Twisted Metal Trailer: Anthony Mackie Burns Rubber In Peacock's Video Game Show

The "Twisted Metal" video game series doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would work as a live-action TV show, but the folks over at Peacock gave it a shot and the first teaser trailer is here and ... it actually doesn't look bad! In fact, it looks like they're leaning hard into the nostalgia aspect of things, with a focus on the turn of the millennium. That's kind of genius, really, as the game series was at its peak around that era, with "Twisted Metal 4" releasing in 1999 and the seminal "Twisted Metal Black" releasing in 2001, giving an entire generation of kids and teens a love for the rowdy road-rage of these combat car games. I remember playing "Twisted Metal 4" in my friend's basement after school, banging our heads to the heavy metal soundtrack and laughing at the ridiculous characters, and somehow this trailer has captured that exact energy. With Kitao Sakurai ("The Eric Andre Show") producing and directing some of the episodes, the meta-awareness could be truly beautiful.

"Twisted Metal" stars Anthony Mackie as John Doe, who has to try and survive in the post-apocalyptic wastes of the Divided States of America, where he will encounter many of the characters we grew to know and love (or hate) from the games. It's a pretty quick teaser, so we don't get to see much more than Mackie and a glimpse of the villainous Sweet Tooth's creepy ice cream clownmobile, but it's enough to make this fan very curious.

"Twisted Metal" had some pretty basic lore about a demolition derby contest to the death run by an evil magician named Calypso, who promised to grant the wish of whoever won his twisted tournament. The games themselves didn't feature too much plot, as they were more focused on the ridiculous carnage, like a toddler slamming two Hot Wheels together. The vehicles all have weapons, like guns, flamethrowers, and rocket launchers, and each vehicle was themed, with a corresponding driver. We don't get to see too much of that in the trailer, but the accompanying press release revealed that in addition to Anthony Mackie, we will see Stephanie Beatriz ("Brooklyn Nine-Nine") as a woman named Quiet who joins John on his quest across the U.S., Thomas Haden Church ("Spider-Man 3") as hellish highway cop Agent Stone, and Joe Seanoa (wrestler Samoa Joe) as Sweet Tooth, voiced by Will Arnett. It sounds pretty chaotic, which is perfect for "Twisted Metal."

Here's the official synopsis:

"'Twisted Metal', a half-hour live-action TV series based on the classic PlayStation game series, is a high-octane action comedy, based on an original take by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick and written by Michael Jonathan Smith, about a motor-mouthed outsider offered a chance at a better life, but only if he can successfully deliver a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland. With the help of a badass axe-wielding car thief, he'll face savage marauders driving vehicles of destruction and other dangers of the open road, including a deranged clown who drives an all too familiar ice cream truck."

"Twisted Metal" will premiere on Peacock on July 27, 2023.