After nearly a decade of being gone from the screen, Timothy Olyphant teases that another Justified revival could happen after City Primeval. Based on the Elmore Leonard novel character of the same name, the Western crime drama franchise revolves around the story of Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens and his Old West-style approach to law enforcement. After the original series ended with season 6, Justified: City Primeval will see Raylan living in Miami with his daughter, only to be pulled to Detroit to bring down a killer eluding the local police.
While premiering the next chapter of the show at the ATX Television Festival (via Variety), Timothy Olyphant opened up about his potential Justified future after the upcoming revival, City Primeval. The series actor/executive producer confirms he'd "show up" if the opportunity to reprise his role of Raylan Givens were to arise, feeling that he "had a good time" making the new show and that "every time we've done this, I've had a good time."
Should Another Justified Revival Happen?
Though the announcement that Olyphant would be back for a Justified revival was met with some positive reception from fans of the show, others were left wondering at the need for Raylan to return. One of the biggest reasons was the way the show approached adapting its source material, of which there were really only two novels and a short story, the former two of which were adapted for a season 1 episode and a TV movie prior to Justified, and the latter of which was the basis for the show as a whole.
Considering Justified: City Primeval is adapting a Leonard novel in which Raylan is not even a character of the story, let alone the main one tracking the relentless killer at the heart of it, the creatives behind the series are taking some liberties to bring Olyphant's character back to life. Additionally, the original series ended on a fairly satisfactory note with Raylan properly enjoying his life with his daughter and keeping Ava's fate a secret from Boyd.
Another major hurdle facing a new Justified revival is undermining City Primeval showrunner David Andron's recent tease that Raylan could die in the sequel series. While Olyphant's tease of a future return doesn't inherently mean he'll survive the new show, it does raise the similar sentiment of questions among audiences of whether Raylan should continue being followed on new casees, or if he should be put to rest, be it retirement or dying.
Justified: City Primeval premieres on FX on July 18.
Source: Variety