Marvel will have a much larger presence on network television this fall with the debut of Inhumans, which will join Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as ABC's comic-based ventures. The new show is largely shrouded in mystery, but we do know some of the actors who have signed on. Now, the cast has gotten even bigger in a pretty exciting way. Lost star Henry Ian Cusick will officially be part of the new series.
ABC has confirmed to CinemaBlend that Henry Ian Cusick has indeed signed on as a member of the Inhumans cast. We don't yet know what character Cusick will play. Given how few details have been released about the plot of the show, there's every chance that we won't know who his character is for quite a while now. Whatever the character, Cusick is likely a solid pick. He's a veteran of genre series, most notably as Desmond Hume on Lost. Cusick also turned up on Fox's Fringe, and he currently stars on The CW's The 100 as post-apocalyptic survivor Marcus Kane.
Henry Ian Cusick joins a cast comprised of Anson Mount as Black Bolt, Serinda Swan as Medusa, Isabelle Cornish as Crystal, Ken Leung as Karnak, Eme Ikwuakor as Gorgon, and Iwan Rheon as the treacherous Maximus, who will hopefully be slightly less of a monster than Rheon's character on Game of Thrones. Maximus' interactions with Lockjaw will probably be quite different from Ramsay's relationship with his dogs. Only time will tell how Cusick's character fits in with all the rest.
A big question now is what impact Henry Ian Cusick's casting on Inhumans will have on The 100. On the one hand, Inhumans isn't a guaranteed hit, not least because ABC has placed it in a generally unprofitable time slot, but it is on a major broadcast network. If forced to choose between Inhumans and The 100, could we really blame him for going with Inhumans? On the other hand, The 100 has already been renewed for a fifth season, and ratings don't need to be nearly as high for shows to survive on The CW as they would on ABC or CBS or NBC.
Then again, who knows? Neither Inhumans nor The 100 have gotten orders of 20+ episodes. Even if Inhumans is a massive hit, Cusick may be able to film regularly for both. We'll have to wait and see. ABC is taking some bold steps to try and craft Inhumans into a hit before it even debuts in primetime, and there's no saying what exactly will happen at this point. I'm not sure how exactly it would work, but my fingers are crossed for an Inhumans/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. crossover at some point.
The 8-episode first season of Inhumans will air on Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC this fall. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news, and don't forget to check out our summer TV premiere schedule to discover all your viewing options now and in the coming weeks. Be sure to drop by our rundowns for cable/streaming and broadcast TV renewals and cancellations as well. If streaming is more your style, our Netflix premiere schedule will help you out.
