While still unconfirmed in recent production updates, Quentin Tarantino is has reportedly been in talks to helm one of two episodes of FX's upcoming Justified revival, a prospect made more exciting by scenes cut from Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Tarantino is no stranger to the world of author Elmore Leonard, who created the character of U.S Marshall Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) for his 1993 novel Pronto. It was Leonard's novel Rum Punch that Tarantino adapted into his 1997 movie Jackie Brown.
Similarly, Quentin Tarantino is no stranger to the cast of Justified. In Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood he cast Timothy Olyphant as James Stacy, the star of TV western Lancer, in which Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) makes a guest appearance. Damon Herriman, who played Dewey Crow, one of Justified's much-loved supporting cast of misfits, also starred as Charles "Charlie" Manson. Meanwhile, Walton Goggins was cast as Chris Mannix in The Hateful Eight—however, he too made a brief appearance in Tarantino's love letter to old Hollywood, albeit in a deleted scene.
Walton Goggins makes a brief voiceover appearance over a commercial for Old Chatanooga Beer, the beer drunk throughout the film by Brad Pitt and Leonardo Di Caprio's characters. Walton Goggins is perfect casting for the commercial, bringing layers of Southern charm to the syrupy, nostalgic advert for this homespun, fictional Tennesse brew. The deleted scenes, available on the Blu-ray release of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood showcase more of Olyphant as Stacy, in character as Lancer. Johnny Madrid Lancer is another of the old-fashioned American lawmen that Olyphant has excelled at since his first appearance in the HBO series Deadwood. It provides some insight into how exciting a Quentin Tarantino helmed Justified revival could actually be.
If Tarantino doesn't direct any of the upcoming miniseries Justified: City Primeval, Olyphant's cut scene from Once Upon A Time In Hollywood would make it one of the great "What if?"s of modern television. Timothy Olyphant handles Tarantino's particular style of dialogue with ease, and the scene is an enticing teaser of what audiences might get from a possible Quentin Tarantino-directed episode of Justified. More exciting still would be the possibility of Olyphant and Tarantino working together in a more substantial way, Olyphant as James Stacy is not the primary focus of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, but he will be in the Justified revival.
Like Olyphant, Walton Goggins is another actor who has previously worked with Tarantino, in both the spoof beer commercial for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Mannix in The Hateful Eight. The brief voiceover he gives to the commercial recalls Boyd's grifter charm, and it would be fascinating to see what Tarantino could do with the character. However, as with Tarantino's possible involvement, it's also looking unlikely that Walton Goggins will return as Boyd Crowder in the Justified revival. Given that Justified: City Primeval is set in Miami and Detroit, there doesn't appear to be any room for Boyd, who ended the original series imprisoned in Kentucky. The lack of Boyd in a Justified sequel could be more disappointing to audiences than Tarantino not being attached to the project.
If Tarantino has indeed turned away from Justified, there's another potential way for the writer-director to work with Timothy Olyphant. When promoting the novelization of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Tarantino stated his interest in another revival. He envisions a movie revival for Lancer, the very show whose lead actor is played by Olyphant. The director sees it as a potential project for his friend and collaborator Robert Rodriguez, so despite what happens with Tarantino and City Primeval, Olyphant may still get to be the lead in a Quentin Tarantino project.