The Law & Order revival cast is becoming bigger by the day.
After weeks of rumors, Anthony Anderson is now confirmed to be reprising his role as Detective Kevin Bernard in the 21st Season revival of the iconic franchise.
He’s not alone as British actor Hugh Dancy will also star as an unnamed District Attorney.
While others are not yet cast, the addition of these two means the coming revival of the franchise will be a bigger deal.
The Law & Order revival rises
This fall, NBC had intended for Thursdays to be Law & Order Thursdays with Season 23 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, followed by Season 2 of Law & Order: Organized Crime and the planned For the Defense series. The latter would focus on a defense firm tackling social issues.
That ended when NBC ended development on For the Defense in July amid discussion of issues with the tone of the show.
NBC finally bowed to fan demand to simply revive the original Law & Order mothership series, which they had shockingly canceled in 2010, for a 21st season.
The series has already added Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice) as an unnamed detective. Now, it has two more cast members joining the club.
Who is joining the Law & Order revival?
The big news is that Anthony Anderson is returning as Detective Kevin Bernard. Debuting in Season 18, Anderson was the final detective of the show alongside Jeremy Sisto’s Cyrus Lupo (Sisto is now starring on CBS’ FBI).
Anderson will be in the unique position of having two series airing at once as the final season of his ABC sitcom Black-ish will be premiering a month before Law & Order’s scheduled return.
In addition, British actor Hugh Dancy has been cast as a yet-unnamed Assistant District Attorney. The actor broke out in films such as Black Hawk Down, King Arthur, and Ella Enchanted.
Dancy is best known for playing Will Graham in the NBC drama Hannibal and earned an Emmy nomination for his role in the mini-series Elizabeth I opposite Helen Mirren. He’s also married to Emmy-award-winning Homeland star Claire Danes.
It’s expected the revival will continue the show’s formula of three cops and three lawyers. With Anderson and Donovan cast, they simply need a lieutenant to report to while it’s expected Dancy will have another ADA at his side along with a D.A. boss.
There are no reports of others joining yet despite hopes for past faces such as Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) or Anita van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson) to reprise their roles.
With production expected to begin soon, more cast members will likely be announced to make the revival of the iconic series an easy continuation of what made the show such a hit in the first place.
Law & Order Season 21 premieres Thursday, February 24 at 8/7 on NBC.