Today, National Geographic revealed the new trailer for the female-led documentary series Queens, premiering March 4 on National Geographic and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu the next day.
Set to Billie Eilish’s “you should see me in a crown,” the trailer introduces viewers to six iconic worlds ruled by the fierce and formidable matriarchs of the animal QUEENdom, setting the stage for a series that transcends everything viewers know about natural history programming.
Helmed by a female-led production team from around the world — groundbreaking in the natural history space — and guided by powerful narration from award-winning actress Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Flood, Good Night Oppy), Queens is bringing the natural world into focus through the female lens for the very first time.
The series features matriarchies and female leaders from around the world to tell stories of sacrifice and resilience but also friendship and love. Each episode showcases matriarchs, from the peace-loving bonobos of the Congo basin to the ruthless jewel bees of Costa Rica to the powerful elephants of the Savanna.
Through watching their struggles, successes, and heartbreaks, we see the importance of intergenerational love and protection, the fierce lengths a mother will go to to have her children succeed, how the thirst for power can rip families apart, and how even in the face of tragedy, a mother must selflessly persevere.
Four years in the making, Queens leverages cutting-edge technology to reveal surprising insights into how females in the natural world rise to power, often relying on cooperation and wisdom over brute strength to get ahead.
The intimate production captured many staggering moments within the animal kingdom for the first time, including rarely seen hyena infanticide, the first filming of bonobos in the canopy from tree platforms, color documentation of the Ngorongoro Crater through the night, and a development time-lapse of the Orchid bee brood.
The final episode of the series celebrates the women who have gone to the ends of the Earth and dedicated their lives to documenting and protecting animal queens.
Queens is produced by Wildstar Films for National Geographic. Vanessa Berlowitz is the executive producer for Wildstar Films, and Chloe Sarosh serves as showrunner and writer.
Sophie Darlington and Justine Evans are the series’ directors of photography. For National Geographic, Pamela Caragol is the executive producer, and Janet Han Vissering is the senior vice president of Development and Production.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.