Netflix Unveils Our Oceans Docuseries Trailer, Narrated by Barack Obama

Even for fans of docuseries about the natural world, it can be difficult to keep up with the veritable deluge of (similarly named) content that seems to pour from Netflix in a steady torrent. They can all typically boast stunning, super-HD footage of the sort that has been normalized for the genre ever since the original Planet Earth and its subsequent sequels, and more often than not a calm, familiar voice to guide us past the various bitter environmental pills that we’ll probably be asked to swallow. Famously, that voice has been the great David Attenborough for series such as Our Planet, but the iconic conservationist and broadcaster is now 98, and presumably choosing his remaining projects quite carefully. For the newly unveiled Our Oceans, however, Netflix has revealed a voice that will no doubt stand out as one of their highest-profile partnerships ever: None other than former president Barack Obama. You can see the first hints of that narration style in the newly released trailer below, though only for a few lines.

Our Planet hits the service on Nov. 20, 2024, as a five-episode docuseries. From production companies Freeborne Media, Wild Space Productions and Higher Ground, it has the following logline:

Our oceans are a gateway to the unknown — but the creatures at home in their mysterious depths are more like us than we could possibly imagine. From the Emmy Award-winning filmmakers behind Our Great National Parks comes an unprecedented five-part opportunity to meet the awe-inspiring animals that dwell above, inside, and deep beneath the great current that powers and sustains everything on Earth.

There will obviously be some material here familiar to viewers of both entries of Our Planet and the stunning Blue Planet, but presumably some strange, newly uncovered aquatic lifeforms to drink in as well. The Our Oceans trailer below features orca whales hunting a very rightfully concerned-looking seal, along with trash-scrounging octopi, bioluminescent fish, riotously colorful shrimp and seahorses, and violently headbutting parrotfish. “The world will never be the same,” intones the familiar voice of the 44th president, “…once you’ve seen it from below.” It certainly looks like a welcome weeknight escape to us. Check out the trailer below.