Austin Butler in The Shannara Chronicles Photo: Alamy
In the new World War II drama Masters of the Air, Austin Butler fits right in for the flying guy. He commands the screen as the glamorous American bomber pilot leading the air attack against Hitler in the final years of World War II. In fact, it more than commands. With his curled lip and mile-high bangs, the actor brought with him some of the «uh-huh» energy he acquired playing Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann's 2022 biopic of the singer.
This is wrong. was surprised to discover that he had hired a dialect coach to help him sound “not like Elvis” on “Masters of the Air.” If he were more like Elvis, it's likely that his character would burst into blue suede shoes while dodging anti-aircraft shells over Hamburg.
Together, Elvis and the Masters of the Air launched Butler into stardom. He had already attracted attention with a cameo role as Charles Manson's menacing assistant in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And he'll show a different side as bald villain Feyd-Rautha in Dune Part II, where he tries to stuff the underpants of Sting, who's bared (almost) all like the same character in David Lynch's Dune. But it was “Elvis,” for which he was nominated for an Oscar, and “Masters of the Air” that seemed to crystallize the idea of the actor as a Gen Z return to a golden age of fame. As GQ magazine put it: “He's got a back so deft it rivals James Dean's.”
Butler named Dean as the star who inspired him most — although at 32 he is a good eight years ahead of Dean, who died in a car accident at 24. Another difference is that if the historical data is correct. Dean didn't get his big break playing a naive half-elf with magic stones in an adaptation of the fantasy series that was initially derided for copying The Lord of the Rings but which later became one of the most beloved swords and sorceries this side of the world. Game of Thrones.
In 2016, Butler was still best known as a Z-list lightweight from The Carrie Diaries (a Sex and the City origin story that no one wanted) and a brief role opposite Miley Cyrus in the teen drama Hannah Montana. But his career took a step forward when he was cast in The Chronicles of Shannara, an ambitious fantasy saga that aimed to do for Terry Brooks' best-selling Shannara novels what Game of Thrones did for George R.'s A Song of Ice and Fire R. Martin.
The Chronicles of Shannara was created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the duo behind the teen Superman series Smallville, who later co-created Netflix's Wednesday. The company also had heavyweight executive producer Jon Favreau, who helped create the Marvel Universe as director of the original Iron Man.
Favreau later saved nerd culture again when he boarded the Star Wars mothership and invented the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda for Disney. In between these distinguished contributions, he was involved in the process of casting Butler as Wil Ohmsford Shannara, a half-elf with pointy ears and a magical heritage represented by the all-powerful «elfstones» passed down to him by his dying mother.
There's no way around Shannara's camp factor. Where Game of Thrones gave the fantasy medium some extra grit (and now its controversial use of sexual violence), Shannara returned to the eighties and the cartoonish delights of The Beastmaster, Killhawk and Krull.
The cheese is really spread. Everyone speaks with a Southern California «valley» accent — even Surrey-raised Poppy Drayton, who had to sound like Paris Hilton to play elf princess Amberley Elessedil. The mystical druid Allanon — a clone of Gandalf in the novels — is portrayed by New Zealand actor Manu Bennett as an unsettling, tattoo-covered kitten.
But in the midst of all this silliness, there's Butler as Wil Ohmsford, and his performance makes the show worth watching. Even at this early stage, some of Presley's energy is already noticeable. One of the character's first lines when he runs to his sick mother is «Hi, Mom.» Meet Elfish Presley.
The Sword of Shannara series by Terry Brooks, which inspired the television series
Butler wasn't carried away by Wil Ohmsford's performance. “I was very worried,” he admitted. “I was just afraid it would be bad TV CG because I've seen it for years. When you read that on the page, I thought, “How do you do this on a TV budget? I just don't know.»
Actually, the only thing Shannara gets right is the special effects. They were monitored by Weta, the studio that worked on The Lord of the Rings. They do a wonderful job of bringing to life a post-apocalyptic Earth where traditional fantasy races have evolved — dwarves, elves, etc.
The novels, first published in the 1970s, were a mystery to Butler. It was only after he landed the role that he realized their significance — the way they bridged the gap between Tolkien and subsequent generations of writers. “Only until I actually signed the contract and realized I was going to be a part of it. Of course, I Googled and read Wikipedia, but no one close to me ever talked about these books, so I didn’t understand the fans of these books,” he said.
“And then after I got cast, I went to the dentist and I said to my dentist, 'I just signed up to be on this TV show, it's called Shannara,' and he was like, 'What?!' I read these books in second grade!”
Austin Butler with Ivana Baquero in The Shannara Chronicles Photo: Alamy
The Chronicles of Shannara is based on Brooke's second book, The Elfstones of Shannara. Among fans, it is considered the best of his original Shannara trilogy. Part of this is because 1977's The Sword of Shannara is considered to owe too much to Tolkien. The Sword of Shannara was «the most cold-blooded and complete copy of another book I've ever read,» said respected fantasy editor Lin Carter upon publication.
He continued: «Terry Brooks was not trying to imitate Tolkien's prose, but simply to steal his storyline and complete cast of characters, and he did it with such clumsiness and such rigidity that he practically rubbed his nose in it.» (Brooks, in fairness, rightly noted that “virtually every science fiction writer working in this field today who began writing after the publication of the Rings trilogy owes a debt to Tolkien.”)
Is there anything wrong with getting your nose poked in The Lord of the Rings? No, said the fantasy readers who reveled in the Sword of Shannara. And then, with the 1982 sequel The Elfstones, Brooks created a masterpiece. Wil Ohmsford, grandson of the Sword of Shannara hero Shi (Frodo Brooks version), is a simple farm boy caught up in the conflict between the elves of Shannara and the ancient demon Dagda Mor.
It's exciting and scary, which is probably why Favreau and his co-stars decided to bring it to the screen rather than the more derivative Sword of Shannara. There were other reasons, explained Brooks, who was delighted with the show.
Manu Bennett, Emilia Burns and Aaron Yakubenko in The Shannara Chronicles Photo: Alamy
“It's actually quite easy. The first one didn't have strong female characters. There was one female character and she was a minor character in the book. At first, I thought trying to find demographic balance without female characters would be a challenge. ..
“You need a more rounded story, and The Elfstones is actually a more rounded story. It's still a quest story… I like the fact that the focus of the story is taking responsibility without you necessarily wanting to take responsibility, which I think everyone identifies with. It's part of our lives every day.”
The Chronicles of Shannara, canceled by MTV after just two episodes, was fairly faithful to the novel. As in the book, Wil inherits the elven stones, the sacred elven tree that holds back the demons dies, and the Dagda Mor appears. What horrified fans was the tone: with California accents and an evenly tanned and toned cast, the vibe was more Hannah Montana than Brooks' worthy high fantasy.
“Total high school level angst,” complained one fan of the book on Reddit. «It's funny if you don't get your hopes up too high,» admitted another.
It would be an exaggeration to say that Shannara helped put Austin Butler on the A-list. The credit for this goes to Tarantino and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. However, even in 2016, his star power is obvious. As written, Wil is a goofy teenager, clueless and almost comedically inept at times. Butler gives him humanity and makes him believe in Wil as a grieving son thrown into a strange and dangerous world. He even wears his prosthetic pointed half-elf ears with a dignity that is more or less unflappable.
“I love Wil's journey through this story. I like how naive he starts out,” he said. “He's never been more than five miles outside of his village, and we see him find the hero within himself and realize there's more to him than he's ever known. I just love how human it is.”
The Shannara Chronicles is no longer available on Netflix UK: tracking it down may take some effort. But it's worth the work. If you like escapist fantasy with decent special effects and committed acting, this is a lot better than its reputation would lead you to believe. And there's a bonus for Austin Butler fans: they'll get to see the new James Dean when he was just an elf on the shelf trying to catch a break.
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