Netflix is stepping into the political storm of American history, and it’s bringing Michael Fassbender and Thomas Vinterberg along for the ride. The streaming giant has officially green-lit Kennedy, an ambitious eight-episode historical drama that will trace the rise, ambition, and inner conflicts of the Kennedy family long before the White House years.
At the heart of it all is Fassbender, who’s set to play Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., the fiercely driven patriarch whose ambitions for his family built a dynasty that changed American politics. Behind the camera, Vinterberg, the acclaimed director of Another Round and The Hunt, will bring his signature blend of emotional realism and cinematic tension to the story, serving as both director and executive producer.
The series, written and run by Sam Shaw (Castle Rock, Masters of Sex), is adapted from Fredrik Logevall’s Pulitzer-winning biography JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956. But make no mistake, this isn’t a simple biopic. Kennedy aims to capture the messy, human heart behind the legend, exploring the Kennedy family’s formative years in the 1930s. A time of ambition, reinvention and ruthless social climbing.
According to the official synopsis, the first season “charts the improbable ascent of Joe and Rose Kennedy and their nine children, including rebellious second son Jack, who struggles to escape the shadow of his golden-boy older brother.” It’s a story that’s both intimate and epic. Shakespearean in its scope, yet sharply personal in its details. One insider described it as “somewhere between Shakespeare and The Bold and the Beautiful,” a promise that suggests the show will balance high political drama with the intoxicating messiness of family ambition.
For Netflix, this is more than another historical drama, it’s a statement of intent. After The Crown set the bar for royal intrigue, Kennedy looks poised to bring the same depth and scale to America’s own royal family. The series, produced by Chernin Entertainment, marks another step in Netflix’s push to expand its slate of prestige historical storytelling. And with Vinterberg at the helm, it’s already drawing comparisons to the grand, character-driven dramas that defined the streamer’s golden era.
But let’s be honest, a Kennedy series lives or dies by its casting. Fassbender’s presence instantly changes the stakes. Known for playing men who wrestle with obsession and control ,from Steve Jobs to Macbeth, he feels tailor-made for Joe Kennedy Sr., a man whose vision for his family bordered on tyrannical love. Fassbender doesn’t play heroes, he plays humans, and that’s exactly what this story demands.
Then there’s Vinterberg, a filmmaker who knows how to expose the quiet desperation beneath polished surfaces. His films often revolve around ordinary people hiding extraordinary pain, the kind of emotional excavation that fits perfectly with the Kennedys’ public-private contradictions. Together, Fassbender and Vinterberg sound like a volatile creative match. The kind that could turn a well-worn American legend into something dangerously alive again.
The series is still in early stages of production, and Netflix hasn’t set a release date. Casting for the rest of the Kennedy clan, including Jack, Bobby, and Rose, remains undisclosed, but anticipation is already building. After all, this isn’t just another retelling of Camelot. It’s the story of how Camelot was built and the cost of building it.
What makes Kennedy fascinating is its focus on the pre-presidential years. The family before the myth. It’s a story about reinvention, privilege, and the impossible expectations passed from one generation to the next. As show-runner Sam Shaw put it, the show explores “the human strivings and burdens behind the myth.” And that, perhaps, is what separates it from every other Kennedy adaptation before it.
Netflix hasn’t just cast an actor and a director, it’s betting on two artists known for digging beneath the surface. Fassbender and Vinterberg have both built careers around exploring the cracks in human perfection. Together, they’ll take one of the most photographed families in history and remind us of something easily forgotten. That behind the glamour, the legacy, and the tragedy, there were real people fighting, loving, and failing in ways that feel achingly familiar.
If The Crown gave us royalty under a microscope, Kennedy may well give us America’s dynasty under an X-ray.
