Netflix kicks off the Halloween season with The Last Kids on Earth, which follows 13-year-old Jack Sullivan and his band of middle schoolers who live in a decked-out treehouse, play video games, and battle zombies in the aftermath of the monster apocalypse.
While horror icon Bruce Campbell (the Evil Dead series) lends his voice to the series, Nick Wolfhard (“Stranger Things” star Finn Wolfhard’s older brother) voices the main character, Jack Sullivan, who you can see kicking all kinds of undead ass in the brand new trailer ahead of the September 17th release.
“I was so impressed with how good it looks! The animation is fantastic as you saw in the trailer, and it just keeps getting better,” Wolfhard tells Bloody Disgusting after seeing the first footage from the series arriving on Netflix later this month. “[The Last Kids on Earth] feels very Edgar Wright in nature. If you’ve watched Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, you’ll see what I mean. Even visually, it has some Scott Pilgrim vibes. It drenches itself with that kind of colorful style but obviously with its own unique color palette and choices.”
He continues: “I play Jack Sullivan, left seemingly alone after the zombie apocalypse and dealing with these monsters and zombies. It is actually the best thing that has happened to him because it’s finally something interesting – and he finds some other people that insanely are alive – his best friend, the girl he has a crush on and even the school bully – who end up forming a sort of family.
“In this situation, Jack loves to act the tough guy but he’s honestly a really lonely dude,” Wolfhard adds. “Before the apocalypse, he did not really have a family – being shuttled from foster family to foster family. Now, he puts on a façade to sort of mask how vulnerable he really is. He imagines himself as a sort of Jack Burton type figure from Big Trouble in Little China, when in reality he’s more of a Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion. You’ll see more of this as the series continues, but it’s one of my favorite qualities about his character, his layers run deep.”
But what really excited Wolfhard is the incredible voice cast, which includes Campell and our new Chucky, Mark Hamill.
“I’m really excited about our voice cast – Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Rosario Dawson, Keith David – it’s incredible. I mean, we have horror icon Bruce Campbell! In fact, when I saw the scene where those dimensional portals open up in the sky, it kind of reminds me of when Ash opens [a portal with] the Necronomicon in the Evil Dead series.
“All this bad stuff starts happening and they’re, of course, not from our world,” Wolfhard adds. “Ash has to figure out a way to handle the Necronomicon and its nightmares, [and] Jack and his friends gotta find a way to defend themselves, ya know?”
And just like the Evil Dead films, there’s going to be plenty of (animated) gore.
“The show is not afraid to get down and dirty – [there’s] lots of monster blood, lots of zombie and monster kills, and lots of bodily fluids,” explains Wolfhard. “Throughout the show, the monster and zombie variety is going to get more varied in terms of their design, how they look and how they move, what motivates them…if you’re a fan of the Monster Hunter video game series, you will love this show!
“I hope kids and even adults get a lot out of the show – there is something for everyone. You have the monsters and zombies, as mentioned, but also really get to see this group come together and form a family. And with the action, comedy, pop culture references and even a little heart and vulnerability, people will hopefully love these characters and want to see what happens next.”
Meet the Last Kids on Earth on Netflix September 17th!
