Tom Hanks has built a remarkable career telling World War II stories, from Saving Private Ryan to Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and Masters of the Air. But his latest project, World War II with Tom Hanks, is something entirely different—and arguably his most daring swing yet.
This isn't another intimate battlefield drama or a prestige miniseries focused on a single military unit. Instead, the 20-episode History Channel documentary series aims to tackle the entire war at once. It's Hanks' attempt at a definitive retelling for modern audiences, covering everything from Germany's invasion of Poland to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the dawn of the Cold War.
A Scale Unlike Anything Hanks Has Done Before
What immediately sets this series apart is its sheer scope. Hanks' earlier WWII projects were deliberately narrow in focus. Saving Private Ryan followed one squad through occupied France; Band of Brothers zeroed in on Easy Company; The Pacific stayed locked into the brutal island-hopping campaigns; and Masters of the Air focused on bomber crews. Those stories worked because they felt intimate, showing the war through the eyes of individual soldiers caught in unimaginable circumstances.
This docuseries, however, is chasing something much broader. The History Channel is calling it "a definitive retelling" of the Second World War, spanning 20 hours of content. That's a vast amount of territory, especially since historians still debate many aspects of the conflict more than 80 years later. The series will also launch globally in 200 countries and 40 languages, making it less like a traditional TV event and more like a worldwide educational milestone.
Beyond the Battlefield: Civilians, Spies, and the Home Front
What's also striking about World War II with Tom Hanks is that it doesn't just revisit famous battles. While combat scenes from Normandy, Stalingrad, Pearl Harbor, and the Pacific are heavily featured, the series frames the war as more than military strategy. Promotional materials emphasize civilian experiences, resistance movements, espionage networks, codebreaking operations, industrial systems, and the political aftermath that reshaped the modern world.
This is a noticeable shift from the combat-heavy storytelling Hanks is usually associated with. Even his most emotionally devastating WWII projects largely centered on soldiers. Here, the Holocaust and life on the home front are positioned as central pieces of the narrative, not just side notes. The story reportedly continues into the atomic age and the breakdown of wartime alliances that hardened into the Cold War.
That broader scope feels intentional. WWII documentaries have existed forever, but many fall into familiar rhythms: battlefield maps, military tactics, generals making impossible decisions. This series pushes toward something more interconnected—a version of the war that treats politics, civilians, propaganda, industry, and trauma as inseparable from combat itself.
Decades in the Making
None of this comes out of nowhere. Hanks has spent years circling this era, and not just because audiences respond to it. He's spoken repeatedly about growing up around adults who referred to WWII simply as "The War," as though no further explanation was necessary. For his generation, the conflict was still sitting in family stories, dinner table conversations, and lingering trauma.
You can see that fascination threaded through nearly every WWII project he's touched. Saving Private Ryan helped redefine how modern combat was portrayed onscreen, and Band of Brothers became one of television's defining war dramas. Even something like Greyhound was less interested in spectacle than exhaustion and isolation. Now, with this docuseries, Hanks is no longer just dramatizing pieces of the war—he's trying to contextualize the entire machine.
For fans of Hanks' previous work, this is a natural evolution. And if you're looking for more gripping storytelling, check out the Duffer Brothers' new sci-fi series 'The Boroughs' or 'Daisy Jones & The Six' on Prime Video.
World War II with Tom Hanks premieres on the History Channel on May 25. For more details, check out our guide on how to watch.
