Taika Waititi pirate comedy series adds five new cast members

HBO Max's new pirate comedy series Our Flag Means Death has added five actors to its cast to join Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby. 

Ewen Bremner, who played Spud in Trainspotting and has more recently had roles in movies like Wonder Woman and First Cow, is Buttons. Frequent Waititi collaborator David Fane is Fang, while Cruella star Joel Fry will play Frenchie, and Guz Khan, who's set to star in Army of the Dead prequel Army of Thieves, is Ivan. Finally, Matt Maher, who's appeared in movies like Marriage Story and Captain Marvel, will play Black Pete. 

Set in the early 18th Century, Our Flag Means Death will be loosely based on the true adventures of Stede Bonnet (played by Darby), a moderately wealthy landowner who suffers a midlife crisis and becomes captain of Revenge, a pirate ship. Waititi will play infamous pirate Blackbeard in the series, as well as executive producing and directing the pilot.

Garrett Basch, whose previous projects include What We Do in the Shadows (the FX series based on Waititi's 2014 movie of the same name) and The Night Of starring Riz Ahmed, is also an executive producer. Meanwhile, David Jenkins is on board as showrunner – he previously helmed sci-fi comedy series People of Earth, about a support group for people who have been abducted by aliens.

Waititi and Darby previously worked together on the HBO series Flight of the Conchords, about two shepherds-turned-musicians from New Zealand – Darby starred as the band's manager, while Waititi wrote and directed the sitcom. More recently, Waititi has been busy directing the MCU sequel Thor: Love and Thunder, and he has acting roles in the upcoming movies Free Guy and The Suicide Squad (although his character in the latter has yet to be disclosed). Plus, he's producing the FX series Reservation Dogs, working on a new show with What We Do in the Shadows collaborator Jemaine Clement, and he has a Star Wars movie on the way, too. Phew. 

Our Flag Means Death doesn't have a release date yet. While we wait for it to arrive on the streamer, make sure you check out our guide to the best HBO Max prices.