Robert Downey Jr’s New HBO Series Arrives Next Month
HBO always produces exciting projects, and 2024 has seen The Regime and True Detective: Night Country already- so we can’t wait for the debut of their new series The Sympathizer.
Having started already in the US and releasing in the UK next month, The Sympathizer stars Hoa Xuande (Cowboy Bepop), Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) and Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer), in a stylish dark comedy-drama about a half French, half Vietnamese spy sent to the US in the mid 70s. Here’s all to know:
What is The Sympathizer about?
Cowboy Bepop star Hoa Xuande plays the lead role of a character known only as “the Captain”. During the last years of the tumultuous and costly Vietnam War, he is placed as a plant by the Eastern Bloc-supported North Vietnamese army in the Western-supported South Vietnamese army. Amidst the intense fighting, The Captain is forced to abandon his post and flee to the US, alongside his general (Toan Le). Exiled, the half-French, half-Vietnamese spy begins to adjust to a whole new way of life in America, but is told by the Viet Cong faction to continue his espionage duties. Used to feeling distant to others, The Captain in the trailer recounts his early life “Biracial, bilingual… I was a synthesis of incompatibilities”, and explains he used this to become “a man of two faces”.
What else do we know?
Bringing the star power is Downey Jr, who after his Oscar win last month seems worlds here away from his days as Iron Man. We don’t know a huge amount about his role – or, rather, roles – other than he’s popping up as multiple characters in the US, all of which seem quite eccentric. Also, they’re all listed as “antagonist” roles, so presumably he’ll be leaning more into Oppenheimer’s vengeful Lewis Strauss than the heroic Tony Stark.
Oh meanwhile plays a character called “Ms. Sofia Mori”, who appears to be one of the people in the US keeping an eye on The Captain – “what are you concealing? she ponders in the trailer. As the Captain gets used to the US, he begins to take some aspects of his new life and feels suddenly conflicted as to where his loyalties lie. “We sent you to America so you could be our mole…remember your mission” his North Vietnam boss reminds him.
When is it released?
The miniseries, produced by Downey Jr and A24, is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, hailed as one of the best of the last decade. The show began in the US on Sunday, but will release in the UK on Sky Atlantic and NOW in May.
