‘The Right Stuff’ First Look: Nat Geo Blasts Off with Leonardo DiCaprio-Produced Series
Disney+ is going to space: “The Right Stuff,” the streaming service’s first scripted National Geographic original series, is inching closer to its fall premiere, and the series’ cast unveiled a new clip of the show at Comic-Con on Saturday.
Per Disney, here’s the show’s official synopsis:
“At the height of the Cold War in 1959, the Soviet Union dominates the space race. To combat a national sentiment of fear and decline, the U.S. government conceives of NASA’s Project Mercury, igniting a space race with the Soviets and making instant celebrities of a handful of the military’s most accomplished test pilots. These individuals, who come to be known as the Mercury Seven, are forged into heroes long before they have achieved a single heroic act. The nation’s best engineers estimate they need several decades to make it into outer space. They are given two years.
The astronauts’ strengths are equaled only by their flaws. As the men succumb to the temptations that surround them, Project Mercury threatens to come apart. At the heart of the historic drama populated by deeply human characters are two men who become icons — Glenn and Shepard — as they jockey to be the first man in space. The entire program is nearly brought to its knees by their intense rivalry.”
The new “The Right Stuff” clip shown at Comic-Con centers on Alan Shepard (Jake McDorman), the first American to go to space. That’s quite an honor, but the clip teases that Alan’s journey isn’t easy; Alan receives delayed notice to attend a debriefing at the NASA Space Task Group Headquarters, and much of the clip centers on his frantic rush to arrive at the meeting while other attendees are given the rundown on the importance of the space race to the United States.
McDorman will star in the series alongside Patrick J. Adams, (“Suits”), Aaron Staton (“Mad Men”), James Lafferty (“The Haunting of Hill House”), Micah Stock (“Escape at Dannemora”), Michael Trotter (“Underground”), Colin O’Donoghue (“Once Upon a Time”), and Patrick Fischler (“Twin Peaks,” “Mad Men”). The show, based on Tom Wolfe’s eponymous 1979 non-fiction novel, is created by Mark Lafferty and produced Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way along with Warner Bros.
A specific release date for “The Right Stuff” has not been revealed.
The new “The Right Stuff” clip was revealed around the 31-minute mark in the show’s Comic-Con panel, which can be viewed below:
