Zack Snyder is going back to 300: the prequel series is moving forward, and he'll likely direct some of it

Here’s one for fans of massive shields and even bigger slow-motion blood splatters: Zack Snyder has given a proper nod that his long-in-the-works 300 prequel TV series is actually moving forward. He dropped this bit of news in conversation with Josh Horowitz on Happy Sad Confused (yes, that podcast YouTube thing), and for once it doesn’t sound like wishful thinking or studio waffle. It’s happening, or at least as happening as these announcements ever get before someone in development says otherwise.

Read more: Zack Snyder is not updating Escape From New York — he is setting it in the 1997 that 1981 imagined, down to the original's release date

Swords, Sandals, and Streaming

So, what’s the deal this time round? Snyder reckons the project is shaping up to be “very exciting and very good.” No surprise, he’s talking up his own stuff, but considering how iconic the first film’s look is—love it or hate it—there’s real curiosity about what an episodic version might do. He’s even hinted he’ll direct some of it himself, because of course he is: it wouldn’t really be a 300 project without his fingerprints all over the visuals and that penchant for dramatic, painterly carnage. For anyone keeping track, this would be Snyder’s latest outing for Netflix, after his zombie heists in Army of the Dead and his recent, less successful trip to space opera with Rebel Moon.

Snyder told Josh Horowitz, in words that probably made Warner Bros. execs wince, “It’s a very rich universe, the 300 universe.” He called the new show “very exciting and very good” and said about directing, “I think so.”

If you’re expecting to see Gerard Butler sweating his way through another phalanx charge, don’t count on it—this is being pitched as a prequel, expanding the blood-soaked mythos and showing us the bits that happened before the Persians rocked up at Thermopylae. Details beyond that are as thin as a Spartan’s cloak. Still, for fans hungry for more “THIS IS SPARTA” energy, it’s a welcome sign of life.

Not to Be Confused With…

Here’s where things get a bit convoluted and strangely academic. During COVID, Snyder was working on another ancient epic, which started out linked to the 300 world, and then veered wildly off-piste. That one was called Blood and Ashes, and it morphed into a tale about Alexander the Great—and, because Snyder did his research, became a romance between Alexander and his loyal general, Hephaestion. The point: that project is now its own thing and isn’t the same as this 300 prequel series. If you hear the name Blood and Ashes in connection with this show, ignore it—totally separate, no Persians, no Spartans in that one.

Read more: Zack Snyder told Variety he wants to make the Rick and Morty movie — Warner Bros. has already given it to Jacob Hair

The blockbuster that started all of this, 300, hit cinemas in 2006, with Gerard Butler making a career yelling about freedom and immortality. Its wild, stylised violence and rich myth-making made Snyder’s name (and arguably made getting to direct Superman films a lot more likely for him as well). With a series now back on the table, it looks like Snyder intends to dive back into the world that put him on the map. He wants in behind the camera again, with Netflix footing the bill. That alone will have plenty of fans keeping an eye out for the first bit of concept art or a grainy set photo in a few months’ time.

Netflix has already worked with Snyder on Army of the Dead and Rebel Moon—this would be another feather in their streaming cap.