The Serpent Queen (2022)

Starz added to its growing list of female-led period drama series with 2022’s The Serpent Queen, based on the 2004 biography Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda. Samantha Morton plays the titular monarch, who marries the second son of King Francis I (Colm Meaney), Henri (Alex Heath). A young man in love with an older woman who cannot conceive children, Henri is wed to Catherine in order to continue the family line and becomes king after the death of his older brother. The series brings some nudity right out of the gate with Colm baring his kingly ass cheeks when he hops out of bed to order an investigation into an embarrassing cartoon depicting him getting reamed by The Pope. Between his butt and the naughty comic, we have high hopes that this series won’t skimp on the man meat!