One of TV’s best neo-Western dramas is coming back as a miniseries — fans will see Raylan Givens once again on their screens in the upcoming Justified: City Primeval. The original series, which debuted in 2010, is considered a gem with great performances, direction, and production design, and it bagged several Emmy nominations, winning two. The series will bring back Timothy Olyphant as the fan-favorite US Marshall with a new cast and setting, showcasing a new chapter of Raylan’s life. Entertainment Weekly has released new images from the upcoming series, and it looks like everything one could ask for.
The first image sees Rayland in his signature denim jacket and cowboy cap possibly interrogating someone. Another sees him with his new team which includes Norbert Leo Butz, Victor Williams, and Marin Ireland. Raylan is now concentrating on being a good father to his daughter Willa, played by Olyphant’s real-life daughter Vivian Olyphant, the two are seen standing on a highway somewhere. A few images give us a good look at the new antagonist Clement Mansel played by Boyd Holbrook.
What to Expect from Justified: City Primeval?
While the original feature was based on Fire in the Hole short story by Elmore Leonard, the upcoming feature will adapt City Primeval, it's been 15 years since Raylan left Kentucky, and is now living in Miami. “For all intents and purposes, as far as I'm concerned, we are doing a new show," co-showrunner Dave Andron says. He further adds, “We understood that we ended the show really well the first time around, so we didn't take the plane back up lightly."
As for Raylan, "He's older. That's the thing I notice most often," Olyphant says, adding, "There's less desire to run." Co-showrunner Michael Dinner adds, "He's older and wiser, but he's still got it.” Further divulging that Raylan has about five years before his “mandatory retirement in the Marshal service, so he's coming to the end of that life.” Dinner went on to say “We're dealing with this next chapter of his life — we did Justified for six or seven years, and that was kind of like Act 1. This is Act 2 of his life, and it's an existential story."
And if Raylan is coming back, he needs a worthy opponent. And the showrunners are aware of this fact, "If you're bringing Raylan back, you put him up against a really, really bad guy who doesn't have any problem killing people, because Raylan could die," Andron says. So the new big bad Clement is someone you’d watch out for, "This is a limited [series] and Raylan could very well not make it out of this.”
Justified: City Primeval is set to premiere this July on FX.