Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens hasn’t smooth-talked his way through his last case just yet. Everybody loves a good comeback and Timothy Olyphant’s cowboy-clad federal agent tends to find himself high on the list of fan-favorites for such an honor. Luckily, it looks likeJustifiedfans aren’t the only ones up for a return.
FX is ready for a new story starring Olyphant’s endearing lawman, and it’s bringing back some of the old guard to help him along. A new series is in the works based on the late Elmore Leonard’s beloved books, giving Raylan another opportunity in the spotlight. TitledJustified: City Primeval, the show will see how the Marshal fares outside his old stamping ground in Kentucky. This will be Olyphant’s first appearance as Raylan since a delightfully unexpected cameo inMichael Schur’sThe Good Place.
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Based on Leonard’s novelCity Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, the newJustifiedentry will see Raylan taking a fresh start in Miami 8 years after the events of the originalJustifiedseries, trying to balance his work with his home life as the father to a teenage girl. Through events out of his control, he finds himself in Detroit, intertwining him with the violent outlaw Clement Mansell, known as the Oklahoma Wildman. Between the criminal and the criminal’s lawyer, Raylan will have his hands full in this decidedly unfamiliar territory. No word on whether Mansell will stack up to Walton Goggins' (Ant-Man and the Wasp) Boyd Crowder from the original series, but it will be interesting to see how Raylan handles a new foil.
Dave Andron and Michael Dinner, who executive produced the originalJustifiedseries on FX, will take over as showrunners forCity Primevalwhile Dinner will work as director. Don’t worry, though. Previous showrunner Graham Yost is still on board as executive producer.Justified, which followed Raylan as he navigated the seedy elements of Harlan County, Kentucky. The series, which ran from 2010-2015, received 8 Emmy nominations and 2 wins, with guest stars Margo Martindale and Jeremy Davies taking home their accolades.
This project has actually been in the works for some time, as it was teased back in March of 2021. At the time, it was unclear whetherOlyphant would return as Raylan Givens, but now fans can rest easy knowing they’ll get more of the smooth-talker before long. Setting the new show in Detroit is bound to offer plenty of new opportunities for the types of interesting characters and substories viewers have grown to expect and love fromJustified.
There’s no release date yet, since the new project is still in the pretty early stages of production. But there’s a lot of promise here, considering how well-received the original was.Justifiedhadsome of the best writing on TVduring its entire run, and more of that is always worth celebrating.
