How Zack Snyder Made ‘Twilight of the Gods’ Into a 2D Animated Adult Fever Dream of Sex and Violence

Snyder tells IndieWire how his embrace of 2D adult animation for the world of Norse mythology was his purest form of visual expression.

For Zack Snyder, the 2D adult animated “Twilight of the Gods” series (currently streaming on Netflix) became his purest form of visual expression. In fact, his deep dive into Norse mythology was like a fever dream of sex and violence driven by the wild hand-crafted animation from French-based Xilam Animation.

“It was 100 percent like [a fever dream],” Snyder told IndieWire. “The amazing thing about it is the language of 2D adult animation fits so well within the context of Norse mythology, which is a bizarro world anyway. Digging down into it, you’re not going to break it with your own embellishments: We should have a sexy scene here, or we should have some gore here, or we should have some crazy relationships here. You can’t out-Norse it, right? So it was a really fun playground for me because I feel like my natural aesthetic is very close to what it was like reading Norse mythology.”

The eight-episode series, for which Snyder directed the first and last episodes but oversaw everything, is a tragic love story that begins with warrior Sigrid (Sylvia Hoeks) heroically saving the life of mortal king Leif (Stuart Martin) — in slow-mo, course, with beautiful streaks of blood. But their wedding day is destroyed by Thor (Pilou Asbæk), who slaughters her family of giants, sending Sigrid on a vengeful rampage. With Leif by her side, she forms a band of rebels to kill Thor, with the support of Loki (Paterson Joseph), who wants to remake the world of the gods.

“I love the complexity that each of the characters on our team has a very different goal,” Snyder said. They include Hervor (Birgitte Hjort Sørensen), a master of the sword; magician Egill (Rahul Kohli); blacksmith dwarf Andvari (Kristofer Hivju); the witch Seid-Kona (Jamie Clayton); and the wolf-like Ulfr (Peter Stormare).

There are not only graphic battles of intense color and design but also psychedelic trips, including a trippy one inside the cursed realm of warrior god Hoenir’s head. Like the director’s recent “Rebel Moon” movies, the primary visual influence was the “Heavy Metal” sci-fi/fantasy animated film. This helped guide Xilam’s 2D animation, which pushed their ability to combine very stylized design, effects, and a dynamic camera.

“Their primary job was to make it live and make it move,” Snyder said. “It’s a 2D show with some 3D elements. There’s a lot of layering and compositing, but it’s not like an outrageous, innovative thing. It’s really just in the artistry. We took the tools they normally work with, and we went nuts with them.”

The bloody battle, which sets up the Norse world and the introduction of Sigrid from Leif’s POV, is pure Snyder. “I was just doing doodles and we were just talking about how to do it, and it came out really great,” he said. “I was kind of just saying, ‘This is how you make a fight.'”

Meanwhile, the climactic battle, which is chaotic and epic, represents the culmination of the entire journey. “I think they both deliver a really unique and cool experience, but this is a beautiful ballet of battle,” said Snyder. “It was cool, too, because you have the Valkyries show up at both. I really liked this idea of balancing sex and death that the Valkyries represent. Sort of sexy gods that don’t know if they want to fuck you or kill you or what the heck’s gonna happen.”