Hulu dropped the teaser for “The Great,” its upcoming satirical take on the story of Catherine the Great, on Monday, which features Catherine (played by Elle Fanning) suffering through the stupidity of her husband, Emperor Peter (Nicholas Hoult). And while she suffers this fool, she starts to think of overthrowing him and becoming the leader of Russia herself.
In the video, which you can view above, Catherine tells Peter “we could rule Russia in a different way” to which he replies “I rule, you serve.”
Frustrated, Catherine complains to a woman in her chamber, “I am a prisoner here, married to an idiot.” (Example of the “idiot” that is Peter: at one point he throws a dog with a parachute strapped to its back off a balcony, proclaiming it “science.”)
The woman replies, “Russia does not go to an heir if there is not one. If the emperor dies, Russia goes to the empress.” That seems to get the wheels turning in Catherine’s head about taking out Peter.
By the end of the teaser, that same woman says to Catherine, “There are many unhappy who are looking for a leader, I hope I am looking at her.”
Created by “The Favourite” screenwriter Tony McNamara, “The Great” is a satirical, comedic drama about the rise of Catherine the Great from outsider to the longest-reigning female ruler in Russia’s history. As the teaser notes, it “based on historical facts — *sort of.”
Along with Fanning and Hoult, “The Great” stars Phoebe Fox, Adam Godley, Gwilym Lee, Charity Wakefield, Douglas Hodge, Sacha Dhawan, Sebastian de Souza, Bayo Gbadamosi and Belinda Bromilow.
“The Great” launches Friday, May 15 on Hulu.