Joss Whedon’s The Nevers add six more to its cast

Joss Whedon has a long history in Hollywood. He’s the guy behind cult favorite shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly and directed the first two Avengers movies. Then he went through a cheating scandal and has been more-or-less quiet since being brought in to do reshoots on the Justice League movie a couple years back.

But that’s about to change. Whedon is returning to the small screen with The Nevers, a new HBO show about “a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies and a mission that might change the world.” And he’s not just producing: he’s writing, directing and showrunning, with his old Buffy writers Jane Espensen and Doug Petrie joining his team. Make no mistake: this is a proper Joss Whedon joint, the first in quite a while.

Will Whedon’s brand of quippy character work resonate with a new audience? We’ll see soon enough, as The Nevers is staffing up quick. Just a couple weeks back, we learned of 13 actors joining the cast, including heavy hitters like Olivia Williams and Nick Frost. Now, Variety reports on six more actors coming aboard. We’ve got an ensemble going!

I’m going to quote Variety directly, because as with the last batch of cast announcements, I get the idea that Whedon wrote these character descriptions himself — they sound too quirky to come from someone in the marketing department.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 14: Kiran Sonia Sawar attends the Virgin TV BAFTA Television Awards at The Royal Festival Hall on May 14, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

"Kiran Sonia Sawar will play Harriet Kaur – A young Scottish Sikh, Harriet lives with the Orphans, but is accepted by both her family and her betrothed.  Optimistic without being naive, Harriet is determined to live her life as she planned, despite its increasing weirdness."

So far we can tell, “the Orphans” refers to the group of superpowered Victorian women. They’re also called “the Touched” and seem to live in an orphanage.

"Elizabeth Berrington will play Lucy Best – Dirt poor, adaptive, streetwise.  There’s nothing delicate about Lucy, though she’s given up thieving to live with the Orphans.  Her quick-wit and high spirits mask the pain of a tragic past."

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 20: Ella Smith attends the UK screening of “Hoff The Record” at Empire Cinema in Leicester Square on May 20, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)

"Ella Smith will play Desirée Blodgett – A whore, and an increasingly popular one: her power makes men tell her everything on their minds, and they come away relieved in more than one sense.  Unfortunately, what she’s heard may get her killed, even though she honestly doesn’t listen to most of it. She’s devoted to her six year old son, who, bless him, never speaks."

Does the description really have to call her a “whore”? There are better words for that in a press release.

"Viola Prettejohn will play Myrtle Haplisch – A middle-class girl rescued from a family who cannot understand her – literally, as she can no longer speak English, or anything resembling speech.  She’s thrilled to be living at the orphanage, where she’s everyone’s favorite weird little mascot."

“Mrytle Haplisch” is a seriously English name. So is “Viola Prettlejohn,” come to think of it.

"Anna Devlin will play Primrose Chattoway – All 16-year-old Primrose wants is to be a proper, ordinary girl, and not take up too much space. Which, at ten feet tall, is hard. Most everything is either dreamy, unfair, or too embarrassing to live through."

I’m thinking that Devlin isn’t actually 10 feet tall. Hello, production budget.

"Martyn Ford will play Nicolas Perbal, aka Odium – The quintessential henchman. He looks as unpleasant as he smells – a side-effect if his rather surprising “turn”. Will do any kind of work for anybody’s money."

So there you have it. This cast is 19 strong, and there may more to come. Whedon has often made shows about makeshift families, and this one looks no different, but usually the cast tops off at 10 or so. I wonder if he was at all influenced by a very successful fantasy show with a ton of characters…

When will The Nevers be released? Not sure, but with production ramping up, I’d say sometime in 2020 is likely.

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