With the cancellation of Marvel and Netflix’s collaboration within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Fist star Finn Jones is now free to take on a different kind of crime-fighting series. As per a report from Deadline, Jones has been cast in Prodigal Son, a new drama from Fox that sees Jones’ character hunting down serial killers.
The new drama will be produced by Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros., Chris Fedak (Legends Of Tomorrow) and Sam Sklaver (Deception). Prodigal Son will be written by Fedak and Sklaver. The two have worked together in the past, producing and writing for the series Deception. The show features a criminal psychologist, Malcolm Bright (played by Jones), who tracks down killers due to a unique gift that he, in so many ways, inherited.
Bright’s father was a famous serial killer, which no doubt influenced his son’s decision to become a profiler, given that he knows how they think and operate. The premise sounds incredibly intense, with a lot of room for plot development and conflict. The approach to the series is described as being a fresh take on the crime franchise, while also featuring dark comedic tones, which is a curious decision for a show focused on serial killers.
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The lead character is described as being outrageous and provocative, as well as being damaged, having to deal with many emotionally conflicting relationships in his life. Bright’s mother (Bellamy Young) is manipulative, while his serial killer father (Michael Sheen) wants to continue to have a relationship with him. This aspect of the role has worried some — while starring in Iron Fist, Jones drew criticism due to his inability to perform in emotionally heavy sequences. Jones was also criticized for the challenges he faced during the show’s choreographed action sequences. Given that Prodigal Son sounds more like a performance driven role (as opposed to anything too physical), it will be interesting to see how critics and audiences react to Jones’ performance in the starring role.
Prodigal Son also stars Lou Diamond Phillips, Aurora Perrineau and Frank Harts in supporting roles. The show will be produced by Warner Bros. Television, raising yet another concern, given that Fox has a history of canceling shows that aren’t produced in-house, as they did recently with Brooklyn Nine-Nine. That being said, given their relationship with Warner Bros. Television — seeing how Gotham has been on Fox for the past 5 seasons — hopefully, Prodigal Son will have a steady home at the network.
No word on when Prodigal Son will premiere on Fox, or whether it will be part of the fall or summer schedule.
