Austin Butler Previews New WWII Series About Air War Against Nazis, Exposes Horror Pilots Faced

"Masters of the Air" arrives in less than a month, and it definitely looks like America's next great WWII series.

The highly-anticipated saga from Apple TV+ is based on the book "Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany" from Donald Miller, and is brought to fans by the same team responsible for "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific" - Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.

Unlike the two previous series from the powerhouse trio, the true story of "Masters of the Air" will focus on the war rained down on the Nazis from the sky.

Austin Butler plays Gale "Buck" Cleven in the series, and he's hoping the show gets the message across of just how brutal the air campaign was for B-17 crews.

Austin Butler previews "Masters of the Air."

"At one point the statistic was that only one in four men would make it back. There’s the psychological horrors of that reality. If you're an infantryman and you're in it every day, there's a different type of psychological warfare that's taking place as opposed to you going out to dinner in London for the night and then having to go back out the next day. The combination of those two polar opposites can take its toll on people's psyche," Butler told Entertainment Weekly when talking about the challenges pilots faced.

His views on the topic, which are 100% correct, were echoed by executive producer Gary Goetzman. He hopes viewers watch the series and understand the unbelievable challenges and horror bomber pilots had to face.

"The battle in the air was unique and changed the course of the war and history. The dedication of these young men was instrumental in our eventual victory," the EP told EW.

Something tells me the show won't have any trouble portraying the harsh realities of being 20,000+ feet in the air bringing death from above on the Nazis.

Austin Butler stars in "Masters of the Air." (Credit: Apple TV+)

Bomber crews really don't get the respect they deserve in the history books when it comes to WWII. Most of the focus is on the ground war, especially in Europe. That's especially true since "Band of Brothers" came out in 2001 and followed paratroopers fighting their way through Europe.

The series brought the war to an entire new generation of young Americans who instantly became hooked on history.

Now, "Masters of the Air" will attempt to do the same with the focus on the crews who manned the B-17s. Incredibly brave American crews had to fly into heavy German flak and face German fighters in order to smash targets on the ground.

"Masters of the Air" premieres January 26 on Apple TV+. (Credit: Apple TV+)

Being in a B-17 was arguably the most dangerous job in the entire war and the amount of deaths and POWs was nothing short of staggering. We're talking about guys who had to literally jump out of non-pressurized planes in freezing temps if they were shot up and had to hope like hell their parachutes deployed. If they were fortunate enough to land on the ground alive, then they had to pray German soldiers wouldn't shoot them on site. Welcome to the air war in Europe.

I had a family member who was a bomber pilot in WWII and earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses after D-Day before later getting shot down in Korea.

It's impossible to imagine the kind of chaos and carnage he had to endure while slaughtering the Nazis.

Now, the story of the Bloody 100th will be brought to TVs around America starting January 26th, and I can't wait for people to learn more about the crews who decimated Nazi Germany from the sky. Let me know your hopes and expectations for "Masters of the Air" at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.