If You Can’t Get Enough Of Billy Bones In Black Sails, Watch This Netflix Show With 86% On Rotten Tomatoes

Summary

• Black Sails is a must-watch prequel to Treasure Island with fascinating characters like Tom Hopper’s Billy Bones.
• The Umbrella Academy gives Hopper a meatier role as Luther and is a better display for his range as a performer.
• Both Black Sails and The Umbrella Academy are strong showcases for Tom Hopper as a performer.

Tom Hopper’s Billy Bones is an audience favorite from Black Sails, and there’s a certain Netflix show fans of the character should seek out next. Black Sails acts as a prequel to Treasure Island and was produced by Michael Bay, so it was always going to either be a total mess or must-watch entertainment. Thankfully, the pirate saga (which ran from 2014 to 2017) proved to be the latter, with the historical action series following Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) and his not-so-merry band of pirates.

Black Sails‘ cast of characters is a colorful one, and viewers who watched every season tended to have their own personal favorite characters. Zach McGowan’s real-life pirate Charles Vane was a regular scene-stealer, while Anne Bonny (Clara Paget) was one of the show’s most fascinating characters. The series also provided Tom Hopper with an early breakthrough role as William Manderly, AKA Billy Bones. Billy is another character who evolved in a big way throughout Black Sails‘ four seasons, with the pirate life taking its inevitable toll on his soul.

The Umbrella Academy Is The Perfect Show To Watch For Fans Of Billy Bones & Tom Hopper

Billy Bones devotees should meet Mr Luther Hargreeves

Like Black Sail’s

Billy, Luther has undergone a fair amount of growth across The Umbrella Academy’s various seasons, including a few deaths and resurrections along the way.

Hopper was probably best known for BBC’s Merlin before Black Sails, which has since led to a steady string of work for the star. On the big screen, he has played video game villain Albert Wesker in Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City and cameoed in Terminator: Dark Fate. On the small screen, Tom Hopper is best known for playing the burly Luther Hargreeves (AKA Number One) in Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy.

Luther is arguably the sweetest member of The Umbrella Academy character line-up – despite being proportioned like The Incredible Hulk. He is also somewhat naive and has dedicated his life to the academy so completely that when the show began, he had no real life outside it. Like Black Sail’s Billy, Luther has undergone a fair amount of growth across The Umbrella Academy’s various seasons, including a few deaths and resurrections along the way. The show has received widespread acclaim too, and currently sits at 86% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Umbrella Academy
will end with the upcoming fourth season, which debuts on Netflix on August 8, 2024.

The Umbrella Academy Gives Tom Hopper A Bigger Role Compared To Billy Bones

Luther is a better showcase for Tom Hopper

Billy Bones might be the character that brought Hopper to people’s attention, but Luther was the juicier role. Billy is a supporting player in Black Sails, and while he underwent some dramatic/traumatic growth, including being captured and tortured by the Royal Navy, he was never the show’s focus. The Umbrella Academy might be an ensemble series too, but Luther has given Hopper a greater range of emotions to play than Billy did.

From coming to terms with his father’s death and legacy to the siblings’ timeline-hopping shenanigans, Number One has been through a lot since the first season. Ultimately, Black Sails and The Umbrella Academy are strong showcases for Tom Hopper as a performer, so fans of the actor need to check out both shows.

Tom Hopper’s next big TV role will be playing Raife Hastings in
The Terminal List
prequel series
Dark Wolf
.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes