Mel Brooks’ History of the World Part II First Look Released

Mel Brooks’ History of the World Part II is finally arriving, over forty years after the iconic comedic film History of the World, Part I in 1981. For this second installment, the format has been flipped from feature film to limited series (8 episodes), and now there’s a gallery of first-look photos from History of the World Part II to share! Check them out over at EW by hitting the link below!

The photo gallery for History of the World Part II shows stars Wanda Sykes, Nick Kroll, and Ike Barinholtz in various sketch comedy roles as Shirley Chisholm (the first Black candidate for Presidential nomination by a major party), “Schmuck Mudman” mudpie deliveryman during the Russian Revolution, and revolutionary Leon Trotsky, respectively. A breakdown of the photos by EW also provides the following information:

Now an eight-part television series instead of a film, each episode of History of the World Part II will feature a variety of sketches that take us through different periods of human history. Starring Brooks, Wanda Sykes, Nick Kroll, and Ike Barinholtz, Part II promises to cover the building of the pyramids, the American Civil War, the Russian Revolution, and much, much more.

History of the World Part I was a play on Sir Walter Raleigh’s The History of the World, Volume 1, with Mel Brooks and co. taking a sly, comedic slant on some of the major events of human history, including the Stone Age, Old Testament, Roman Empire, French Revolution, and (of course) the Spanish Inquisition. History of the World starred comedic icons like Sid Caesar, Shecky Greene, Gregory Hines, Orson Welles, Carl Reiner, John Hurt, Bea Arthur, Charlie Callas, Ron Carey, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Hugh Hefner, Andreas Voutsinas, Jackie Mason, and Spike Milligan. 

Of that impressive list, very few are still survivin, but can still provide for some buzz-worthy cameos. It’s also unclear if if the faux promo that was run at the end of History of the World Part I will have any direct impact on this sequel series. It’s noted by EW that skits the original film promised, like “Hitler on Ice” could arguably be implied by the photo of, say, Sykes, Kroll, and Barinholtz all dressed as commentators for some kind event at an ice rink. Their hairstyles certainly suggest that some kind of Nazi world order could indeed be in place. 

History of the World Part II is slated to release on Hulu in “Spring 2023.” 

History of the World Part II will be released on Hulu this spring.