Black Sails

The first trailer for Black Sails has emerged ahead of the premiere of the Michael Bay-produced series in January. A prequel to the events of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel Treasure Island, the series flashes back to the heart of Captain Flint’s reign as “the bloodthirstiest buccaneer that ever lived," right after he takes on a new sailor named John Silver, who still has both his legs. Toby Stephens (Die Another Day) plays the menacing captain, with relative newcomer Luke Arnold as the future villainous Silver. From the trailer, it looks as though the show will balance high seas piracy with a battle for control of New Providence Island, in a strange mash-up of Pirates Of The Caribbean and Deadwood. And since it’s on Starz, the network that brought us the ambitiously gratuitous sex scenes on Boss, there’s some indication that Black Sails will attempt to do the same for the pirate's companions. The network has already renewed the show for a second season based on positive reaction at Comic Con, and since that preemptive confidence worked out so well for Boss, nothing could possibly go wrong here.