Charlie Hunnam strips naked to play killer Ed Gein in Netflix trailer

Charlie Hunnam has divided fans with the dark debut trailer for the upcoming Netflix show Monster: The Ed Gein Story.

The 45-year-old British actor transforms into Ed Gein to depict the true story of the American man who went on a murder spree before his arrest in 1957.

One scene from the latest season of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's Monster anthology series shows the Sons of Anarchy alum completely nude as he bares his rippled abs.

'Eddie, you're a mess. Only a mother could love you,' Laurie Metcalf says in character as Ed's mother Augusta Gein in another part of the teaser.

Another moment shows Hunnam, in character as Gein, fixating over one of his victims — whose remains he later wears as a flesh suit.

The trailer drew a mixed response from fans, with some going wild on social media and predicting he'll score an Emmy win for his role, and others worried about the  sensationalization of the gory character. 

'Charlie Hunnam just won an Emmy right in this trailer,' one person wrote on the social media app X.

'And if this was a movie released in theaters, he'd win everything. Phenomenal actor,' the person added. 

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Someone else agreed, 'Golden Globe/Emmy 2026 for Charlie Hunnam,' while another echoed that the actor is 'gonna get an Emmy, I reckon.'

And one excited moviegoer joked, 'Is it wrong to have a man crush on Charlie's Ed Gein?'

But not everyone is impressed by the sensationalization of the killer. 

'Mom, come pick me [up] again, they're spectacularizing one of the most depraved acts of violence ever perpetrated again,' one person dryly wrote under Netflix's Instagram post on Monday.

'You people glorify nonsense. The son of one of his victims - the town's deputy sheriff died of heart failure after being traumatized at what happened to his mom. Yet you immortalize such people with your films,' another wrote. 

'why is Netflix trying to make Ed Gein hot he is literally like the textbook definition of a serial killer like was he not a creepy old necrophile that smelled like s**t why would you cast Charlie Hunnam.'

'What's with sexy actors being cast for serial killer roles? Peter Evens as Dahmer now this guy as Gein?' 

A logline for the show, which premieres on October 3, reads: 'Serial killer. Grave robber. Psycho. In the frozen fields of 1950s rural Wisconsin, a friendly, mild-mannered recluse named Eddie Gein lived quietly on a decaying farm – hiding a house of horrors so gruesome it would redefine the American nightmare. 

'Driven by isolation, psychosis, and an all-consuming obsession with his mother, Gein’s perverse crimes birthed a new kind of monster that would haunt Hollywood for decades. 

'From Psycho to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to The Silence of the Lambs, Gein’s macabre legacy gave birth to fictional monsters born in his image and ignited a cultural obsession with the criminally deviant. Ed Gein didn’t just influence a genre — he became the blueprint for modern horror.'

The Ed Gein Story follows Murphy's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, which premiered on the streamer last September.  

Co-creator Brennan told Tudum: 'Once we talked about how influential he was and how his crimes... you can find threads of them through pop culture and through horror films — I think that’s when we knew we had a show.'

In addition to creating the show, he penned each episode. 

'It’s really mind-blowing how influential one strange man in the middle of Wisconsin in a barn can be. 

'That’s just the world we live in, that he lit this fuse that just continued popping off and set in motion this continuous topping of really intense, bizarre, strange imagery. I can’t think of another person who is really that influential to a genre of television and film,' he mused.

Former TikTok sensation Addison Rae also has a role in the series, and appeared briefly in the trailer. 

And her inclusion sparked backlash from some, with one person commenting on Instagram: 'Influencers aren't actor.'

Another person begged, 'Not her acting again, please.'

Both comments have collected more than 2,000 likes from agreeing fans.

Another person simply wrote, 'Pass,' while another disappointed fan added, 'Remember when Ryan Murphy hired people based on talent and not trend?'