Sweet Tooth - What We Know So Far
DC's Vertigo imprint issued plenty of great and unusual comic book series, ranging from Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" universe to "V For Vendetta," but few were as intensely beloved as "Sweet Tooth."
Created by writer and artist Jeff Lemire, the comic took place a decade after a mysterious plague wreaked havoc on humanity — and seemingly led to the birth of animal-human hybrids, who many surviving humans hate and fear. According to Variety, the plot "centers on a hybrid deer-boy who befriends a wandering loner and together embark on an extraordinary adventure through the dangerous but lush world left behind, in order to find the meaning of home."
Now after years in development, "Sweet Tooth" is arriving on screens as a Netflix series developed by writer/director Jim Mickle, who is best known for "Hap & Leonard" and "We Are What We Are." Here's the lowdown on the release date of the show, its cast, and its plot.
What's the release date for Sweet Tooth Season 1?
Entertainment Weekly reported that all eight episodes of "Sweet Tooth" Season 1 will premiere simultaneously on June 4 via Netflix. As with all of Netflix's films and shows, fans won't have to wait for episodes to premiere on a schedule and have the chance to "binge" them.
You'll need a Netflix subscription to watch the series, but plans vary wildly. The basic plan, where you can only use the service on one screen at a time, costs $8.99 a month. The standard and premium plans, meanwhile, are $13.99 and 17.99 a month, respectively. The standard plan lets you watch Netflix on two screens at once, while the premium allows for viewers (and families) to use Netflix on four screens at the same time.
The Netflix app is also compatible with most televisions, tablets, and streaming devices (Roku, Amazon Fire Stick), so having access to "Sweet Tooth" shouldn't be a problem as long as you have a subscription.
Who's in the cast for Sweet Tooth Season 1?
The sci-fi series has an eclectic cast (via Deadline), with some names making perfect sense and others coming off as surprise choices. "Legion" and "Descendents 3" actor Christian Convery stars as Gus, a boy who is nicknamed "Sweet Tooth." Jeppard is played by experienced genre actor Nonso Anozie, who is perhaps best known as Xaro Xhoan Daxos in "Game of Thrones." He was also recently seen in "Artemis Fowl" and in Rihanna and Donald Glover's Amazon project "Guava Island."
Will Forte's role as Gus' religious and devoted father is slightly unexpected, but he is no stranger to dramatic roles, as evidenced when he appeared in Alexander Payne's 2013 film "Nebraska." The show also has a narrator in veteran actor James Brolin.
Rounding out the rest of the cast are Adeel Akhtar as unstable scientist Dr. Aditya Singh, Dania Ramirez as Aimee, and Stefania LaVie Owen as Bear, who was recently described as a "teenage, dystopic activist who's the leader of the Animal Army." "Flash" actor Neil Sandilands plays General Steven Abbot, and Aliza Vellani ("Riverdale") has been cast as Rani Singh.
What's the plot of Sweet Tooth Season 1?
The story focuses on Gus, a deer-boy hybrid who's lived in isolation with his father since birth — until he has a seemingly chance encounter with an angry, gruff loner named Jeppard. This sets him on a journey not only across what's left of America but toward a loss of innocence, self-discovery, and the truth of the hybrids.
While creator Jim Mickle's previous work has been fairly dark and violent, a featurette with producer Robert Downey Jr. claimed that the bleaker undertones of the original comic have been altered to something much more "family-friendly," according to Slash Film. Mickle himself said that "'Sweet Tooth' is a new kind of dystopian story, it's very lush and hopeful," as quoted by The Playlist. "We want people to come into this world where there's beauty and hope and adventure."
That definitely feels like a big change from the harsher moments in Lemire's books, and the trailer does look really colorful and lovely. However, fans will finally get to compare and contrast the Netflix series with the comics when "Sweet Tooth" premieres.