Castlevania: Nocturne’s New Trailer Drips With Action, Incredible Animation

Netflix dropped a new trailer for its upcoming Castlevania sequel anime, Castlevania: Nocturne, giving fans a closer look at its cool new cast of characters, story details, and typically awesome bloody vampire-killing action sequences.

Castlevania: Nocturne, which takes place many many years after the original animated Netflix series (during the French Revolution of 1792 to be specific), follows Richter Belmont, a descendant of Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades, who’s been recruited by a band of magicians to fight against a tyrannical vampire known as the “Vampire Messiah.” Unlike Dracula’s grand plot to wipe out humanity for killing his wife, the Vampire Messiah, who’s teamed up with the counter-revolutionary aristocracy, plans to “eat the sun” and enslave humanity with the help of terrifying night creatures. It’s up to Richter and Maria Renard, an upstart vampire hunter, to stop them.

Read More: Netflix’s Next Castlevania Anime Promises A Bloody Good Time

Castlevania: Nocturne: Who’s playing whom?

When Netflix dropped its first full-length trailer for Nocturne, fans stormed the internet posting screenshots of the show’s new characters like the bewitching “vampire messiah” and a cool Black magician girl with phenomenal locs, theorizing who they might be. After months of guessing, Netflix finally posted a blog revealing the names and backgrounds of the show’s big players, as well as their actors.

• Edward Bluemel (Persuasion, The Commuter, The Halcyon) as Richter, the tough young hero who’s continuing the family tradition of vampire hunting
• Pixie Davies (The Magician’s Elephant, Mary Poppins Returns, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children) as Maria, a natural leader who’s fighting inequality in her country, and also a magic user battling the vampire elite
• Thuso Mbedu (The Woman King, The Underground Railroad, Is’Thunzi) as Annette, who used her power and wits to escape vampire-enforced enslavement in the Caribbean, and now wields magic to stop the impending apocalyptic threat
• Sydney James Harcourt (I’m Not Gay: A Musical, Hamilton) as Edouard, who left his life as a talented opera singer to aid and accompany Annette
• Nastassja Kinski (Inland Empire, Cat People, Paris, Texas) as Tera, a mother and mentor to young vampire hunters and magic users, who has her own share of past trauma to bear
• Zahn McClarnon (Reservation Dogs, Dark Winds, Fargo) as Olrox, who killed Richter’s mother years ago and now must decide whether he can stomach teaming up with his sworn enemy in order to stop vampiric world domination
• Franka Potente (Titans, Run Lola Run, The Bourne Identity) as Erzsebet Báthory, aka the one foretold. She’s the queen of vampires, and, if all goes as planned, of the entire world. (Her character is very loosely based on the various folkloric stories and contested histories surrounding a real-life noblewoman.)

Much like the second season of Netflix’s original Castlevania series, Castlevania: Nocturne’s first season will be told in eight 25-minute episodes. While the upcoming anime won’t be as long as the last two seasons of Castlevania, which were 10 episodes a piece, it’ll still give fans more episodes to sink their teeth into than the original series’ short (but phenomenal) four-episode first season.

Castlevania: Nocturne will premiere on the streamer on September 28.