Of all the current spinoffs and remakes being developed for TV, few inspire quite the same amount of testosterone-filled cheers as FX's Sons of Anarchy follow-up, tentatively titled Mayans MC. Now, though, it's unclear if that excitement has been worth it or not, as a pretty huge problem is being reported behind the scenes. Namely, FX is wholly scrapping the already produced pilot and will start over mostly from scratch.
Kurt Sutter and Elgin James are still apparently set as co-creators, but Sutter will no longer be in the director's chair for Mayans MC. Grimm executive producer Norberto Barba is taking over at the helm, and he's been behind the camera for a ton of shows, most recently for series such as The Path and Designated Survivor, along with upcoming episodes of The Strain and Preacher. According to Deadline, Sutter will be focusing on the writing aspect, so it's possible the story will see some changes as well.
More curious, perhaps, is the fact that Sons of Anarchy's Mayans MC pilot will also be recasting some of the central roles, though it's not specifically stated who is getting replaced. That could make for some serious disappointments, depending on who goes, since the lineup of casting choices included such stars as Battlestar Galactica vet Edward James Olmos, the Fast & Furious franchise's John Ortiz, NYPD Blue great Jacqueline Obradors, Breaking Bad's Raymond Cruz, American Crime's Richard Cabral, The Tudors's Sarah Bolger and more, with Revolution's J.D. Pardo in the lead role. Sure, there are other actors out there to take any one of their places, but that's such a stellar ensemble as is.
A reshoot for a pilot obviously doesn't mean that everyone behind the scenes was constantly getting into heated scraps with each other, and nothing like that was reported. So it appears the problems with Mayans MC are more of a creative thing, which isn't altogether uncommon in the world of making pilots. When it started, Sons of Anarchy itself famously had a pilot that was completely separate from the one that audiences saw, with The Leftovers and Daredevil star Scott Glenn as a different iteration of Clay Morrow. Both excellent actors there, obviously, which should further soothe my own cast-change worries from the previous paragraph.
As it stands, Mayans MC will still focus on EZ Reyes, a young-ish prospect within the titular charter that resides near the border between California and Mexico. Perhaps some of the other previously released character and plot details are being retooled for the reshoots, and we'll likely find out once those recastings start getting announced. However it goes, we're hoping the second time around will bring about an instant series order.
Production is set to kick off once again for Mayans MC later this summer, so it's hard to say when we'll know the next step in the show's future will be. But until then, relive all the biggest Sons of Anarchy deaths, and then check out our summer TV premiere schedule to see all the shows heading to primetime in the coming months.
