Marvel TV's plans to bring a Ghost Rider series to the Hulu streaming service may have crumbled, but Marvel and Hulu are still working together to bring another live-action, Hell-related series to the screen. Executive produced by Jeph Loeb and showrunner Paul Zbyszewski, the Helstrom series continues to move forward… and the names of several cast members have just been announced.
Taking on the lead roles of Daimon Helstrom and his sister Ana are Tom Austen, who may be best known for playing the character Jasper on 40 episodes of The Royals, and Sydney Lemmon, who appeared on an episode of Fear the Walking Dead earlier this year.
Daimon and Ana Helstrom are
the son and daughter of a mysterious and powerful serial killer. The siblings have a complicated dynamic as they track down the worst of humanity — each with their attitude and skills.
If you want some more information on the characters, Daimon is "a professor of ethics who moonlights as an exorcist. He has no illusions about saving a world he has no patience for; he just hopes he can help a few of the people closest to him. In his battle against a hidden world, Daimon is determined to root out demons as they arise, and will not stop until they're vanquished."
By day, Ana "runs a successful auction house and suffers no fools, but her true interest lies in hunting down those who hurt others. Traumatized by her father as a child, Ana is driven to rid the world of those like him, even as she secretly worries her father will return."
Austen and Lemmon will be joined in the cast by Elizabeth Marvel as Victoria Helstrom, "Plagued by demons both real and imagined, Victoria has been institutionalized for 20 years. While she struggles to be herself, she hopes to repair her relationship with her children"; Robert Wisdom as Caretaker, "a guardian of knowledge of the occult. He uses his knowledge and his relationship with Ana to help keep demonic forces at bay"; June Carryl as Dr. Louise Hastings, "a psychologist with a strong faith but an open mind. Hastings is head of the psychiatric hospital where Victoria is being monitored. She has watched over the Helstrom family for years, caring for them as best she can"; Ariana Guerra as Gabriella Rossetti, "a woman balancing logic and faith. Gabriella arrives from the Vatican to help Daimon and Hastings uncover cases of demonic possession. She wants to save everyone she can, including Daimon"; and Alain Uy as Chris Yen, "Ana's business partner and her closest friend — some would say surrogate brother. He carries out the bulk of the auction house's responsibilities and assists Ana with whatever she needs."
I have a feeling the Caretaker character would have made appearances on the Ghost Rider series as well, if that show had happened. Doctor Louise Hastings is a character from the Midnight Sons era of comics, when Ghost Rider was frequently crossing over with characters like Doctor Strange, Blade and the Nightstalkers, and Morbius. A member of the group known as the Darkhold Redeemers, Hastings wasn't around for very long.
Zbyszewski had this to say about the show's cast:
We feel incredibly fortunate to have landed a cast loaded with this much talent. From the beginning, we knew we’d need a group of actors who were multifaceted, who could play all the chords any great Marvel show promises to play, from dramatic thriller to comedy to action. It’s going to be really fun to watch them work."
Loeb added:
Marvel Television is thrilled to have such an amazing cast that enriches Paul’s fantastic writing. The ensemble is the perfect way to bring our audience into our Adventure into Fear franchise causing delicious nightmares of what’s to come!"
Well, it's nice to hear that Loeb isn't giving up on his plan to make a series of connected, darker Marvel shows under the Adventure into Fear banner just because Ghost Rider fell through.