A Leverage revival is official at IMDb TV with The Librarians alum Noah Wyle and all but one member of the original Leverage cast. Who isn’t returning?
IMDb TV is bringing back cult favorite TV crime drama Leverage, with Noah Wyle seeming poised to replace Timothy Hutton in the 13 new episodes.
According to Deadline, IMDb will venture into original programming for the first time with the new Leverage, with Dean Devlin (Almost Paradise) in charge of the revival.
Amazon Studios will produce what Devlin told Deadline is a “re-imagining of the original premise.” IMDb is owned by Amazon, which already has one of TV’s best crime dramas in the Amazon Prime Video original Bosch.
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While the original cast is involved in the revival, there’s one massive absence and one star who won’t be in the regular lineup. Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf, and Gina Bellman will reprise their roles as series regulars.
Aldis Hodge is returning only as a recurring player—because he’s co-starring in Showtime‘s own crime series City on a Hill.
And Hutton, who was the biggest name in the cast when Leverage first premiered on TNT in 2008, won’t be back at all.
No official reason was given for why he’s not participating, but the casting of Wyle would seem to suggest him as Hutton’s replacement. Per Deadline, Wyle is only contracted to appear in the initial 13 episodes of Leverage, meaning that he would depart the cast if the show goes past one season (akin to Sela Ward on FBI and Connie Britton on 9-1-1).
Given the shortness of his contract, the two easiest roles to slot him into would either be Hutton’s spot as the crew’s “mastermind” or as a season-long villain. And since Wyle is being mentioned as a star of the new show, it’s more likely that he’s a good guy, rather than a bad one.
TV crime drama fans will certainly love to see more Leverage, which had reformed criminals turn into a crack crime-fighting squad, and the presence of almost the whole original cast will also be very reassuring. But there will be a few hurdles to work out on and off-screen.
First, what does this mean for Kane and Devlin’s current show, Almost Paradise? The series just aired its fourth episode on Monday, and hasn’t been renewed for Season 2 yet. Will Kane be able to continue on both shows, especially since one of them films overseas? Almost Paradise has become a breath of fresh air in the genre since its pilot, and it would be a shame to see that show end because of Leverage.
Riesgraf is also on another show, Paramount Network’s 68 Whiskey, though Deadline claims she has an arrangement in place to do both if that is renewed.
And plot-wise, how will Devlin and company work out the absence of Nate Ford and bringing in Wyle’s character? Devlin was able to make a seamless transition between Wyle starring in the Librarian movies and The Librarians series, but Leverage had a very specific ending where Nate retired with Bellman’s character Sophie Devereaux and passed the “mastermind” job to Riesgraf’s Parker.
So how will Sophie be coming back without Nate in the picture? Will they be said to have divorced off-screen, like Grissom and Sara on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation? And if Wyle is taking over the reins, why won’t Parker be calling the shots? There are significant questions that need answers if the Leverage revival is going to succeed, but at least many of the right people are in place to make that happen.
Production on the Leverage reboot is hoping to start this summer, contingent on whether or not TV production as a whole resumes by June or July. Will you be watching a new Leverage?