Tom Hiddleston and Claire Danes Investigate a Sea Creature and Sin in 'The Essex Serpent' Trailer

The serpent is here. Or is it? You be the judge of whether the creature is real or just a metaphor for sin in a religious community's fears in a new trailer for Apple TV+'s upcoming limited series, The Essex Serpent.

The Essex Serpent is based on Sarah Perry's 2016 novel of the same title. It is set in Victorian England and follows a widow named Cora Seaborne (Claire Danes) who moves to the titular to investigate claims of a mythical serpent, falling on the side of those who believe it is real.

In the trailer, which you can watch below, townspeople are concerned about the sea creature, with one man even claiming it took a woman. The local pastor Will (Tom Hiddleston) doesn't believe in the serpent, though, claiming it's just an invention of the people, "a symptom of the time we live in." But he bonds with Cora nonetheless, despite their different ideologies.

"I'd rather believe in a creature people have actually seen than an invisible god," she says. "Is that blasphemy?"

However, when another tragedy strikes, all eyes end up on Cora, who becomes accused of attracting the creature to the town, (After all, it was a woman who "ate the fruit" one townsman yells) and it puts her at odds with Will. As the town's pastor, he doesn't want to stand against his people, but he is also afraid of his own feelings for her.

The Essex Serpent comes from writer-executive producer Anna Symon, director-executive producer Clio Barnard, and executive producers Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, and Patrick Walters. See-Saw Films produces for Apple TV+.

The show premieres with its first two episodes on May 13 and then will drop one new episode weekly every Friday up to and including its series finale on June 10.