How Raylan Givens Extends His Presence in the ‘Justified’ Universe With ‘City Primeval’
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Motor City, here comes Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant)! Last seen fleeing Appalachia in the acclaimed drama Justified (2010-2015), the lawman extends his presence in the Elmore Leonard universe with Justified: City Primeval.
The FX spinoff is based on the late crime writer’s City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit. Set in Motor City, the gritty novel features local cop Ray Cruz, but in the series (premiering Summer 2023), Givens is the protagonist and Cruz (Paul Calderon) is a retired homicide detective.
“Tim started banging the drum to put Raylan in this world,” reports executive producer Michael Dinner, “and that’s how this mashup started.”
In Justified: City Primeval, the timeline has moved ahead 10 years and Raylan is now part-time dad to teen Willa (played by Olyphant’s real-life daughter Vivian). In Detroit, he runs into Clement Mansell (Boyd Holbrook), “one of Elmore’s great antagonists,” Dinner says.
Unlike Justified’s Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), this killer “has no moral code,” fellow executive producer Dave Andron says. “He’s a more unpredictable, dangerous bad guy for Raylan — who’s now a little slower on the draw.”
Also in the marshal’s orbit: Carolyn Wilder (Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis), Mansell’s sexy lawyer, whom Raylan quickly falls for.
“It’s three characters on this collision course,” Dinner sums up, “and you wonder who, if any of them, comes out alive.”
Also starring in the spinoff are Adelaide Clemens, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Marin Ireland, Norbert Leo Butz, and Victor Williams. Andron and Dinner serve as showrunners and executive produce alongside Olyphant, Justified creator Graham Yost, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Taylor Elmore, Chris Provenzano, and Peter Leonard. The drama is a joint production between Sony Pictures Television, FX Productions, and MGM Television.
Justified: City Primeval, Premieres Summer 2023, FX
