It seems that even the near-total wiping of Game of Thrones from the collective media consciousness can’t keep David Benioff and D.B. Weiss down. Riding the high of the success from their last show, 3 Body Problem, they’ve turned their attention to a more historical sort of political intrigue—namely, the life and death of the 20th US president, James Garfield.
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Alongside Mike Mawkosky, who directed Bad Education, Benioff and Weiss have adapted Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, the nonfiction book by Candice Millard. The limited series, which is available now to stream on Netflix, is called Death by Lightning, and the cast is a stacked one, featuring Michael Shannon, Matthew Macfadyen, Betty Gilpin, Nick Offerman, and Shea Whigham. Speaking with Tudum, Makowsky said, “It’s been the thrill of a lifetime seeing this crack team come together to bring James Garfield and his cohort back from the annals of long-forgotten history. Six years into working on this project, it’s a story I still can’t believe is true—in all its wild, tragic glory—and it somehow feels even more relevant to our world today than ever before. I can’t wait for us to be able to finally share it.”
Death By Lightning Tells The Story Of A Nation At A Crossroads
According to Makowsky, while the series is set nearly 150 years in the past, its story is incredibly relevant—and timely. “The theme of corruption in politics and our bureaucracy feels particularly evergreen these days. The idea of civil service reform and waging a battle to clean up the grift in our government—this is something that Garfield very much stood on the front lines of in his time. In 1881, it feels like America is sort of standing at a crossroads between the past and what the future of this country is going to look like, and it’s up to [people like Garfield] to really define how America, 100 years after its inception, is going to look and what kind of society they’re going to be.”
The plot of Death by Lightning is an admittedly riveting one, centering around not only President James Garfield (Shannon) and the incredible story of his life and rise to the presidency, but also Charles Guiteau (Macfadyen), a man who was once an admirer and who would go on the assassinate him. So far, it sits at a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, with one critic saying, “Though the story moves quickly—sometimes too quickly—the series manages to show the human side of historical events, reminding viewers that behind every headline or historical fact, there are real people with hopes, fears, and flaws.”
Are you looking forward to Death by Lightning? Let us know in the comments, and then head over to the ComicBook forum to see what other film fans are saying.
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