Jeff Goldblum Plays a Mob Boss Zeus in Netflix Greek Myth Show

You know Zeus. Greek god of thunder, curly hair, luscious big beard, turns into a swan? You’ve seen his face on statues in parks and on tile mosaics behind the counter in kebab shops.

That’s not the Zeus in Netflix’s new fantasy drama Kaos, from Charlie Covell, screenwriter of The End of the F***ing World. As played by Jeff Goldblum, the Zeus of Kaos looks more Tony Soprano than beardy all-father. And home-of-the-gods Mount Olympus? Think a lavishly appointed mansion such as you might see on Selling Sunset instead of a bucolic paradise crawling with nymphs and fauns.

Covell’s vision of Greek myth clearly comes with a modern twist, hence Zeus’ Casio watch and leisure suit collection in the first teaser trailer below:

As Goldblum explained at a recent Netflix slate preview event: “One may say it’s about the Gods, but a different version of the Gods.”

“It’s a metaphor,” adds Goldblum’s Kaos co-star Nabhaan Rizwan (Station Eleven, Informer), “for the 0.0001% that have all the wealth and all the power.”

Rizwan plays Dionysus in the new series, alongside Ozark and The Menu’s Janet McTeer as Hera, and The Sandman and Harry Potter’s David Thewlis as Hades. They’re joined by Leila Farzad, Rakie Ayola, Fady Elsayed, Debi Mazar and many more in the eight-episode fantasy, which doesn’t yet have a release date but is billed as coming soon to Netflix.

Goldblum’s gangster-styled Zeus is “kind of the boss,” he explains. Zeus becomes obsessed with a prophecy that his family is going to fall apart. “A line appears, the order wains, the family falls and chaos rains.”

A big, colourful eat-the-rich mythic fantasy tackling the themes of the day, “but done in a relatable, realistic fashion,” as cast-member Leila Farzad tells it? Sign us up.

Kaos is coming soon to Netflix.