Tom Hiddleston combines fiction and documentary in a miniseries about the ghosts of Pompeii

With three episodes, the Disney+ miniseries sees the Marvel star, who played the god Loki, as the ideal lover of history. He reviews his first trip to the Italian city, when he was a curious boy, and narrates the experiences of three figures - an irritable boy, a rebellious businesswoman and an imperial soldier.

With experts – ranging from a Latin master to a disaster-focused psychologist –, the actor wanders through Roman ruins and shares the screen with period reconstructions starring the trio of characters, trapped between fear and hope.

"We're always looking for lessons in the past," says Kevin J. Wright, one of the project's producers and writers. He describes Pompeii as a well-preserved site that invites visitors to immerse themselves in another era.

"It's all so human. No matter how old it is, it's impossible not to remember that those people were real and ask yourself: 'What would I do in their place?'."

Doubts vary between humor and tension. This is because, in certain scenes, Hiddleston claims to be an exemplary detective, who uses cutting-edge devices and compares his skills to those of superheroes. In others, he goes into despair as he tries to understand what would have prevented so many from escaping.

“There are several similarities between the project and those I did at Marvel,” says Wright, who was executive producer and director of creative development at the studio until 2024. It was then that he decided to invest in less commercial works.

"This is a fun documentary, where you can pause, rewind and retrace time. Ultimately, comics present modern versions of old tales. Despite cultural differences, they show that everyone wants to tell stories."

Although it has Hiddleston and National Geographic as advantages, "Pompeii" has an obstacle in its documentary vein. Still, Wright says, efforts were made to create the most exciting experience possible.

Aside from the actor's charisma, who demystifies ancient scriptures, translates Excel tables and contextualizes the Roman trio's dramas, the sense of urgency makes the series a race against the clock.

After all, the series covers the few hours leading up to the eruption. This is the time that the presenter has to investigate individual missions, such as that of the young man who searches for his mother among the ashes, and the weight of social pressures - at one point, in a museum, Hiddleston is shocked by the collective indifference in the face of an emergency alarm.

Despite the centuries that separate the tragedy from today, science has never been indifferent to Pompeii. This is because discoveries about the case continue to happen, and today archaeologists are even using artificial intelligence to reimagine parchments, paintings and other relics consumed by lava.

For Wright, the series required a balance between popular entertainment and scholarly books. In the streaming era, where independent filmmakers are achieving greater recognition, he sees "Pompeii" as a chance to give viewers what they didn't even know they were looking for.

"Today, everyone is thirsty for new projects and new ways of talking about what we already know," he says. "We wanted to produce something intelligent, that wouldn't belittle viewers. What the public wants most is to weave together exciting ideas."

POMPEII: BEYOND TIMEWhen Available on Disney+Rating 14 years oldCast Tom Hiddleston, Barry Aird and Frankie TreadawayProduced United States, Italy, 2026Created by Tom Barbor-Might and Kevin R. Wright

Vini Jr. meets Bob Marley's family during vacation in Jamaica

The Real Madrid striker spent the afternoon with the singer's heirs and, alongside Virginia Fonseca, attended the 80th birthday party of Rita Marley, widow of the reggae icon