KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — Fans of Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi will be able to see the Kiwi filmmaker as a legendary swashbuckling pirate when they tune into the HBO Max original Our Flag Means Death.

The Jojo Rabbit director and actor plays Blackbeard in the hilarious series that is loosely based on real-life figures from the golden age of piracy.

And no, it’s nothing like the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

Imagine a workplace comedy set on a pirate ship which Waititi described as “Mad Max on the high seas”.

The show tells the story of a pampered aristocrat Stede Bonnet, played by New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby (Jumanji: The Next Level), who gives up a life of luxury to become a pirate when he goes through a midlife crisis despite having zero sailing experience.

Bonnet, an 18th century Barbadian pirate, earned the nickname The Gentleman Pirate due to his wealth and was known to pay his crew wages which was unheard of.

He later teamed up with Blackbeard but in the show, the duo decide to exchange knowledge: Bonnet learns a thing or two about becoming a ferocious pirate and in return, teaches a jaded Blackbeard about the finer things in life.

In an interview with Waititi and Darby, Malay Mail asked the actors to imagine what their characters would be doing to deal with their midlife crisis instead of pirating if they were alive today.

“That’s a good question, I think Blackbeard would be trying to be a deejay,” said Waititi who also directed the first episode.

“He’d be trying to record an album with his mates in a garage somewhere working on their songs about how cool it was growing up in the ‘80s.” 

Darby thinks his character Bonnet would be part of the ongoing space race that seems to be the go-to activity for the privileged few with bottomless bank accounts.

“I was going to say space exploration because that’s like the biggest risk these days,” Darby said.

“It’s something that didn’t need to be done – how is it going to keep humanity going and it’s a wealthy playground and so I think there’d be something there for Stede.

New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby plays Stede Bonnet, a pampered aristocrat who abandons a charmed life to become a pirate. — Picture courtesy of HBO GO
New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby plays Stede Bonnet, a pampered aristocrat who abandons a charmed life to become a pirate. — Picture courtesy of HBO GO

“Maybe he runs into Blackbeard who’s deejaying a launch party for a new rocket – we’re developing a new show here, this is exciting.”

“I like where this is going,” Waititi added.

 To play Blackbeard, Waititi had to have the pirate’s signature beard and hair but the Oscar winner said he did not like his all-leather costume which was very tight and hot.

“It took so long to get into it and out of it, it pissed me off the entire time,” he said.

“But it’s what the character needed, he was annoyed and fed up with being a pirate.

“I couldn’t eat properly because something would get in my beard but it looks amazing.”

Writer David Jenkins created Our Flag Means Death after someone had told him about Bonnet, prompting him to read about the unlikely buccaneer on Wikipedia.

He also wanted to refresh the pirate genre which was a challenge as well as offer viewers something escapist to watch given the lack of comedy shows in the US at the moment.

The unique series is a workplace comedy with lead characters going through a midlife crisis on a pirate ship. — Picture courtesy of HBO GO
The unique series is a workplace comedy with lead characters going through a midlife crisis on a pirate ship. — Picture courtesy of HBO GO

“I just thought a midlife crisis with piracies seems like a fantastic way into a genre that I don’t care that much about on its own,” he told Malay Mail.

“And so to have a way in that is kind of a personal story through why this guy did this and how he could possibly survive and what happens to him and why he befriends Blackbeard, all those things made it seem like a good way to do a pirate story.”

Asked what it is about pirates that continues to fascinate us, Jenkins thinks every nation can relate to outlaw culture for different reasons.

“I’m sure there’s got to be cultural differences in how we accept the outlaw,” he added.

In the US, for example, Jenkins said Americans are in a freedom phase where people feel they can do whatever they want, which some find appealing.

“The way this show is styled, the outlaws are kind of like outsider artists.

“And it’s people who are running from a life they couldn’t live on land and they’re trying to find something a way of life they couldn’t live in normal culture and that’s pretty fascinating,” said Jenkins.

Our Flag Means Death debuts today with three episodes exclusively on HBO GO. It will be followed by three episodes on March 10, two episodes on March 17, and concludes with two episodes on March 24.