Living in the Platinum Age of Peak TV means that not only is there a ton of television to watch, there’s a lot of news to go along with it. We here at Collider are only human, and there are only so many hours in the day; so from now on, each week we’ll be rounding up a batch of stories that might have missed your attention (and some that, at the time, missed ours), from updates on reboots to new featurettes to casting, and much more.

This week: Lots of casting updates, from Mayans MC and Star Trek: Discovery to Cloak & Dagger and … The Bachelorette? Yes, it’s all important. Plus, Kenneth Lonergan is adapting Howards End for Starz, and much more. Check it all out below:

Edward James Olmos to Star in ‘Mayans MC’

edward-james-olmos-battlestar-galactica

Helping to assuage some of my skepticism over Kurt Sutter’s Son’s of Anarchy spinoff Mayans MC is the recent casting news that Edward James Olmos (or as I will always think of him, Battlestar Galactica’s Commander Adama) will be starring. The reality is that even though The Bastard Executioner was a mess and the last few seasons of Sons of Anarchy were a mixed bag, when SOA was good it was great. With Mayans, it’s a chance for Sutter to expand that world while also bringing something fresh to the TV landscape. Now that Olmos onboard, it feels like maybe it’s all coming together.

According to TV Line,

“Set in a post Jax Teller world, the project — which thus far has received a pilot order — centers on EZ Reyes, a prospect in the Mayan MC charter on the Cali/Mexi border who struggles with his desire for vengeance against the cartel, and his need for respect from the women he loves. Olmos will play the Reyes family’s once-strong patriarch Felipe, who, after years of being crushed by bullets and hard labor, struggles to keep his past buried and lead his sons down a lawful, righteous path.”

‘Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger’ Reveals New Cast Members & Character Bios

cloak-and-dagger
Image via Marvel

We have not reached Peak Superhero yet, and so here’s another comic book series on TV for ya: Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger, which is in production and will air on Freeform. Though Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph have already been announced as taking the two leading roles, Freeform sent out a press release this week with information on six more characters and who will play them:

  • Andrea Roth (Rescue Me) — Melissa Bowen, Tandy’s mom, who is the eternal optimist despite the struggles to adapt to her new existence. While complex and emotionally composed, her love for her daughter burns bright.
  • Gloria Reuben (Mr. Robot) — Tyrone’s mother, Adina Johnson. Mrs. Johnson invests every aspect of her being into giving her son the life she believes he deserves. But she props up and protects Tyrone so much she almost forgets to love him.
  • Miles Mussenden (Bloodline) — Tyrone’s father, Michael Johnson, who trudges through his desk job to keep his family safe and happy. Mr. Johnson is a working-class father does what he can to ensure his son will grow up to be a great man.
  • Carl Lundstedt (Grey’s Anatomy) — Liam, a salt-of-the-earth townie who operates as Tandy’s partner in crime while moonlighting as her boyfriend. But underneath his rough-around-the-edges appearance, Liam has big dreams.
  • James Saito (Life of Pi) — Dr. Bernard Sanjo, an emotional cornerstone in Tyrone’s life; they have a most unusual relationship.
  • J.D. Evermore (True Detective) — Detective Connors, a contradiction of a man embracing an intimidating persona that overcompensates for a secret he keeps close to the vest.

Here’s the series’ synopsis:

“Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger” is a coming-of-age series based on the beloved comic characters.  Tandy Bowen (Olivia Holt) and Tyrone Johnson (Aubrey Joseph,) come from starkly different backgrounds, each growing up with a secret they never dared share with another soul.

Jessica Biel Murders a Stranger in 'The Sinner' Trailer

Based on Petra Hammesfahr's novel of the same name, the first installment of USA's upcoming crime anthology The Sinner finds a young mother (Jessica Biel) committing a vicious crime in broad daylight. The story is not a whodunnit but a whydunnit, as a dogged investigator (played by Bill Pullman) attempts to unravel the mystery that even Biel's character doesn't understand. She doesn't know why she did this, and yet, the more we learn about her past the more becomes clear about what led her to snap.

It's an interesting idea, as long as the interrogation scenes don't get too tedious. The series doesn't have a premiere date yet, but USA looks like it's definitely hoping to continue to capitalize on some of the good will it's earned with more serious series like Mr. Robot.

‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Adds Three More Cast Members

star-trek-discovery-logo
Image via CBS

There’s still quite a bit we don’t know about Star Trek: Discovery, and with production delays haunting the series, it’ll be a long time until more is likely revealed. But there is something to say about just experiencing the thing and not nitpicking it to death beforehand. Remember how Stranger Things came up out of nowhere, and how satisfying that was? Yes I know that Star Trek is a huge and storied property and there are a lot of expectations, but sometimes it’s better to not have a preconceived notion of how things will play out!

All that having been said, CBS released some information this week about three new cast members to the series, and who they will be playing:

  • Maulik Pancholy (30 Rock) — Dr. Nambue, the Chief Medical Officer of the Starship Shenzhou (captained by Michelle Yeoh’s character).
  • Terry Serpico (Army Wives) — Admiral Anderson, a high-ranking official of Starfleet.
  • Sam Vartholomeos (The Following) — Ensign Connor, a Junior Officer in Starfleet Academy assigned to the Starship Shenzhou.

The 13-episode series, set before the events of the original show, will premiere either later this year or early 2018, though no exact date has been revealed yet. The series also stars Sonequa Martin-Green, Anthony Rapp, Michelle Yeoh, Doug Jones, and James Frain as Spock’s father, Sarek.

Kenneth Lonergan to Adapt ‘Howards End’ for Starz and the BBC

manchester-by-the-sea-kenneth-lonergan
Image via Amazon Studios/Roadside Attractions

I did not have to read E. M. Forster’s novel Howards End in high school, but according to Starz, their adaption will be a “four-part limited series exploring the changing landscape of social and class divisions in turn of the century England through the prism of three families: the intellectual and idealistic Schlegels, the wealthy Wilcoxes from the world of business, and the working class Basts.”

Essentially, settle in for your next prestige TV series. Manchester By the Sea’s Kenneth Lonergan will pen the script for the co-production with the BBC, which will star Hayley Atwell as Margaret Schlegel, Matthew Macfadyen as Henry Wilcox, and Tracey Ullman as Aunt Juley Mund. Delightful!

ABC Finally Casts a Black Woman as 'The Bachelorette'

rachel-lindsay-bachelorette
Image via ABC

F I N A  L L Y

Here at Collider, we don’t normally cover the happenings of unscripted TV series, mostly because there aren’t enough hours in the day. You have to draw a line in the sand somewhere! But this news of casting attorney Rachel Lindsay for The Bachelorette is significant. The ABC dating series has come under fire for years for its lack of diversity, but to truly understand what all of this means, I direct you not to Season 2 of UnREAL — which handled its subplot of a black Bachelor terribly — but to Linda Holmes’ piece on “The Purely Accidental Lessons Of The First Black 'Bachelorette’” over on NPR’s pop culture blog.

'Versace: American Crime Story' Finds Its Stars

deliver-us-from-evil-edgar-ramirez
Image via Screen Gems

The less said about Ryan Murphy tackling Hurricane Katrina in his next season of American Crime Story the better, however, I'm happy to focus on the third season of ACS, which will cover the 1997 murder of Gianni Versace by serial killer Andrew Cunanan. That feels far more in Muphy's wheelhouse than Katrina, but we'll see!

According to THR, the production has recently cast its two key roles, with The Bourne Ultimatum's Edgar Ramirez playing Versace, and Glee's Darren Criss playing Cunanan. The 10-episodes series is filming concurrently with Katrina, and should air shortly afterwards (most likely in early 2018). It is based on the book Vulgar Favors by Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth. Tom Rob Smith will pen the first two episodes as well as several others.