Along with its announcement of its revamped streaming service, Warner Bros. Discovery released the first look at its future limited series, The Sympathizer. Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s (The Committed, The Refugees) novel, the HBO series is set to premiere in 2024. View the teaser trailer below.
According to the press release, the series follows Hoa Xuande’s (Hungry Ghosts, Cowboy Bebop) exiled Vietnamese spy in a seething satire set against the final days of the Vietnam War. The communist opp, who is half-French, has been sent to the United States in the historical espionage thriller that examines cultural and social differences.
In addition to Xuande, the cast includes Sandra Oh (Killing Eve, The Chair), Vy Le, Toan Le (Visioneers, Big Foot), Fred Nguyen Khan (Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Rise of the Tomb Raider), Alan Trong (The Tomorrow War, Insecure), Ky Duyen (The Rich Woman, Lost Paradise), and Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes) who appears in several roles as a manifestation of Western culture, via the press release.
Co-showrunners Park Chan-wook (Old Boy, Decision to Leave) and Don McKellar (Sensitive Skin, Through Black Spruce) serve as executive producers along with Downey Jr., Thanh Nguyen, Jisun Back (Snowpiercer, Confession), Ron Schmidt (House of the Dragon, Watchmen), Amanda Burrell (Sweet Tooth, Perry Mason), Susan Downey (The Judge, Sr.), Kim Ly (Saigon Bodyguards, Antiviral), and Niv Fichman (The Red Violin, Possessor). Chan-wook is set to direct along with Marc Munden (Utopia, Help) and Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardner, The Two Popes).
McKellar will write and is joined by Anchuli Felicia King (The Baby, Class of ’07), Mark Richard (Tyrant, The Good Lord Bird), Maegan Houang (Counterpart, In Full Bloom), Naomi Iizuka (Bosch: Legacy, Tokyo Vice), and Tea Ho (Murder Time, All the Same). Via the press release, the series will be produced by A24, Team Downey, Rhombus Media, and Moho Film.
The teaser trailer was accompanied by a number of HBO projects slated for the linear and streaming service including another Game of Thrones spinoff, series within The Conjuring universe, and a first look at The Batman’s accompanying series, The Penguin.
The Sympathizer arrives exclusively on Max sometime in 2024.