
Russell would start to make a proper name for himself in the mid-to-late 2010s with his turn inBlack Mirror’s “Playtest”, AMC’sLodge 49and Richard Linklater’sEverybody Wants Some!!. He would further propel himself to mainstream stardomstarring as John Walker/U.S. Agent inThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, a role he’s since reprised for thesoon-to-releaseThunderbolts*and the in-productionAvengers: Doomsday. He’s starred in a variety of other blockbuster projects, including Apple TV+‘sMonarch: Legacy of Monsters, a TV spinoff of the Monsterverse, though one film that’s since been forgotten is about to get new eyes on it.
Overlord Is Coming To Shudder In May
The J.J. Abrams-Produced Nazi Zombie Movie Is One Of Russell’s More Underrated
Just prior to joining the MCU, one of Russell’s biggest movie roles was that of the 2018 horror action war movieOverlord. Starring alongside Jovan Adepo, John Magaro and Mathilde Ollivier, Russell starred as one of a group of American soldiers in World War II who, while journeying into France to destroy a German radio-jamming tower on the eve of D-Day, find themselves confronted by inhuman experiments conducted by the Nazis. Produced by J.J. Abrams and helmed by Julius Avery,Overlordwas well-received by critics, but underperformed at the box office.
Overlordmaintains a “Certified Fresh” approval rating of 82% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a 67% from audiences.
Now, just over six years after its theatrical release,Overlordis getting a new streaming home onShudder. The Nazi zombie action movie is set to drop on the horror-focused streaming platform on May 1. Other notable movies joiningOverlordon Shudder in May includeJacob’s Ladder,Tremors, Cannibal Holocaust,Rust Creek, Lady VengeanceandSympathy for Mr. Vengeance.
Why You Should Watch Overlord On Shudder
It’s Got More On Its Mind Than Its Horror Premise Suggests
Though technically around longer than them, the creation of theWolfensteingame franchise and the multiplayer mode of theCall of Duty: Black Opsseries helped popularizethe Nazi zombie concept. But, where this led to the likes ofDead SnowandFrankenstein’s Army, which took a more tongue-in-cheek approach to the concept,Overlordinstead aims for a much more sincere approach in its tone, delivering some genuinely chilling monster designs and nicely ambiguous rules for their existence.
Additionally, the movie works to highlight the genuine horrors of war through its protagonist, Jovan Adepo’s idealistic Private First Class Boyce. FromOverlord’s harrowing opening sequence of jumping from a plane in the midst of it being shot down to watching his fellow soldiers die suddenly from landmines and German soldiers committing war crimes on French natives, writers Billy Ray, who’s about to return to theHunger Gamesfranchise forSunrise on the Reaping, and Mark L. Smith, who recently found success with Netflix’sAmerican Primeval,never let the human story be forgotten amid the horror genre fare.
Arguably, the biggest reason torevisitOverlordwhen it premieres on Shudder on May 1 is to watch Russell’s performance as the war-hardened Corporal Ford. Much like his later turn as Walker inThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the star must navigate a tightrope between ensuring audiences still side with him while also being horrified by the lengths he’s willing to go for his mission. With the movie arriving on Shudder just beforeThunderbolts*’s release, it will serve as a good reminder of Russell’s unique range.
What ScreenRant has said about Overlord:
This is a B-movie zombie horror set during arguably the most pivotal moment of World War II.Overlordcontrasts those real-world stakes with the supernatural threat of zombie-Nazis for a wildly entertaining ride.Overlord Review: J.J. Abrams’ Zombie-Nazi Horror Film Delivers The Thrills
82%
67%
Overlord
Cast
Overlord is a horror war film set in June 1944, where American paratroopers land behind enemy lines in a mission to destroy a Nazi radio tower. As they advance, they uncover a secret laboratory conducting sinister experiments, combining intense combat action with supernatural horror elements.
