NBC’s upcoming Emerald City will take everything you know about the iconic Wizard of Oz and turn it on its head, and a new featurette gives fans a glimpse of how they will go about doing that.
Vincent D’Onofrio, who plays the Wizard in Emerald City, talks about the show’s premise, which he sees as a mirror of the modern day world (via Yahoo). “Our story is a reflection of society today, through the point of view of Dortohty, and our Dorothy is fantastic.”
Videos by ComicBook.com
Dorothy is played by the talented Adria Arjona, who can’t wait for people to see the show in its final form, and their unique take on the characters. “I’m really excited for people to see the reality that every character has in this version. It’s very different from the original.”
Along the way she meets Oliver Jackson-Cohen’s character, who fans of the original story will know as the Scarecrow.
I play the equivalent of the scarecrow” says Jackson-Cohen. “Dorothy saves him his life, so he will forever protect her. Our version of Oz, magic has been banned, and the wizard is controlling Oz through science, and so all the witches have been made redundant. Glenda runs an orphanage, West runs a brothel.”
It should be interesting to see if audiences come around to these modern takes on old favorites, and you can find the full video above and the description of the show below.
In the blink of a tornado’s eye, 20-year-old Dorothy Gale and a K9 police dog are swept into a world far removed from our own – a mystical land of competing realms, lethal warriors, dark magic and a bloody battle for supremacy. This is Oz completely reimagined – a place where familiar characters show up in fresh, unexpected ways, and where an unsuspecting young woman holds the fate of kingdoms in her hands. And as Dorothy navigates this dangerous world and uncovers her true destiny, we’ll see there’s no place like… Oz.
Emerald City is directed by Tarsem Singh and written by L. Frank Baum, David Schulner, and Matthew Arnold. The series stars Adria Arjona (Dorothy Gale), Gerran Howell (Jack), Vincent D’Onofrio (The Wizard), Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Lucas), Isabel Lucas (Anna), Stefanie Martini (Lady Ev), Ana Ularu (West), Roxy Sternberg (Elizabeth), Rebeka Rea (Sylvie), Olafur Darri Olafsson (Ojo), Vahid Gold (Toby), Mia Mountain (Nahara), Mate Haumann (Oz Captain), Florence Kasumba (East), Lily Newmark (Jinjur), Suan-Li Ong (Isabel), Amber Rose Revah (Miranda), Stewart Scudamore (Hugh), and Margareta Szabo (Maeve).
Emerald City premieres on January 6, 2017.
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