Netflix has finally gotten in on the reality show competition game, and its first show in the genre, Ultimate Beastmaster, looks absolutely nuts. Take a look.
The trailer for Ultimate Beastmaster was released on the Netflix YouTube page, and, uh, I don't even know what to say, except that I came very close to filing this article under "superheroes" because who the hell else would be capable of doing that crazy stuff with their bodies? There's just so much running, lifting, squatting, stretching and struggling going on in this trailer that I can hardly get through a viewing without getting a little out of breath thinking about all of the insanely hard work that would go into finishing something like this. Do you know how you can tell this is a nutso challenge? Look at how you can barely even tell what obstacles the contestants are trying to complete. These are no simple scoot-on-your-belly-under-the-rope obstacles. Oh, no. These contestants have signed up to mountain climb on crooked, partially upside down walls and shimmy through tubes under water. This, my friend, is no joke.
Ultimate Beastmaster will feature 108 (supposedly non-mutant) contestants from the United States, Brazil, South Korea, Mexico, Germany and Japan as they try to master a massive and insane obstacle course called "The Beast." Each of the 10 hour-long episodes of Ultimate Beastmaster, which is produced by Sylvester Stallone, will follow 12 of the competitors as they all try to make it to the end of The Beast. The tenth and final installment of this first season of the series will then pit the previous nine winners of the course against each other to see who will walk away with the title of Ultimate Beastmaster. And, from the looks of who we see in the trailer, the show has gotten some pretty awesome athletes to participate in the challenge.
In an effort to appeal to people watching the show in the six countries represented among the competitors, Netflix is actually offering a slightly different version of the show in each of those markets. The differences will include the language the show is broadcast in, the hosts for the competition and the focus on competitors, which will look more closely at those from the country the show is airing in. The hosts for the U.S. version of the show will be Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Terry Crews (who's also worked with Stallone in all of the Expendables movies), and Charissa Thompson of Fox Sports.
The trailer for this athletic insanity also gives us a glimpse of the man himself, Sylvester Stallone. He probably won't be on camera much for the duration of the series, but it has been reported before that the competition will feature appearances from him in some capacity. We don't have long to wait to see exactly what that will be either, as the 10 episode series will hit the streaming service on February 24.
