Taika Waititi is Blackbeard in Silly New Trailer for Our Flag Means Death

Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi are once again sharing the screen with HBO Max’s Our Flag Means Death. The series is set to come out early March, and we have a new trailer that gives us a look at Waititi’s infamous pirate captain.

Watch this:

Funnily enough, the series is based on the true story of Stede Bonnet, who gave up his life of comfort to pursue the thrill of piracy.  Even his collaboration with Blackbeard was said to have happened, but I suspect the series has a wackier ways to go about telling the story of “The Gentleman Pirate”.

Though Darby has usually played the supporting character/comic relief in movies and TV, this will be the first time that he actually gets to take the spotlight as the main character. If anything, he plays the role of Stede naturally, and it pretty much fits in his usual roles of lovingly out of touch, but well-meaning, idiots. Showunner David Jenkins said about the character, “This guy had one of the world’s great, colorful midlife crises… That’s a great way into a show in any genre, but to mix that with pirates, I was like, ‘Oh, this is fantastic.’

The unique new comedy is loosely based on the true adventures of 18th century would-be pirate, Stede Bonnet, played by Rhys Darby. After trading in his comfortable life for one of a buccaneer, Stede becomes captain of a pirate ship, but struggles to earn the respect of his potentially mutinous crew. Stede’s fortunes change after a fateful run-in with the infamous Captain Blackbeard, played by Taika Waititi.

Our Flag Means Death premieres on HBO Max on March 3.