'Masters Of The Air': Release Date, Cast, Trailer, More

If some of your friends have been rewatching Band Of Brothers lately, there’s a good reason why: Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have come together for another followup (in addition to The Pacific), Masters Of The Air.

As the title suggests, the boys in this series will soar high into the sky, all the way to Hitler’s doorstep in the thick of WWII, and this production is coming your way from Spielberg’s Amblin Television along with Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone to stream on Apple TV+. Several damn fine directors — Cary Joji Fukunaga (It, Maniac), Dee Rees (Mudbound), Tim Van Patten (The Pacific, Deadwood), and Anna Boden + Ryan Fleck (Captain Marvel) — are onboard.

Let’s talk about what else we can expect from this series.

Cast

Austin Butler is attracting all the headlines at the moment — he will portray Major Gale Clevin, who goes through it (no spoilers) — but do not sleep on Barry Keoghan. That’s wise advice in general, but here, he’ll portray Lt. Curtis Biddick, and I can’t wait to see if he makes it weird. The rest of the ensemble cast includes Callum Turner, Rafferty Law, Josiah Cross, Anthony Boyle, Branden Cook, Ncuti Gatwa, and Nate Mann. Is it too much to ask for a brief Tom Hanks appearance? Probably so, but it can’t hurt to dream.

Plot

The production did not skimp on the budget to bring aerial flight combat scenes in abundance, along with all the urban and village-set destinations that one can imagine. Yes, there will be bucolic fields along with the southeast England countryside, but the series will also delve into a German POW camp. So, expect plenty of lows along with the highs of camaraderie.

Over the course of eight hours, viewers will get an intimate look at the hazards experienced by the “Bloody Hundredth,” i.e. the 100th Bomb Group, as they target Nazi Germany to take down Hitler’s Third Reich. This won’t all be war and games, however, because Apple TV+ promised to present “a true story of brotherhood and American airmen in WWII Europe.” The series won’t shy away from the peril of conducting bombing raids at 25,000 feet high, and some of the settings might be disturbing to some viewers, but that shouldn’t be surprising, given the atrocities of WWII that are well-known in history.

The story is based upon Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany, the true-story captured in Donald L. Miller’s book. Band Of Brothers‘ John Orloff stepped up to pen the screenplay, and Breaking Bad‘s John Shiban helped Orloff adapt this into a story.

To lighten the mood ever so slightly, Austin Butler recently related how Tom Hanks offered him this leading role while they pair were working on the Australian shoot for Elvis. Why? “You have immersed yourself so deeply in ‘Elvis’ that, for your mental health, it would be wise to go straight into something else.” Fortunately, Butler also surely found relief while shooting The Bikeriders, too.

Let’s do the synopsis thing:

Masters of the Air” follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group (the “Bloody Hundredth”) as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air. Portraying the psychological and emotional price paid by these young men as they helped destroy the horror of Hitler’s Third Reich, is at the heart of “Masters of the Air.” Some were shot down and captured; some were wounded or killed. And some were lucky enough to make it home. Regardless of individual fate, a toll was exacted on them all.