Benedict Wong is no stranger to working on projects based on or inspired by comic books, but his turn as Master Lin in Deadly Class will be very different from his work in the likes of Doctor Strange and Avengers: Infinity War. SYFY’s adaptation of the comic book by Rick Remender and Wesley Craig is set to premiere officially in January, but the network made its pilot available on various other platforms prior to the Christmas holiday. That decision on behalf of the network gives the series some time to build up word of mouth before it’s officially part of the SYFY weekly lineup.
For those who’ve already seen the episode, one thing becomes immediately clear: Deadly Class really leans into its period setting. Being set in the ‘80s is a familiar angle in television these days, as Stranger Things, The Goldbergs, and the recently concluded The Americans all delivered their own take on the decade. What sets Deadly Class apart is the way in which its approach to the ‘80s isn’t necessarily as nostalgic as say, the Duffer brothers’ homage to all things Amblin. Instead, the new series aiming to be a little more political.
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During a recent visit to the set of Deadly Class, series star Benedict Wong discussed the themes and the tone of the show. During the interview, he acknowledged that the show definitely pulls from the John Hughes catalog of ‘80s high school cinema, but it does so in an unexpected way that showcases what sort of outsiders these characters are. Wong said:
“We doff our cap to John Hughes here, but we kind of like to ramp up some of the angles, you know? Take them to a new level that shows a different kind of vulnerability in our characters. People are vulnerable, they feel like outsiders and these outsiders are all uniting to be one and connect. And everyone's trying to look for a group to be a part of, you know. And again, it's a difficult time when you're a teenager as well.”
Wong also mentioned that, like the comic, Deadly Class aims to be political at times, something that’s made evident in the premiere’s title, ‘Reagan Youth.’
“It's very political. There's a lot of points to Ronald Reagan and a lot stuff like that. So there is a through-line in which the show is really trying to hammer down what the eighties were and where the decade took the United States. The show is examining the past of the United States and running it through this idea of corporations and capitalism sort of taking over the government and stuff like that. That’s really where it's headed.”
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The Deadly Class series premiere is currently available online or on the SYFY app. The series officially premieres Wednesday, January 16, 2019 on SYFY.