Kevin Costner Promises to ‘Captivate’ and ‘Shock’ with Wild West Doc (Exclusive) – ryan

If you’re looking for a warts-and-all inside look at the history of the American West, Kevin Costner has you covered.

At 70, the Oscar-winning director and actor steps both behind the scenes as executive producer and in front of the camera as host of the upcoming eight-part docuseries Kevin Costner’s The West.

PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at the trailer for the HISTORY channel series, premiering May 26, which explores the fierce battles over land that defined the American frontier — and how its legacy continues to shape the nation today.

“What do we see when we think of the West?” Costner asks at the beginning of the trailer.

“The West is a place where anything is possible,” Esteemed biographer and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, co-executive producer of the series, says. “It is the essence of the American dream.” Historian Ned Blackhawk adds, “The American West conjures wonder, possibility, opportunity.”

While the trailer reflects on the hope and ambition tied to westward expansion, it doesn’t shy away from its harsh realities. “Many people have to pay the price of ambition and westward expansion,” American history expert Ed O’Donnell notes. “Everyone is willing to fight — and die — for it.” Author and activist Yohuru Williams adds, “American forces have a sense of superiority. The Native Americans are going to prove them deadly wrong.”

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Set to a haunting, stripped-down version of “America the Beautiful,” the trailer presents a striking series of on-screen words — power and power shift, law and lawlessness, order and disorder, hope and despair, strength and weakness, violence and beauty — juxtaposing ideals and realities as glimpses of dramatic reenactments unfold, including brutal battles, bloodshed and the anguish of displacement.

“California’s reputation for banditry is a big problem,” one expert says in the doc about the founding of the American West. “Their principal tools are violence and murder.” Adventurer and historian Peter Stark adds, “As America is moving west, there’s a seed that opens up between the free states and the slave states. It’s a defining moment in the history of America.”

From the epic journeys of Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea (the Native American woman who helped them) to the tense showdowns between lawmen and outlaws, Kevin Costner’s The West follows a century of sweeping change. It explores the rise of cowboys and ranchers, the strength of pioneer women and the drive of abolitionists and fortune seekers who helped shape the American frontier.

“These stories will captivate us — and shock us,” Costner says at the trailer’s close. “Now it’s time to come face to face with the real story of our wild past.”

Kevin Costner’s The West premieres on Sunday, May 26 (Memorial Day) at 9/8c with back-to-back episodes. The third episode airs on May 27 at 8/7c. Subsequent episodes air on Mondays at 9/8c on the HISTORY channel.