24 Legacy: Corey Hawkins Lands Lead Role

24: Legacy announcement doing the rounds tonight is Straight Outta Compton and The Walking Dead actor Corey Hawkins has been cast in the lead role for the new potential FOX series.

 

Corey Hawkins will be playing Eric Carter, a strong and former Army Ranger who finds himself pulled back into action as his past comes looking for him. He turns to CTU for help in saving his life and stopping what potentially could be one of the largest-scale terror attacks on American soil. Other reports state that Eric will be back home with his wife Nicole in Virginia before he’s pulled back into action, so it’ll be interesting to see who will be cast in that role.

 

The Fox co-chairman and CEO Dana Walden had this to say back at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena about the upcoming reboot:

There’s a time jump, a new organisation, a completely different story. It’s a contemporary story about the potential to activate sleeper cells in the United States. There are nods in the pilot to prior CTU agents, but no ongoing characters.

 

While FOX ordered a pilot for 24: Legacy, it’s believed that they’ll give it a 12-episode (according to TVLine) or 13-episode (according to Variety) limited series order, much like 24: Live Another Day. While Kiefer Sutherland won’t be returning, there will be nods to previous CTU Agents but won’t be serving as ongoing characters.

 

Well it’s certainly an interesting choice from the 24: Legacy team as Corey Hawkins has burst into the public domain after his performance as Dr Dre in Straight Outta Compton, following that up with a recurring role as Heath in The Walking Dead while currently filming on set of the upcoming film Kong: Skull Island. Sure some may comment that Hawkins was not as memorable in terms of performances like Jason Mitchell and O’Shea Jackson Jr. in Straight Outta Compton (I’ve seen it already on social media) but I think it was due to the way the character was written. Hawkins is a graduate from the Juilliard School (Google it and see the alumni, rather impressive) and started off on Broadway in Romeo and Juliet so the guy obviously has the talent. I think some people will mainly complain that they got somebody young (Hawkins is 27) to carry the mantle but like I said, it’s an interesting choice and it will be interesting to see how 24: Legacy develops with its casting and promo work once it gets a limited series order.