Television

US MISFITS Reboot Announces Cast

by Rosie Knight
Jun 6 2017 • 5:43 PM

The long rumored remake of the cult E4 superhero show Misfits has finally found a home with the announcement that a pilot has been ordered at Freeform. Coming from The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz’s Fake Empire for ABC/Disney’s family channel, it’ll likely be a departure from the crass classic that fans of the original know and love.Misfits tells the story of five teenagers who during community service gain superpowers after getting caught in a freak storm. Though the premise sounds like something you’ve likely heard before, over five seasons the series managed to craft one of the most unique and quintessentially British science fiction shows ever broadcast. Creating an expansive universe of characters affected by the storm, the show explored everything from bullying, sexually transmitted diseases (and superpowers), death by a lactose controlling supervillain, and time traveling to the past to kill Hitler, all done with a healthy dose of curse words and authentic London sarcasm.With four of the quintet already cast—Ashleigh LaThrop as Alisha, Tre Hall as Curtis, Allie MacDonald as Kelly, and Jake Cannavale as fan fave Nathan–we’re just waiting to know who’ll play Simon, portrayed in the original series by Game of Thrones‘ Iwan Rheon and part of one of the most iconic story arcs of the original show. The character descriptions already hint at a move away from the source material, describing Curtis as a footballer with a bright future ahead of him rather than a disgraced drug using athlete. Most telling of all, it describes Alisha as a “middle class party girl” whereas the UK show was very heavily rooted in British working class culture, arguably an exploration of the young working class experience.Freeform is clearly focused on branching out into the superhero market–unsurprisingly as their owners at Disney also own Marvel–and with Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger and Misfits, the network is clearly attempting to corner the teens with powers market. Though chances are Misfits will be unlike any American show we’ve seen before, here’s hoping it keeps a little bit of the grit, humor, and honesty that made the original so special.

via GIPHY

What are you feelings? Sad you’ll never hear Robert Sheehan say awfully explicit things on American TV? Excited for a new take on our favorite parole officer-killing antiheroes? Or just tired of endless remakes? Let us know in the comments!

Images: E4

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