Netflix Releases Explosive New Trailer for ‘Narcos: Mexico’

After exploring the life of Pablo Escobar in Narcos, Netflix is moving further north to explore the life of Mexican drug kingpin Felix Gallardo in Narcos: Mexico. The first trailer for the series, which will be released next month, was released on Thursday.

Narcos: Mexico was originally planned as the fourth season of Narcos, which was set mostly in Colombia. However, creators Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard decided to hit the reset button and tell an entirely different true story.

The new series explores the rise of Gellardo, played by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story‘s Diego Luna, and how he unified the Guadalajara Cartel in the 1980s. Ant-Man star Michael Pena plays DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena begins investigating Galladro after he moves from California to Guadalajara. The series’ directors include Andi Baiz, who worked on Narcos, and Mexican filmmakers Amar Escalante and Alonso Ruizpalacios.

Gallardo was active during the 1980s, and oversaw most of the illicit drug trade along the U.S.-Mexico border. In 1989, he was arrested and charged with a long list of crimes, including the 1985 murder of Camarena. He is now serving a 37-year prison sentence in the Altiplano maximum security federal prison in the State of Mexico.

The first three seasons of Narcos were criticized for glamorizing Escobar, a drug lord who smuggled cocaine in the U.S. during the 1980s. In an interview with NPR, Luna defended the series, pointing out that it is not a documentary.

“I do think that when you hear a story about how Mexico became such a crucial place in terms of the drug trafficking, it might be important for someone in India to understand why [there is so much] news about violence and how can you connect with this,” Luna explained. “You know, [Narcos is] not a documentary, obviously, but it’s definitely an issue that I care about, that it matters to me. … And if one of every 100 people watching it decide to go a little deeper and find out what’s not being said, I think that’ll be good.”

The rest of the Narcos: Mexico cast includes Tenoch Huerta, Joaquin Cosio, Teresa Ruiz, Alyssa Diaz and Narcos veteran Jose Maria Yazpik. Eric Newman serves as showrunner.

Newman recently told Slash Film he would like to see Narcos eventually include a story set today.

“I’m hoping by the time they catch up with modern times, the current players will be gone,” Newman explained. “It would be nice to be a step or two behind although a lot of these cartels are still active. Not in Colombia but in Mexico, it’s the same people. Chapo Guzman was, until very recently, he had a 30 year run. I do like the idea of going as far into the future, or rather the present, as we can.”

Narcos: Mexico will be released on Netflix on Nov. 16.

Photo credit: Netflix