Tom Hiddleston To Star in New Netflix Political Thriller Series ‘White Stork’

From the world of gods and superheroes, Tom Hiddleston is jumping into the messier world of politics. In his return to television, Hiddleston will be leading Netflix’s new political thriller series, White Stork. It comes from Eleven, the same company behind the Netflix hit Sex Education. 

According to the official logline, White Stork is about the paradox of truth in a post-truth world. Hiddleston will be playing politician James Cooper who is selected to run for a seat in parliament. Asher Millan is sent to vet him for primetime. But she quickly uncovers potentially damaging secrets buried deep in James’ past. Secrets that will threaten to blow everything apart — his career, his marriage, even the powerful people backing his campaign.

White Stork was formerly known as Spadehead. And it was previously under development at AMC. Now at Netflix, the series has been given a 10-episode order. According to Variety, Jericho’s Chris Dunlop created the series. He will also be serving as an executive producer. Meanwhile, Taboo director Kristoffer Nyholm will be directing.

White Stork also seems to be a comeback of sorts for Tom Hiddleston. Since starring in 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, the actor has kept himself busy playing the god of mischief Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And though he’s most known for his villainous trickster character, Hiddleston has also proven himself on the small screen. In 2016, he starred opposite Hugh Laurie in the AMC spy thriller The Night Manager. And for that role, Hiddleston won a Golden Globe and earned an Emmy nomination.

In addition to White Stork, Tom Hiddleston is also set to reprise his role as Loki in the upcoming Disney+ series for the character. It was one of the series teased in Marvel’s Super Bowl commercial together with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and WandaVision. As of now, Loki is set for a 2021 release.

Hiddleston’s casting comes as Netflix slowly unveils its slate of local originals to compete with local broadcasters in the UK. In a report by Variety, the streamer has been focusing on marketing tactics geared towards the local community. In addition to that, the streamer continues to reevaluate its existing originals weighing the pros and cons of whether to create new content or to add to existing ones. This comes as an effort to continue expanding its subscriptions while competing in the Emmys.