Natalie Dormer kills it (literally) in the trailer for Penny Dreadful: City of Angels

The first trailer for Showtime’s Penny Dreadful spin-off City of Angels is here and it looks even better than we thought it would.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels isn’t so much a spin-off of the original Showtime series Penny Dreadful as it is a companion piece. There are no crossover characters, the stories don’t intersect, and you don’t need to have seen the original series to watch this latest effort.

(You should, by the way, watch Penny Dreadful if you haven’t. It’s dark and weird and positively wonderful.)

These two series do have something in common besides simply a name, however. And that’s the fact that they’re centered around dark and complicated women. (Though one of them appears to be a hellgod this time, so that’s new.)

Unlike its spiritual cousin, however, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels will at least sort of have its roots in the real world. Whereas the original series was based on the idea that some famous Gothic literary characters were also actual people (Hi, Dorian Gray!) in Victorian London, this one is much more firmly connected to a specific time and place. Namely, 1930s Los Angeles.

According to the official synopsis, the series will follow the story of L.A.’s first Chicano detective in 1938, during the during the construction of the Arroyo Seco Parkway.

"When a grisly murder shocks the city, Detective Tiago Vega (Daniel Zovatto) and his partner Lewis Michener (Nathan Lane) become embroiled in an epic story that reflects the rich history of Los Angeles: from the building of the city’s first freeways and its deep traditions of Mexican-American folklore, to the dangerous espionage actions of the Third Reich and the rise of radio evangelism. Before long, Tiago and his family are grappling with powerful forces that threaten to tear them apart."

But, because this is Penny Dreadful, there’s also a grisly murder connected to Día de Muertos that explains where the supernatural element comes in.

In the form of Natalie Dormer.

The Game of Thrones star plays Magda, a shape-shifting demon capable of taking multiple forms to sow chaos and discord amongst the human population of L.A. And, if the trailer is anything to go by, facing off regularly against her sister, Santa Muerte, who basically appears to be the “good” member of the duo.

Watch for yourselves below. (Spoiler alert: It looks so good!)

City of Angels will be worth watching simply for Dormer’s incredible outfits – we see three versions of Magda’s various personas in the series trailer, with a high likelihood that there are more to come – but personally, I’m fascinated by the idea of these two ancient female beings going up against each other, in what feels like both a legit battle over humanity, and also the same arguments that they’ve had for…what is possibly literally forever.

The best part of this news, though – is that we won’t have to wait terribly long to find out. Penny Dreadful: City of Angels will debut in just a few months, on Sunday, April 26 at 10pm on Showtime.

Are you looking forward to City of Angels? How great does Natalie Dormer look? Let’s discuss.