Amid Netflix releases like Stranger Things Season 5, the second part of Wednesday Season 2, and Nobody Wants This Season 2, the streamer is hiding fascinating projects like Death by Lightning. The miniseries, executive produced by Game of Thrones’ creative duo David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, stars Nick Offerman and Michael Shannon as Vice President Chester Arthur and President James Garfield in a gripping retelling of the infamous assassination. Benioff and Weiss are backing Death by Lightning as part of their multi-production deal with Netflix. Per Netflix Tudum, the series was directed by Matt Ross, and written and produced by Mike Makowsky. Makowsky drew inspiration from the 2011 novel by Candice Millard, Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, and said the following:
“It’s been the thrill of a lifetime seeing this crack team come together to bring James Garfield and his cohort back from the annals of long-forgotten history. Six years into working on this project, it’s a story I still can’t believe is true — in all its wild, tragic glory — and it somehow feels even more relevant to our world today than ever before. I can’t wait for us to be able to finally share it.”
Death by Lightning features a remarkable cast that includes Shannon and Offerman alongside Matthew Macfadyen, Betty Gilpin, Bradley Whitford, Archie Fisher, Shea Whigham, Tuppence Middleton, and Kyle Soller, among others. The series premieres on Netflix November 6, 2025.
What Is ‘Death by Lightning’ About?

The presidential assassination thriller follows the story of Charles Guitau, one of Garfield’s fervent followers who then turned on the president and tried to murder him in 1881. Unfortunately, while the wounds were not fatal, the team of doctors could not prevent the infections, and Garfield passed away shortly thereafter. Per the official synopsis of the miniseries:
Death by Lightning is a limited drama series that’s based on the epic and stranger-than-fiction true story of James Garfield, reluctant 20th President of the United States, and Charles Guiteau — a man who was not only Garfield’s greatest admirer but also his assassin.
Makowsky also remarked how the novel instantly moved him, and he became convinced he had to adapt it. The showrunner also detailed how the show, even though it takes place in the late 1800s, feels “evergreen” in light of the current political landscape:
“I found it unspeakably tragic and moving, but also weirdly funny in a very dark way. It’s a tone that I tend to chase in the work that I take on, but there is a very deeply ingrained situational absurdity to roughly all of the proceedings that I was just so stunned by. As soon as I finished the book, I knew that I needed to adapt it and that, in its best incarnation, it could speak to people in ways that other period shows might not.
“The theme of corruption in politics and our bureaucracy feels particularly evergreen these days. The idea of civil service reform and waging a battle to clean up the grift in our government — this is something that Garfield very much stood on the front lines of in his time. In 1881, it feels like America is sort of standing at a crossroads between the past and what the future of this country is going to look like, and it’s up to [people like Garfield] to really define how America, 100 years after its inception, is going to look and what kind of society they’re going to be.”

Death By Lightning

Release Date

November 6, 2025

Network

Netflix

Directors

Matt Ross

Writers

Mike Makowsky