Epix is heading back in time with a new series. The network released the first teaser for the upcoming show,Billy the Kid, based on the outlaw himself. The trailer can be viewed below.
PerDeadline,Billy the Kidwill follow the life ofthe real outlaw. The series will span an eight-episode season comprising of hour-long episodes. We’ll follow Billy from his childhood up until his days as a cowboy and gunslinger in the American frontier, including his role in the Lincoln County War.
For anyone that is new to the real Billy the Kid, he was born Henry McCarty in 1859. Orphaned at age 15, his first arrest was for stealing food. His second arrest was ten days later, where he robbed a Chinese laundry but escaped shortly after. Billy fled from New Mexico Territory to Arizona territory, this made him both an outlaw and a federal fugitive.
In 1877, Billy (who started going by the name William H. Bonney) got into an altercation with a blacksmith and killed him, making him now a wanted man in Arizona. Billy would flee back to New Mexico and joined a group of cattle rustlers. After gaining a reputation, he took part in the Lincoln County War of 1878, where he allegedly committed three more murders. Two of these murders were of a sheriff and one of his deputies. Over the course of his life, Billy the Kid would kill eight men in total before his own death in 1881. At the time of his death, a fatal shooting, he was 21 years old.
Related:Billy the Kid: The Legendary Outlaw Rides into Trouble in New EPIX Western
Reliving the History of Billy the Kid
Alongside Tom Blyth (The Gilded Age) as Billy the Kid, audiences will also get to see Daniel Webber (The Punisher) play fellow famous outlaw Jesse Evans. Evans was known for being a gang leader, in the show he will lead the Seven Rivers Gang. When the two cross paths, Jesse has already accepted a life of cattle rustling and robbing. This is attractive for Billy and he soon embraces the life of a criminal as well. The two become a pair of sorts, and Jesse becomes that lure that will always tug Billy back to a life of crime. While the real Jesse Evans is most infamous for his disappearance in 1882, it’s hard to say what will happen to him in the show. We’ll just have to wait and see!
Otto Bathurst is set up to direct the first two episodes of the first season. The series will be executive produced by Michael Hirst, Donal De Line of De Line Pictures, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey of Amblin Television, and Bathurst and Toby Leslie via One Big Picture. Whether you’re a fan of westerns, historical, crime drama, adventure, and more, it seems as if Billy the Kid will have a little bit of something for everyone.Billy the Kidis set to premiere on April 24 of this year on Epix.
