Henry Cavill’s (Very) R-Rated 38-Episode Historical Epic Is Making an Official Comeback on Streaming

Henry Cavill’s incredibly raunchy historical thriller is making a comeback on digital streaming, 19 years after it was first released. It’s safe to say that Henry Cavill has played some gigantic figures throughout his career. He reached mainstream stardom after donning Superman’s red cape in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. That was then followed by turns as Sherlock Holmes in Enola Holmes, Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher, and real WWII soldier Gus March Phillips in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. But in 2007, Henry Cavill landed one of his first major roles as part of one of England’s most powerful dynasties.

Led by Jonathan Rhys Meyers and starring a fantastic supporting cast, The Tudors is finding renewed success on digital streaming. As well as being available to stream on Prime Video, Paramount+, and Fubo TV, The Tudors can also be purchased on the various digital streaming stores, like Apple TV. It’s on that platform that The Tudors has made an unexpected comeback. At the time of writing, The Tudors is the seventh most popular series on the Apple TV Store. From currently holds the #1 spot, with Shameless in second and Homeland in third.

‘The Tudors’ Was A Raunchy and Mature Series Before They Were Cool

Every streaming platform is now releasing multiple TV-MA-rated shows a month. But back in 2007, they were few and far between. Spartacus and HBO’s Game of Thrones arguably helped to make it mainstream, but before that, you had The Tudors. The series dramatizes the life of King Henry VIII, played by Meyers. Starting with his infamous dispute with the Roman Catholic Church, where he formed the Protestant branch of Christianity, the series then depicts his other five marriages and the landscape of England following the Wars of the Roses.

Henry Cavill plays Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, who married Mary Tudor, the younger sister of Henry VIII. Seriously, if you thought remembering people’s names in Game of Thrones was hard, you’re going to need a historical glossary for The Tudors. The series also starred Natalie Dormer, Sarah Bolger, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Annabelle Wallis, Gabrielle Anwar, Sam Neill, Max von Sydow, and Peter O’Toole.

‘The Tudors’ Was a Major Critical & Commercial Hit

The Tudors‘ comeback on the digital streaming charts seems unprovoked, but the show’s fan base never really died. The series was a major hit when it debuted in 2007. Season 1 was one of Showtime’s highest-rated series launches, and the series went from strength to strength with each season. The Tudors holds an overall Rotten Tomatoes score of 69%, but its audience rating is far more impressive at 84%. Things are similarly improved on IMDb, where The Tudors has an 8.1/10 overall rating.