Kristian Nairn (Hodor) returns to HBO in Taika Waititi’s Our Flag Means Death

Director Taika Waititi seems to have a golden touch. Pound for pound, his Thor: Ragnarok may be the single most entertaining Marvel movie yet made, if not the most epic or important. What We Do In the Shadows, his 2014 vampire comedy, is hysterical, and somehow the FX television version if even better. His 2019 comedy about a kid growing up in Nazi Hermany, Jojo Rabbit, was funny and heartbreaking. I am definitely interested in whatever he has coming up next.

And naturally, he has a lot: he’s directing Thor: Love and Thunder for Marvel, but also serving as executive producer on a pirate series called Our Flag Means Death, where he’ll not only direct the pilot but also play the fearsome Blackbeard (oh, yeah, he acts too, because there’s nothing he can’t do).

And now, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that none other than Game of Thrones veteran Kristian Nairn, who played the lovably tragic Hodor, is joining the cast as Wee John Feeney, which is a gag, because at 7’0″ tall obviously Nairn is anything but “wee.”

Hopefully Nairn will get to say more than one word in this one!

Game of Thrones veteran Kristian Nairn sets sail in Our Flag Means Death

Nairn will be joined by actors like Nathan Foad, Samson Kayo, Rory Kinnear, Con O’Neill  and Vico Ortiz. The whole thing is loosely based on the life of Stede Bonnet, “a pampered aristocrat who abandoned his life of privilege to become a pirate.”

David Jenkins is the creator and showrunner of Our Flag Means Death, so really this is probably more of a Jenkins show than a Waititi show, but why not ride Waititi’s name to certain success? There’s no release date yet, but hopefully we’ll be seeing more soon.

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