As far as the new show Hunters pushes things, it’s ultimately a show that is grounded in reality. There is definitely a blend of tones, as on the one hand it’s a show that exists in memory of the horrors and atrocities that were committed by the Nazis during the Holocaust; and on the other it’s a pulpy revenge story, but at all times it has both of its feet planted in a world that is defined by the same rules as our own.
But what if it wasn’t? What if it was introduced in the series that time travel was possible? Would the characters who fit under the umbrella of the title go back before the events of World War II and assassinate Adolf Hitler before he could inspire his awful brand of historical chaos? It’s a subject that we may not wind up seeing explored in any upcoming episodes of Hunters, but thanks to my recent interviews with the show’s cast, we now have an idea of how the heroes (and one of the villains) would act:
Hunters launched its first season on Amazon this past weekend, and in promotion of the launch I had the pleasure of sitting down and talking with Logan Lerman, Jerrika Hinton, Greg Austin, Josh Radnor, Kate Mulvany, Saul Rubinek, Tiffany Boone, Carol Kane, and Louis Ozawa during the show’s Los Angeles press day. While ultimately different topics were covered in different rooms based on who I was speaking to, one question that I asked everybody was the classic scruples question about whether or not they feel their character would try to go back in time and assassinate Adolf Hitler.
As it turns out, most of them were very much in favor of the idea – which admittedly isn’t altogether too surprising given the attitude that their characters project on screen. In the show, the characters played by Logan Lerman, Josh Radnor, Kate Mulvany, Saul Rubinek, Tiffany Boone, Carol Kane, and Louis Ozawa, under the leadership of Al Pacino’s Meyer Offerman, work to track down Nazis who have escaped punishment for their crimes during the Holocaust, and while they are very strict about due diligence and making sure they are targeting the right people, they are often very brutal in their executions. And there is no questioning Hitler’s guilt.
The “Yes” answers seemed to mostly come instinctively, with little regard for the potential ripple effect that assassinating Adolf Hitler would have – but the comments also came with some interesting thoughts and alternative perspectives. Saul Rubinek, for example, questioned if perhaps killing the Nazi leader wasn’t the answer, but instead diverting his attention and getting him accepted into the art school from which he was famously rejected. And Greg Austin’s Travis Leich, who plays one of the central antagonists on the show, had his own quandary presented, as he wondered if Travis would potentially want to get Hitler out of the way so that he himself could rise to power in Germany.
You won’t see any discussions about time travel on Hunters, but the entire first season of the show is now available to stream on Amazon – so go ahead and check it out, and stay tuned for updates, news, and more about the show in the days, weeks, and months ahead!
