With all of the famous directors, actors, and artists who descend on San Diego Comic-Con, the biggest nerd party in the world can often feel like a pop culture fantasy come to life. That was actually true at this year’s event though. Amazon Studios and Legendary Television released two gorgeous and tense prologues for their upcoming new fantasy series, Carnival Row. It’s the start of a story featuring fauns, fairies, trolls, centaurs, and plenty of other magical creatures, along with an oppressive race of men, in a Victorian world that faces many of the same issues we do today.
The first prologue comes from the perspective of Cara Delevingne’s fairy Vignette, who says men destroyed the peaceful world her kind knew. The second comes from Orlando Bloom’s human Philo, which presents a very different origin for how the world ended up like this, and why he fought to help make it that way.
These haunting and moving prologues give the background for the world this story is set in. However, it remains to see how much the show will rely on flashbacks in its narrative, but we do know the main plot will very much take place in the present for these characters.
Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Cara Delevingne (Suicide Squad) star in Carnival Row, a series set in a Victorian fantasy world filled with mythological immigrant creatures whose exotic homelands were invaded by the empires of man. This growing population struggles to coexist with humans – forbidden to live, love, or fly with freedom. But even in darkness, hope lives, as a human detective, Rycroft Philostrate (Bloom), and a refugee faerie named Vignette Stonemoss (Delevingne) rekindle a dangerous affair despite an increasingly intolerant society. Vignette harbors a secret that endangers Philo’s world during his most important case yet: a string of gruesome murders threatening the uneasy peace of the Row.
In addition to these featurettes, the cast and crew also offered some more insights on the show and their characters during a panel for the series.
“We all understand what it feels like to lose something you don’t want to lose. Everyone can understand that.” – @Caradelevingne #CarnivalRow
— Carnival Row (@CarnivalRow) July 20, 2019
“There are so many details and new characters around every corner that we were only able to explore because @carnivalrow is a tv series.”
– @travisbeacham pic.twitter.com/NsCBR5egH6— Legendary (@Legendary) July 20, 2019
“Imogen Spurnrose is a very privileged human. Imogen is like a caged bird… I think there’s a lot of anger underneath.” @tamzinmerchant #CarnivalRow
— Carnival Row (@CarnivalRow) July 20, 2019
“There’s a lot of language in the shared history of the land in this fantasy world. There are a lot of idiosyncrasies; when we stepped into it, it feels rich.” – @tamzinmerchant on the details of #CarnivalRow pic.twitter.com/CcWS3pplZo
— Carnival Row (@CarnivalRow) July 20, 2019
@Caradelevingne: I wish I was as strong in my sensitivity.
Orlando: Philo is a man of secrets. He’s empathetic and has a great sense of humanity, which is also really interesting.@TheDavidGyasi: He has this kind of determination and focus which can be deemed kind of selfish.— Carnival Row (@CarnivalRow) July 20, 2019
@travisbeacham said that he wrote @CarnivalRow 17 years ago. And now his world is being brought to life. Big lesson on never giving up on your dreams or your stories. @Comic_Con #CarnivalRow #SDCC2019
— sheisloveitself ? #SDCC2019 (@sheisloveitself) July 20, 2019
For a fantasy show set in a Victorian world full of fairies and trolls, it’s clear Carnival Row will have a lot to say about the world we live in now.
Also starring Simon McBurney (The Borgias), David Gyasi (Interstellar), Tamzin Merchant (Salem), Andrew Gower (Outlander), Karla Crome (Under the Dome), Arty Froushan (Knightfall), Caroline Ford (Once Upon A Time), Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), and Jared Harris (Chernobyl), Carnival Row comes to Amazon Prime on August 30, 2019.
Editor’s Note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks
Featured Image: Amazon Studios/Legendary Television
