Wolfenstein Stars Adress Nazi Marketing Controversy
Brian Bloom and Nina Franoszek tease the sequel's touchy subject matter and the "epic moments" that await gamers. Since its launch in 1981, the Wolfenstein video game franchise has sparked controversy. From its often over-the-top violence to its controversial subject matter, the series often finds itself making headlines whenever a new title is announced. Naturally, the upcoming Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is no exception. The game, which takes place in an alternate timeline in which Nazi Germany has taken over America, sparked a wave of backlash from some for its latest marketing campaign slogan, "Make America Nazi- Free Again" — a play on President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan from his 2016 presidential run. The game took on an unexpected relevance in August, following tragic violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, at a white supremacy rally attended by neo- Nazis. For Franoszek, a German-born actress who portrays the game's main antagonist, Frau Engel, the subject matter was very close to home "I've done a lot of research to understand my own past and been to Auschwitz and all that, but as an actor what really convinced me was the script. The script to me was very similar to Inglourious Basterds, and I was given the opportunity to play sort of the Cristoph Waltz character as a female with a boytoy.
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