Hot damn, True Detective Season 3 is shaping up to be one exciting TV project. HBO took some time ordering a new installment of the anthology series after Season 2 stumbled with critics, but ever since Season 3 became official, the good news just keeps rolling in. The series is casting up and Godless star Scoot McNairy is the latest actor to come aboard, alongside previously announced cast members Mahershala Ali and Carmen Ejogo, actor Stephen Dorff.

The story of True Detective Season 3 takes place in the heart of the Ozarks, where a baffling crime influences the lives of characters over three decades across three different time periods. Ali plays Wayne Hays, a state police detective from northwest Arkansas, and Dorff will play an Arkansas State Investigator whose career has also been influenced by the aforementioned crime. Ejogo co-stars as an Arkansas schoolteacher with a connection to two children who went missing in the 1980s. Per Deadline, McNairy will play Tom, "a father who suffers a terrible loss that ties his fate to that of two state police detectives over 10 years." McNairy is well versed in TV -- in addition to starring on Netflix's Western series Godless, he previously turned in four seasons on AMC's Halt and Catch Fire.

mahershala-ali-true-detective-season-3
Image via Netflix

True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto is back as showrunner and has written every episode of Season 3 aside from Episode 4, which he co-wrote with David Milch. The Deadwood creator was recruited by HBO to pair with Pizzolatto on crafting the third season. Pizzolatto is also set to make his directorial debut on some Season 3 episodes alongside Blue Ruin and Green Room helmer Jeremy Saulnierwho was chosen as the principal director for True Dectective Season 3. Cary Joji Fukunaga directed the entirety of Season 1 while multiple directors worked on Season 2, including Justin Lin and Game of Thrones' Miguel Sapochnik.

We don't know how many episodes to expect from True Detective's third season, and while a release date hasn't been confirmed, HBO boss Casey Bloys recently confirmed the series return for 2019.

true-detective-nic-pizzolatto-vince-vaughn
Image via HBO
halt-and-catch-fire-scoot-mcnairy
Image via AMC