National Treasure: Edge of History. Let’s Talk About It

Credit: National Treasure: Edge of History

It’s been discussed for a while what a new addition to the National Treasure movies might look like, and it would appear that Disney+ has answered with the upcoming series that is set to hit on December 14th, but there are a few things to unpack with this trailer that might not appear to be congratulatory but are in fact point of interest that need to be addressed. For one, gender-swapping isn’t exactly what’s going on since the fact is that the main character is a young woman, but it would appear that the story goes that her father gifted her a talisman/necklace, whatever one wants to call it that is meant to unlock a treasure that’s just as profound as anything that has been revealed in the last two movies, which is amazing since one would imagine that the first treasure hoard that was discovered in the initial movie would have been the mother load considering how many different cultures it was said to have taken from. Then there was the city of gold in the second movie, which one might expect to nearly erase the national debt in some miraculous way. But apparently, this new treasure, which sounds as though it might date back to a point in history when, once again, the United States had not yet come to exist, will be another breakthrough that will show a cultural gap between North America and its current inhabitants. 

There’s no desire to bash this series, but at the same time, it does feel as though it’s loading up for another woke moment. 

The hope is that this won’t happen, that wokeness will finally be pushed aside in favor of a good story, but somehow it does feel as though this trailer is hiding something that’s going to be revealed in the show that will make a lot of people groan as it’s definitely expected. She-Hulk was kind of the same way since a lot of people were hoping to see a story that was immersive and inclusive but also along the lines of what they’d come to expect in the early days of the MCU. A lot of people know how that went, and unfortunately, that means that there’s a good deal of expectation that it will happen again, and again, and again. The idea that it might come off as an interesting story that can stand on its own while remaining connected to the movies is a thin hope at best, but it is there. 

The fact that Riley is going to be back is interesting. 

It doesn’t appear that Diane Kruger or Nicolas Cage will be returning for this series since it sounds as though there were scheduling issues that couldn’t be handled in time to make such an appearance happen. That’s a nice excuse at times to mask the idea that the actors might not have been interested, but with Cage, it’s easy to guess that he might be off filming a dozen different straight-to-video projects as usual. But how the show is going to go about explaining their absence is something to think about since it’s already revealed that everything the main character thought she knew about her father and her family has turned out to be wrong. Maybe Cage and Kruger’s characters had a child? Or maybe there’s another treasure-hunting family out there that’s somehow related to the Gates and felt the need to pass the tradition on. In any case, seeing Riley in the trailer is enough to make it clear that connections to the movies are going to be used in order to push things forward, or at least lay a good number of Easter eggs. 

Credit: National Treasure: Edge of History

On one hand, seeing female actors take on roles that were made popular by men is interesting, but it does feel as though women are being primed to be the dominant force in this series. 

The discussion of creating female-centric movies and shows has been ongoing for a while, and to some, it’s grown rather tiresome since the same talking points keep coming up again and again. Others are still ready to take up this debate to the bitter end, whatever that might be. But the truth is that if it works, then so be it, but if it fails then one can easily guess that the female-led cast is going to be one reason that will be pointed to as the cause. 

This should be an intriguing show to watch. 

Giving the show a chance to express the ideas that were put into it is the mature response to be certain since being more interested in the story rather than the politics of it should be the goal. But one can easily guess that a lot of people are going to be looking for wokeness within every scene. Hey, if it shows up and is obvious then it’s going to be called out. Otherwise, it sounds like a better idea to just sit back and watch.