HBO sets the full cast for the upcoming series The Nevers. Created by Joss Whedon, the science fiction drama follows a group of superhero women living in Victorian England. Last April, Laura Donnelly was cast as the series lead, Amalia True. The Nevers was first announced in July 2018.
Now 55 years old, Whedon began his career as a writer on the television series Roseanne and Parenthood. By 1992, he wrote his first feature film, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which he later adapted into a television series of the same name. With Sarah Michelle Gellar in the title role, The WB’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer became a staple of late ‘90s and early 2000s pop culture. Since then, Whedon has created popular series such as Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse. He also wrote the 2012 cult classic film The Cabin in the Woods. For the MCU, Whedon wrote and directed both The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, and provided uncredited work for Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor: The Dark World, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In addition, Whedon famously wrote and directed reshoots for the DCEU’s Justice League.
Per Deadline, HBO has added 12 more performers to The Nevers' main cast. Most notably, Olivia Williams will play a wealthy woman, Lavinia Bidlow, who runs an orphanage that’s inhabited by many of the series leads. Earlier in Williams’ career, she portrayed Bruce Willis’ wife in The Sixth Sense and headlined Wes Anderson’s Rushmore. Most recently, Williams co-starred as Emily Burton-Silk in the Starz science fiction series Counterpart. For The Nevers, Williams will be joined by James Norton, who will portray a pansexual club owner named Hugo Swan. Next Christmas, Norton will be part of an all-star cast for Greta Gerwig’s adaption of Little Women. The English actor is best known for starring in the BBC One series Happy Valley and McMafia.
The Nevers will also feature Tom Riley (Da Vinci's Demons) as Augustus “Augie” Bidlow, the brother of Williams’ Lavinia Bidlow. Ann Skelly (Death and Nightingales) will portray the religious “Never” character Penance Adair, the best friend of Donnelly’s Amalia True. In addition, Ben Chaplin (The Legend of Tarzan) has been cast as Detective Frank Mundi, and frequent Edgar Wright collaborator Nick Frost (Cornetto trilogy) will portray underground figure Declan Orrun, aka The Beggar King. The following performers have also been cast in HBO’s The Nevers: Zackary Momoh (Seven Seconds), Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark), Pip Torrens (The Crown), Amy Manson (Torchwood), Rochelle Neil (Death in Paradise), and Denis O’Hare (This Is Us).
For Whedon fans, The Nevers casting news is undoubtedly exciting. Plus, the Victorian London setting will allow Whedon to explore new territory via HBO. Most importantly, The Nevers will give a voice to women who feel out of place in the world, for one reason or another, and decide to stand up for themselves.
Source: Deadline