With the pilot season firmly into production, many shows are gearing up their casting choices for their best chance of a series order. Here’s a look at the most prominent productions and names…
IRON FIST… The internet murmurings and discontent stirred about the casting of Finn Jones as central character Danny Rand in Iron Fist didn’t make a lot of sense to us – especially as the character IS a westerner trying to come to terms with the eastern power and legacy he inherits. It wasn’t as if the character had been ‘whitened’ as per the controversies hitting such productions as Ghost in the Shell and recent Hollywood movies. However some did say it would be more of a watershed moment if and when Marvel and Netflix were to put their on-screen faith in truly eastern-based characters such as Shang-chi, the ‘Master of Kung Fu‘, the martial arts hero first created by Jim Starlin and Steve Englehart in 1973 and part of the response to the popularity of Bruce Lee and eastern action at the time.
It’s now been reported, by such sites as MCU Exchange that Marvel are actively looking to include that character (pictured right in the updated design used more recently) in the Iron Fist series, which makes sense given the martial-arts connection and the fact that the characters have crossed each others’ paths many times in the comics over the last three decades. There’s no news on casting the Shang-Chi part so far, but we’d bet that it WILL definitely go to an Asian actor rather than being ‘westernised’, which would otherwise seem a bit pointless.
LETHAL WEAPON: THE SERIES… Jordana Brewster, best known for her role in the Fast & Furious movies (though she’s also appeared in the Dallas reboot and American Crime Story) is the latest name to be added to the cast-list for the television version of the classic Mel Gibson / DannyGlover feature franchise. She will play the role of Doctor Maureen ‘Mo’ Cahill, the LAPD’s in-house therapist and hostage negotiator. It appears to be a more expanded version of the character Dr. Stephanie Woods (played by the late Mary Ellen Trainor) in the four features. We recently reported on the casting of Damon Wayans Sr to the role of Roger Murtaugh but as yet the part of Martin Riggs has yet to be cast.
The pilot episode has been written by Matt Miller who will also share an executive producer credit alongside Dan Lin.
24: LEGACY… The action spin-off from Kiefer Sutherland’s iconic show continues to add more characters and cast to its line-up. Dan Bucatinsky (Scandal) will play communication analyst Andy, Coral Pena (Blue Bloods) is Gia, bright, young, self-taught computer analyst’ with whom he’s paired at CTU and Charlie Hofheimer (Mad Men) is playing Marcus, an ex-Army Ranger now suffering PTSD and the former partner of series lead Eric Carter(Corey Hawkins). All are listed as series regulars.
As previously reported the new series pivots around the character of Carter who seeks out CTU’s help when trouble follows him home and may lead to the biggest attack on American soil since 9/11. The series will follow the twenty-four format, though as in the recent mini-series, it may well ‘skip’ certain hours to move the plot along more quickly.
SPARK... News comes of a new drama being planned at ABC. Spark is a drama set in an alternative 2016, one that is referred to by the production as a ‘steampunk’ reality, where gas and coal are still the main sources of power – both in the sense of fuel and control. Veteran actress Lena Olin (Havana, Alias, Welcome To Sweden) will play Hazel Stockton, a self-made millionaire who controls the Stockton Coal Company. Altuistic in some regards, she can also be ruthless in protecting her company’s interests which brings her into conflict with her son Aiden (played by British actor Tom Brittney of Outlander, UnReal and BBC show The Syndicate fame) who heads up the Investigative Division of the Watch that is looking into suspicious explosions and acts of sabotage across the city.
Whether this is truly a ‘steampunk’ set-up in the truest sense of the word or merely playing lip-service to the alternative-reality set-up will be interesting to see, but it’s solid casting should help give the pilot some momentum.
STAR TREK… Though it appears we are a long way off actual on-screen casting for the upcoming new series set in the Star Trek universe, there seems to eb a lot going on behind the scenes in setting up the series structure. Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator’s Gene Roddenberry, has now joined the series in an executive producer capacity alongside Roddenberry Entertainment‘s Trevor Roth. They join showrunner Bryan Fuller (whose cult successes have included Hannibal, Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls and Star Trek: Voyager) and Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin.
In a statement, Fuller noted: “Gene Roddenberry, the ‘Great Bird of the Galaxy’, left a finely feathered nest for all who love Star Trek to enjoy. And it is only fitting that Rod Roddenberry and Roddenberry Entertainment join our new Trek adventure to ensure that his father’s legacy of hope for the future and infinite diversity in infinite combinations runs through our tales as Gene Roddenberry intended.”
Though fans were initially wary of the project – the first Trek series since the mishandled Enterprise prequel and the feature-film franchise revamp – Fuller’s involvement has encouraged support, feeling that his history shows he can handle projects in a unique and appealing way without ever feeling ‘generic’. Details are scarce of the actual story at this point, but it is believed it will be set in the future of the original continuity rather than the film’s new timeline. Nicholas Meyer, who helped Kirk and Co. survive The Wrath of Khan is onboard as one of the key writers of the show which is set premiere in January 2017 with a preview broadcast on CBS to be then followed by an exclusive run on the subscription service CBS All Access.
LIFE ON ‘MARS’… Neal Bledsoe and Georgina Haig will be two of the key members of the team going to Mars in an as-yet-untitled project aiming for The CW‘s schedule later this year. The series follows a team that arrives on the Red Planet, ready to join with a team that has already established a base there. However when they get there there is no sign of the previous colonists and their mission becomes one that is as much about survival and solving the mystery as it is about their original scientific intent.
Bledsoe is ‘Lewis’ the man in charge of selecting the team for the expedition and Haig (Maximum Choppage, Childhood’s End and most recently seen recurring as Piper on Limitless) has been cast as Gina Nolan, the self-assured botanist of the team. Mouzam Makkar (Vampire Diaries, American Horror Story) is to play ‘Devi’, South African actor Carl Beukes (Dominion, Homeland, Wild at Heart) is ‘Santos’, Tongayi Chirisa (The Jim Gaffigan Show, American Horror Story) is ‘Carmack’ and Peter Mark Kendall (The Americans, Girls, Gotham) is ‘Mason’.
