The first episode, “Sierra Hotel,” involves Project Mercury’s intense selection process, thinning a herd of over 100 candidates down to the nitty-gritty seven, while the second installment shines a spotlight on how huge these newly-minted 'astronauts' became (this was when the term/title was invented) on a national level. Their gentlemanly antagonism is the most interesting part of the series, but it’s not enough to remove the other plodding elements.

As the main trio, they all play well off each other, though it’s the respectful rivalry between Glenn and Shepard that mostly takes center stage. And Colin O'Donoghue's (Once Upon a Time) Gordo Cooper is so terrified that people will find out he's separated from his wife that he convinces her to move back home and pretend to be a happy family. Jake McDorman's (Shameless) antsy, arrogant ace Alan Shepard is a jealous, competitive philanderer who doesn't want his wife to find out about his many affairs. Adams' (Suits) famed flyboy John Glenn is already seen as 'over the hill' but his celebrity status makes him the most media-savvy of the bunch. At its heart here, after the first two chapters, The Right Stuff is the tale of three men (and four who don't really resonate) who long to be a part of history despite the chinks in their respective armor. The episodic structure now gives the story more room to breathe and explore, though in these first two episodes it doesn’t produce anything necessarily exciting or engaging.

It expands on the story in certain parts while also nixing entire arcs and even characters altogether. Overall, it's best to focus on the characters here, even if most of them tend to blend effortlessly into the background.ģ3 Images The Right Stuff, as a series, reshapes and remolds elements of Wolfe's book as well as Kaufman's movie. Context-wise, when looking at current events, it all feels a bit trite by comparison, especially considering how concerned these characters are that scandals, or any blemishes in the public eye, could quickly sink the entire program. The Right Stuff on Disney+, from National Geographic and Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way, is a mostly enjoyable look back at a time when the 'American way of life' was in danger of being lost if our country couldn't beat the Russians into space. One that might even be better suited as, say, an ongoing series. However, the movie tipped over the three-hour mark, making it clear this was a complex and lofty story to tell. As an adaptation of Tom Wolfe's best-selling book, The Right Stuff represents a stab at slightly more mature fare for the streaming service before the MCU shows kick off with WandaVision and possibly push things more into the land of 'hard PG-13.' Previous to this show, the saga once became synonymous with Oscar wins thanks to Philip Kaufman's 1983 film starring Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Dennis Quaid, and many other talented stars.

The right stuff book review