In an age of rather cynical and dark television, one of the successes of the last decade was the far-more-positive vibes from Leverage. Created by Chris Downey and John Rogers, it told the tale of a group of grifters and con-artists brought together to act like a Robin Hood outfit – essentially turning the tables on greedy businessmen and crooks and helping out the little guy. Timothy Hutton played Nathan Ford, an insurance man whose own company denied coverage for his dying son. In return, he sought out some of the people he put away – Sophie Devereaux (played by Gina Bellman), Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane), Parker (Beth Riesgraf ) and Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge) – each with a very particular set of skills (and, often, social-dysfunctions) and asks for their help in making his employers pay. The success of that mission presents an opportunity to also represent other unfortunates and those down-trodden by people who have abused the law for personal profit. The series ran for five seasons between 2008 and 2012, becoming a bonafide cult hit.
Nearly a decade later… it’s back. Leverage 2.o (now formally entitled Leverage: Redemption) will debut on IMDb TV in July and has actually been in the works for some time – the concept first considered as a feature film and then raised just over a year ago as a potential series revival – and was a production that managed to shoot a majority of its episodes during tight COVID restrictions. The show will have eight episodes this summer, followed by an another eight episodes later in the year.
Electric Entertainment and Dean Devlin are back on board again as are Downey and Rogers. Almost all the main cast are back, with the exception of Timothy Hutton who has off-screen problems. In his place, Noah Wylie (who worked with many of the show’s production team – and Christian Kane -on The Librarians) is the ‘insider’ who attempts to bring back the team under a similar remit. The other new face is Breanna Casey (played by Aleyse Shannon) who is Hardison’s foster sister. Hodge himself is around for several episodes, though it will be more of a ‘recurring’ role due to the actor’s other commitments.
The new series begins on IMDb TV on 9th July…
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