American Primeval welcomes New Year with violent new trailer

What better way to ring in 2025 than reflecting on America’s blood-soaked beginnings? Peter Berg’s latest series for Netflix, American Primeval, has a new trailer ready for the bleary eyes of the hungover masses. We can only assume that Karo syrup works wonders on a headache because the trailer offers little in plot and instead leans on the stabbings, shootings, slashings, and scalpings of Manifest Destiny to drive audiences to the streamer.

Here’s the synopsis:

This is America…1857. Up is down, pain is everywhere, innocence and tranquility are losing the battle to hatred and fear. Peace is the shrinking minority, and very few possess grace — even fewer know compassion. There is no safe haven in these brutal lands, and only one goal matters: survival. AMERICAN PRIMEVAL is a fictionalized dramatization and examination of the violent collision of culture, religion, and community as men and women fight and die to keep or control this land. TV-MA.

• Netflix expands westward with trailer for gritty new series American Primeval
• Here’s your first look at Betty Gilpin and Taylor Kitsch in Netflix’s brutal American Primeval

While that does sound like an excuse to kill some people in cowboy hats, Berg and creator Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) amassed a strong cast to cover in dirt, grime, and gore. The series reunites Berg with his television football hero, Taylor Kitch, who trades the shoulder pads for leather chaps and doesn’t mind killing bad guys. The series also stars Betty Gilpin, Dane DeHaan, Saura Lightfoot-Leon, Derek Hinkey, Joe Tippett, Jai Courtney, Preston Mota, Shawnee Pourier, and, perhaps most importantly, Shea Whigham, who makes sure every series has a couple of good scenes.

All six episodes of American Primeval premiere on Netflix on January 9.