Obviously, HBO’s The Young Pope was an amazing season of television. It scored a small handful of Golden Globe and Emmy nominations, but it didn’t win any — even though the Jude Law-led papacy drama surely deserved so much more. Several years later, The Young Pope is now The New Pope, as Law’s Pope Pius XIII has fallen into a coma following a heart attack, leaving his church’s lieutenants to pick of the pieces of his controversial reign — all while trying to rope in Sir John Brannox (John Malkovich) to take his place. That should work, right?
According to the teasers and trailers previewed thus far, The New Pope had hinted at the possibilities of a duel of sorts. Now, thanks to the latest trailer for creator Paolo Sorrentino’s drama, we know for a fact that these two men — the one comatose, the other “an alluring but sensitive man” — aren’t going to get along all that well. “There are two of us, John. You’re gonna have to deal with me,” Pius tells his successor after he presumably recovers from his coma. His response? “There is no dealing with the devil.”
Throw in a few snippets of the new pope screaming about how he is the pope, and his advisors warning him that Pius “is no longer loved, but idolized,” and you’ve got the makings of one hell of a fight.
The New Pope debuts Monday, January 13 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
