Swarm is a new horror series starring Dominique Fishback. The co-executive producers are Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino and creator of HBO’s Watchmen, Janine Nabers. The series is coming to Prime Video this month on March 17th. It also stars Chloe Bailey and Snowfall star, Damson Idris.
Fishback plays a fan that obsesses over a famous pop star and it consumes her life. In the trailer, it’s clear the pop star’s character is influenced by Beyonce. The “BeyHive” is one of the biggest fandoms ever. The series will first premiere at the SXSW festival on March 10th. Nabers calls it “a sister to Atlanta” while Glover says it’s “a post-truth The Piano Teacher mixed with The King of Comedy”.
Here’s everything we know so far about Donald Glover’s new series.
Dominique Fishback is Swarm‘s Star
After being told she wasn’t cut out to be an actress and denied from acting school, Dominique Fishback sure has done well for herself. She did not let those obstacles deter her as she aspired to be on the big screen. Hailing from Brooklyn, Fishback went to public schools in her neighborhood, but also took free acting classes for kids in New York. Ultimately, she was able to participate in her theater course where she learned more about acting and writing her own plays.
Fishback attended Pace University in New York and graduated with a degree in theater. With her degree and experience writing her own material in her theater course, Fishback decided to put on her own show, Subverted. Subverted was a one woman show that was written and performed solely by Fishback. After this, she took off!
Film & TV Roles Before Swarm
She landed roles in films such as Night Comes On, The Hate U Give, Project Power, and most notably, Judas and The Black Messiah. Her role in Judas and The Black Messiah as Deborah Johnson, partner of Fred Hampton, led her to be nominated for a BAFTA award as well as an NAACP Image Award. The New York native is also set to star in the third installment of the Transformers series. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is set to be released this year.
The 31-year-old has also appeared in different TV series throughout her career. Fishback has appeared in episodes of The Affair, The Americans, Blue Bloods, Royal Pains, Show Me a Hero, and most notably, The Deuce. Along with being the star of Swarm, she has a main role on the Apple+ TV series, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, starring alongside Samuel L. Jackson. All of Fishback’s hard work has been paying off as she is very busy these days.
Atlanta, FX Ties
After watching Atlanta, we know what Donald Glover can bring to the table. The four season series was certainly not your typical TV show. Glover’s ability to combine many different topics including family, Hip Hop, love, fatherhood, and friendship separates him from the rest.
In the trailer, fans can see that this series is influenced by Beyoncé as Childish Gambino continues to stick to his music roots through his film work. Swarm is bound to have hidden messages and meaningful moments just like Atlanta did. Similar to the FX series, Glover continues to make opportunities for black artists to showcase their talents on a big stage. Chloe Bailey and Damson Idris star alongside Fishback as her sister and boyfriend, respectively.
Idris and Glover have ties together before this series as both have major shows on the FX network. Idris stars in the hit show, Snowfall.
Beyoncé-Influenced
As I stated above, this series is influenced by Beyoncé. The Atlanta director is not afraid to make fun of today’s society. Throughout the four seasons of Atlanta, the “3005” rapper has created episodes surrounding topics such as blogging, social media, barbershops, and racism, and fashion. Glover has even developed storylines based on people like Tyler Perry, Drake, and Disney’s Goofy character. Now, it’s Beyoncé’s turn.
Beyonce’s fandom, the “BeyHive”, is a group everyone is familiar with. The “BeyHive” has to be the most powerful movement on the Internet. One wrong word about Beyonce and the hive will swarm. Next thing you know, you have thousands of bee emojis on your page.
As I mentioned above, Glover has the ability to make fun of topics that are a staple in not only the black community, but society as well. There’s no doubt that he’ll address the “BeyHive” in the most respectful, but awakening way.
An Obama is Involved
Wow, Malia Obama has surely grown up right before our very eyes. Now, 24, the former President’s daughter is taking her talents to the big screen. She is one of the writers on the series as this is her first writing opportunity since graduating from Harvard in 2021. Co-Creator of Swarm, Janine Nabers, told People that Malia is professional and her age really is a plus factor.
“[The main characters of the show] are in their 20s and Malia is in her 20s, so it was really great having someone like her in the room. She’s a very professional person, she’s an incredible writer and artist.”
Though this is her first job writing, the 24-year-old has been around television before. She was an intern at the Weinstein Company and on Lena Dunham’s Girls. She also worked as a production assistant on Halle Berry’s CBS series, Extant.
It’s a Small World
Paris Jackson, daughter of Michael Jackson, will appear in the series. Also, Macaulay Culkin’s younger brother, Rory Culkin, will have a part as well. It’s a small world being that Michael Jackson and Macaulay Culkin were lifelong friends. The Culkins and the Jacksons still manage to be linked together after all these years.
Let us know if you plan on watching Swarm when it premiers on Prime Video in the comments.