When American Horror Story: Armageddon makes its highly anticipated debut on FX later this year, the anthology series will potentially have more familiar faces than ever before, as it will smash together the seemingly disparate Murder House and Coven seasons. And coming along for the devilish ride will be a character that barely showed up in Season 1, though his influence could be stronger than anyone else's. Get ready to say hello again to Tate and Vivien's antichrist son, Michael Langdon, with The Assassination of Gianni Versace actor Cody Fern being cast for the role.
Set during the not-too-distant Halloween season in October of 2019, American Horror Story: Apocalypse still doesn't have a whole lot of plot details going for it, which makes this casting all the more interesting. I mean, you don't subtitle a show"Apocalypse" and cast a grown-up version of The Antichrist just to tell a peaceful story about rebuilding a community or finding love or whatever. Ryan Murphy knew oh-so-well he would be inciting some hellish speculation among the fanbase whenever he announced the character's casting and return on Twitter.
As fans might remember, Michael Langdon came into being in the most complicated of ways. He was the product of Tate's Rubber Man Suit rape of Connie Britton's Vivien in the series premiere. The doomed pregnancy came to a head in the episode "Birth," in which Michael survived the delivery, though the same couldn't be said for either his stillborn twin or his mother, with Vivien dying soon after. Jessica Lange's Constance, Michael's biological grandmother, took unofficial custody of the child in the finale, and in the flash-forward final scene, Constance finds a bloodied Michael having just killed his nanny. He was destined to come back, right? And he should definitely bring the Infantata with him, right?
While we might not know what the Antichrist will be getting into in Season 8, it will probably be as ridiculously insane as anything else this show's creative team have crafted. And he'll have lots of familiar characters and stars to interact with, since American Horror Story: Apocalypse has seemingly announced most of its principal cast. Sarah Paulson and Emma Roberts will be reprising their Coven roles specifically, with Evan Peters, Adina Porter, Cheyenne Jackson, Billy Eichner, Leslie Grossman, Billie Lourd and Kathy Bates also returning to the franchise. New recruits include Joan Collins, Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman and Kyle Allen. All we need now is Jessica Lange in dual roles.
The Australian actor Cody Fern first gained fame through theatrical stage performances and short films, and then broke through to mainstream audiences with his recurring role on FX's The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. That gig led to him securing a regular role on the final season of Netflix's House of Cards, and now he's reconnecting with Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for American Horror Story. And if this performance is as unsettling as we hope, Fern's career may truly explode soon.
Fans will be able to learn more about Michael's recent past when American Horror Story: Apocalypse debuts on FX on Wednesday, September 12, at 10:00 p.m. ET. Be sure to fashion yourself a fine pair of demon horns to wear, and head to our summer premiere schedule to see all the new and returning shows that will pop up before the world's end.
