Ryan Reynolds celebrates nature's unsung heroes with Underdogs, a boundary-breaking natural history experience

For 137 years, National Geographic has been bringing breathtaking wildlife footage of iconic animals - penguins, elephants, whales and more. Hold on to your binoculars, folks, as Nat Geo gets up close and personal with the outcasts of the animal kingdom in UNDERDOGS, narrated by Ryan Reynolds. From their hidden talents to their unconventional hygiene choices to their unsavory courtship rituals, UNDERDOGS celebrates the unique behaviors of the animals who don’t usually get to be the stars of the show.  

“Getting to work with National Geographic on UNDERDOGS was a dream come true. Mostly because I can finally watch a project of ours with my children. Technically, they saw “Deadpool & Wolverine” but I don’t think they absorbed much while covering their eyes and ears and screaming for two hours,” said Reynolds. “We’re so proud to elevate the unsung heroes of the natural world to the top of the entertainment food chain and can’t wait for everyone to see,” National Geofraphic said.  

Each episode of the five-part series showcases a different aspect of these underdogs’ bizarre mating strategies, surprising superpowers, deception, dubious parenting skills and gross-out behaviors. UNDERDOGS features a range of never-before-filmed scenes, including the first time a film crew has ever entered a special cave in New Zealand - a huge cavern that glows brighter than a bachelor pad under a black light thanks to the glowing butts of millions of mucus-coated grubs. All over the world, overlooked superstars like this are out there 24/7, giving it maximum effort and keeping the natural world in working order for all those showboating polar bears, sharks and gorillas.  

With stunning imagery from the world’s leading wildlife cinematographers and music by multiple award-winning composer Harry Gregson-Williams (“Shrek,” “The Martian,” “Gladiator 2”), UNDERDOGS is edgy and informative. It’s the unexpected superhero blockbuster of the summer that celebrates the oddballs and outcasts while highlighting remarkable survival techniques, mental resilience, and exceptional instincts. “Underdogs (Original Series Soundtrack)," which will consist of Harry Gregson-Williams' score, will be released on Hollywood Records on 13 June and will be available everywhere you listen to music. Global rock superstars Green Day wrote the original theme song for the series, which is featured in the trailer. Green Day's deluxe edition of their latest album, “Saviors,” includes seven newly added tracks, including the UNDERDOGS theme song “Underdog.” “Saviors (édition de luxe)” is available everywhere you listen to music.  

Episodes include the following:

“Superzeroes” 

Ryan Reynolds assembles a team of “Superzeroes,” apparently pathetic animals with unexpectedly awesome superpowers. Forget about the cheetah’s speed, the eagle’s eyesight or the elephant’s brute strength, and say hello to the invisible glass frog, the indestructible honey badger and the pistol shrimp who can fire bubbles that are as hot as the surface of the sun.  

“Terrible Parents” 

Ryan Reynolds reveals some highly questionable parenting strategies from the animal kingdom’s worst parents, the underdogs. From a goose who lays their eggs on the top of a cliff to a koala that feeds its baby poop, it’s uncertain if they are bad parents or just misunderstood. But no matter how bad you think you may be at parenting, you can’t be as bad as these guys.  

“Sexy Beasts” 

Forget the birds and the bees, Ryan reveals the steps to finding “the one,” underdog-style. From the “first attraction” in giant-nosed proboscis monkeys to the importance of wingmen in turkey courtship to foreplay in flying foxes, these guys have re-written the rule book on messy and complicated relationships.   

“The Unusual Suspects” 

Ryan Reynolds puts the spotlight on the underdogs who get ahead by sneaky tactics. From the master-of-disguise frogfish to a butt-biting jackal and a multi-headed caterpillar playing the decoy, these are the masters of deception and deceit. And bringing all these hustlers together is the greatest con artist of them all—a cunning macaque who feeds on the spoils from unsuspecting tourists.  

“Total Grossout” Ryan gives his unique take on the animals who use gross-out tactics to achieve their goals, from defending their home to finding a mate and winning at the game of life. His cast includes manatees that use flatulence to control their buoyancy and cave-dwelling fungus gnats that create beautiful, illuminated fly traps from the mucus lit by their bioluminescent butts.  

From Reynolds’ Emmy® Award-winning Maximum Effort and Emmy® and BAFTA Award-Winning Wildstar Films (a Fremantle company), National Geographic’s UNDERDOGS will premiere on Saturdays at 18:00 (CAT), from 21 June on National Geographic Wild (DStv 182, StarTimes 221), and will also be available on Disney+ in South Africa.View the trailer here: https://youtu.be/USObtD2C3G4