Hollywood loves a period drama. It also can't resist superheroes. So why not combine the two? That's what HBO has done with its latest series, The Nevers. Set in Victorian-era London, the premise of the The Nevers is that a freak event has left a group of individuals, mostly women, with a range of supernatural abilities. Deemed a danger to their patriarchal society, this sorority of outcasts, known as "the Touched," seeks refuge in an orphanage funded by a wealthy patroness. To put it simply: think X-Men in corsets. Ahead of the show's premiere, a brief primer below on the actors portraying these otherworldly characters—and what they look like sans period costume and special powers. Sign Up for HBO
Northern Irish actress Laura Donnelly, who played Jenny Murray in the first three seasons of Outlander and was nominated for a 2019 Tony Award for her role in The Ferryman, leads The Nevers cast as Amalia True, a premonition-prone widow who co-runs the orphanage (and protects its members) with her best friend Penance Adair. Irish actress Ann Skelly, who was in Vikings and the BBC's recent Little Women, is Penance Adair, a brilliant inventor who is both religiously devout and progressive. Her special ability? She can see electricity. Veteran British actress Olivia Williams's on-screen credits include Wes Anderson's Rushmore, The Sixth Sense, and, most recently, The Father, which is nominated for six Oscars. In The Nevers, she is socialite Lavinia Bidlow, who supports "the Touched" and funds their orphanage. British-Nigerian actor Zackary Momoh (Seven Seconds, Harriet) is Horatio Cousens, the orphanage's resident doctor and the rare man in The Nevers universe with a special touch: healing powers. James Norton, who was in Greta Gerwig's 2019 adaptation of Little Women and will next star alongside Amanda Seyfried in the upcoming Netflix horror film Things Heard & Seen, plays Hugo Swann, a bored and enterprising aristocrat who runs a brothel to capitalize on the rich's fascination with "the Touched." Scottish actress Amy Manson (Once Upon a Time, The White Princess) is the unstable and murderous Maladie, who, as befits her name, derives her power from pain. She is now a serial killer living underground and leads a group of "Touched" villains. English actor Ben Chaplin, who most recently starred in The Dig with Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, and Lily James, is Frank Mundi, a gruff detective prone to violent outbursts and drinking binges whose saving grace is his strong moral compass. English actor Pip Torrens will be familiar to devotees of The Crown: he was Tommy Lascelles, private secretary to Queen Elizabeth, in seasons one through three. In The Nevers, he is former military man Lord Massen, as ardent a supporter of the British Empire as he is a detractor of "the Touched." Acclaimed American Horror Story actor Denis O'Hare plays the part of Edmund Hague, a deranged American doctor hellbent on figuring out how the women's special abilities work. The Nevers is an American science fiction drama television series created by Joss Whedon for HBO. The series is produced by HBO and Mutant Enemy Productions with executive producers including Whedon, Philippa Goslett, Doug Petrie, Jane Espenson, Ilene S. Landress and Bernadette Caulfield. The series premiered on April 11, 2021. The first season is set to consist of 12 episodes, split into two six-episode parts, with the second half debuting in 2022.
HBO EntertainmentDistributorWarner Bros.Television DistributionReleaseOriginal networkHBOOriginal releaseApril 11, 2021 (2021-04-11) – present The series is set in Victorian London and follows a group of people, mostly women, known as the Touched, who suddenly manifest abnormal abilities. Among them are Amalia True, a mysterious and quick-fisted widow, and her best friend Penance Adair, a brilliant inventor. The series received a straight-to-series order from HBO in June 2018, after a bidding war with other networks and streaming services including Netflix. Laura Donnelly was the first actress to join the series in April 2019, with the rest of the cast joining in July 2019. The Nevers is described as "an epic science fiction drama about a gang of Victorian[s] who find themselves with unusual abilities (due to alien intervention), relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world."[1]
An official poster for the series On July 13, 2018, it was announced that HBO had given the production a straight-to-series order. Joss Whedon would serve as a writer, director, executive producer and showrunner for the series. The series landed at HBO after a bidding war with other networks and streaming services including Netflix.[1][16][17] Whedon explained the title at Comic-Con 2018:
Cast and crewIn April 2019, Laura Donnelly was cast in the starring role of Amalia True.[2] Whedon spoke about her, "Laura Donnelly has charisma, wisdom and an anarchic precision that not only captures Amalia but defines her. She's fierce and she's funny – and I need both for the journey ahead."[2] In July 2019, twelve actors were added to the cast, including Ann Skelly as Penance Adair, Olivia Williams as Lavinia Bidlow, James Norton as Hugo Swann, Tom Riley as Augustus "Augie" Bidlow, Pip Torrens as Lord Massen, Denis O'Hare as Dr. Edmund Hague, Rochelle Neil as Annie Carbey, Amy Manson as Maladie, Zackary Momoh as Doctor Horatio Cousens, Eleanor Tomlinson as Mary Brighton, Nick Frost as Declan Orrun, and Ben Chaplin as Inspector Frank Mundi.[4][5] One month later, Elizabeth Berrington, Viola Prettejohn, Anna Devlin, Kiran Sonia Sawar, and Ella Smith were all cast in main roles Lucy Best, Myrtle Haplisch, Primrose Chattaway, Harriet Kaur, and Desirée Blodgett. Also in August, Martyn Ford was cast in there recurring role of Nicolas Perbal, also known as Odium.[7] In the fifth episode, the character Effie Boyle is introduced. Effie is revealed to be one of Maladie's victims, with the Effie seen in the episode being Maladie herself in disguise. In order to create the illusion of Maladie posing as Effie, Amy Manson used makeup, wore a fat suit and then the look was altered in post-production using Computer-generated imagery. In an attempt to fool the audience, a fake name "Margaret Tuttle" was added to IMDb as the actress playing Effie.[19][20] Executive producers include Bernadette Caulfield, Jane Espenson, and Doug Petrie. Espenson and Petrie, who worked with Whedon on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, will serve as writers.[21] Laurie Penny is also part of the series' writing staff.[22] Gemma Jackson serves as production designer.[23] Academy Award winner Christine Blundell served as the hair and makeup designer. She said that inspiration came from modern-day punk in order to help with the visual world of the series.[24] In June 2021, HBO announced that Andrew Bernstein had joined the series as an executive producer and director.[25] FilmingOn July 4, 2019, Whedon announced that principal photography had started, with filming occurring in London.[21][26] In July 2019, it was reported that scenes had been filmed at Trinity Church Square,[27] and in the New Wimbledon Theatre area.[28] In August 2019, scenes were filmed at Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent.[29] In late January 2020, shooting took place at Joyce Grove, an Oxfordshire country house estate in the Jacobean style. The building will double as The Orphanage.[30] Due to the lack of studio space in London, HBO worked with Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London and the British Film Commission, to find warehouse spaces and old industrial spaces in which they could base the production.[31] The series completed production on the first five of its ten-episode order before production was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[32] Filming resumed in September and production was completed by the end of October.[33] In February 2021, Bloys confirmed that the first season would consist of 10 episodes that would be broken into two airing blocks, due to the production shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[34] The season's episode count was then extended to 12 episodes.[35] Production on the final six episodes of the first season began in June 2021 in the UK.[36] WritingSpeaking to the break in the release schedule between episodes six and seven due to production issues, HBO and HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys stated, "And there was kind of a natural narrative break at six. So that was the thought then was to air six episodes. So at least we had something to put out there for subscribers and fans." Bloys also said that Goslett and her team of writers are working through the second batch of scripts now and "we'll get a better sense of timing" when those will air as "the weeks go on."[34] In March 2021, it was clarified that the first season was extended from 10 to 12 episodes, with the second part of the first season also consisting of 6 episodes.[35] Vanessa Armstrong of Syfy.com wrote that star Laura Donnelly thought the script for the series' sixth episode was "so bonkers" that she "initially thought that they got sent the wrong script."[37] Whedon's departureOn November 25, 2020, Whedon announced that he was stepping down from the series citing various reasons for his decision in "this year of unprecedented challenges." In a released statement he explained that the taxing nature of working on such a project during the coronavirus pandemic had taken a toll on his energy levels, and confirmed rumors that he would be officially exiting the series.[38] On January 28, 2021, British screenwriter Philippa Goslett was announced as the new showrunner.[39] In response to the accusations of workplace harassment against Whedon on his prior projects, Bloys stated that "we had no complaints or no reports of inappropriate behavior" regarding his work on The Nevers.[34] Nevertheless, Whedon's involvement was not acknowledged in the marketing of the series, although he was still properly credited for his work.[40][41] Afterwards, series regular Denis O'Hare, who portrays Doctor Edmund Hague, noted that he was unaware of the misconduct allegations aimed at Whedon at the time and said that the whole cast was worried about the continued filming of the first season. O'Hare did praise Goslett, calling the new showrunner "the exact right choice" and "I think there's some writing staff that's remaining the same. Whenever they're changing a writer, let alone a showrunner, you don't know what's going to happen to your character."[42][43] The Nevers premiered on April 11, 2021, on HBO and is set to consist of 12 episodes, split into two 6-episode parts.[44] The series' official trailer was released on March 23, 2021.[45] The second half of the first season will premiere in 2022.[36] On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 50% based on reviews from 64 critics, with an average rating of 5.82/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Despite strong performances and stellar production design, The Nevers struggles to stitch its slew of intriguing components into a solid show."[46] On Metacritic, the series has a score of 56 out of 100 based on 26 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[47] Ed Cumming of The Independent gave the series three stars out of five, calling it "overstuffed junk shop of ideas" and disliked too many "themes of alienation and acceptance unfold amid horse-drawn chases, expensive special effects, high-society orgies, corset brawls, and wainscoting aplenty."[48] BBC Online's Scott Bryan called it "just a bit too weighted down."[49] Wenlei Ma of News.com.au said The Nevers is "a distillation of Whedon's best and worst filmmaking impulses. It needs someone with a more disciplined eye to cut half of its many dangling threads and subplots."[50] In a positive review by Lorraine Ali from the Los Angeles Times, she wrote, "The Nevers is a joy to watch and a thrill to follow. Supernatural realism, complex storytelling, fantastical powers and topical realties meet in this smart, suspenseful and colorful production. A litany of nuanced characters keeps this otherworldly tale grounded. Suspenseful sleuthing and action-packed battles move the story along at a rapid clip. And all the lush scenery and ambitious wardrobe along the way".[51] Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter gave it a more mixed review, writing that the series is "in desperate need of focus, and as episodes progress, more and more characters are added and the connection to the richest thematic throughline becomes increasingly tenuous". However, Fienberg praised Whedon's directing, as well as the production design and costumes.[52] Ben Travers of IndieWire criticized the series, saying "The Nevers' inconsistencies can make for a maddening viewing experience — sending you from the edge of your seat to sprawled out on the floor, trying to find your eyes after they rolled out of your head — and far too many parts make zero sense whatsoever," however Travers went on to say that he would continue watching it and that even though Joss Whedon left the show during production, he had left his mark on it.[53] A three-star review on The Guardian called the series a "mess, within and without" and compared it to Enola Holmes and Penny Dreadful.[54] Darren Franich of Entertainment thought "True" made the series much more interesting, saying "the sixth episode of The Nevers is the troubled HBO drama's best hour yet", but also noted that this development in the plot may have come too late.[55] Ratings
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