Spartacus sequel series announced at Starz!

Spartacus lives!

It’s been 10 years since Starz’s gritty historical saga wrapped up, but a new chapter is about to begin. Deadline reports that Spartacus creator Steven S. DeKnight has signed a deal with Starz to create a sequel series for the network, which will pick up in the aftermath of Spartacus’ heroic end in the original series.

“It has been over a decade since Spartacus delighted international audiences and we are thrilled to reimagine and expand this gripping, action-packed drama for viewers today,” said Kathryn Busby, President, Original Programming, Starz. “Spartacus has deeply invested fans who are eager for its return, and we look forward to working with Steven on this exciting next chapter.”

Starz is making a sequel series to its Roman historical drama Spartacus

Spartacus was the longest-running original show on Starz in its heydey, spanning three seasons as well as a spinoff prequel series. Season 1 dramatized the real-life uprising of the gladiator Spartacus against his Roman captors, and starred Andy Whitfield in the title role.

Production on the show’s second season was paused when Whitfield was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which led Starz and DeKnight to create the Gods of the Arena prequel series. That one focused on a new character named Gannicus (Dustin Clare), who was eventually folded into the main series.

After Whitfield’s passing, Liam McIntyre took over the role of Spartacus for the show’s second and third seasons. The series had a very firm ending, with McIntyre’s Spartacus breathing his last after an epic battle against the Roman Legion while some of his closest confidantes made their escape.

Spartacus creator Steven S. DeKnight will return as showrunner on the new sequel series. “It’s such an incredible honor to be invited to return to the world of Spartacus and to be met with unbridled creative support from my colleagues at Starz and Lionsgate,” he said in a statement. “Together we are crafting something truly unique and unusual for the next chapter in this epic story.”

Few details have been revealed about the Spartacus sequel, beyond that it will be set after the death of Spartacus and will “explore uncharted territory and new journeys of the original series’ iconic characters,” according to Deadline. This is intriguing since the original show had a pretty high body count, so it’s curious to imagine which “iconic characters” could return. Beyond Whitfield and McIntyre, Spartacus also featured John Hannah, Lucy Lawless, Peter Mensah, Manu Bennett, Lesley-Ann Brandt, and Katrina Law, although I wouldn’t expect all of them to return in the new show. Like I said: body count.

Either way, for today it’s great news for Spartacus fans. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this story as it develops.

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