For the last few years, without fail, I have wished for at least three things: world peace, a better financial situation, and for Timothy Olyphant's delectably deadly western Justified to return to TV for an endless number of new seasons. Clearly, I was aiming for high-falutin fruit with the first two, but the third always felt somewhat feasible, considering where things left off. So much rejoicing is potentially imminent, as Justified's creator and writers are reteaming with FX on a new Elmore Leonard adaptation that could bring Olyphant's Raylan Givens back to viewers.
Justified creator Graham Yost will serve as executive producer for the FX adaptation of Elmore Leonard's City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, according to Variety, with the former series' writers and EPs Michael Dinner and Dave Andron heading up the creative team as co-writers, co-EPs and co-showrunners. Dinner is also on deck to direct a pilot if it gets to that point. Behind the scenes, the show is also bringing many Justified execs back together, including Peter Leonard from the Elmore Leonard Estate, and Sony Pictures Television will be the studio home. By all means, all the pieces are in place for more Justified magic to happen, assuming the plan is to draw Timothy Olyphant back into the fold. (Maybe add some whiskey to the offer, too.)
So, we're obviously not talking about a full Justified revival or sequel exactly, but for all intents and purposes, it's the next best thing. Because the project is in the earliest levels of development, it's likely that Timothy Olyphant and the producers are only at the conversation stage of the process, to make sure scheduling and other factors can be worked out. If Raylan Givens does end up making a long-awaited return to TV following Justified's 2015 series finale, it's not known whether it would be as a series lead or as a recurring character. The more the merrier, obviously, although any amount of Raylan is a perfectly acceptable amount of Raylan.
City Primeval: High Noon doesn't feature U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens at the forefront, but rather a Detroit homicide detective named Raymond Cruz. The novel follows Cruz's attempts to put an end to the murders committed by the "Oklahoma Wildman" Clement Mansell, who is helped along by his tough-to-thwart lawyer. It probably wouldn't be too hard to bring Timothy Olyphant into it even without having his character replace Raymond Cruz in the main narrative.
Now, I'd be remiss if I didn't say that Timothy Olyphant making a possible Raylan Givens comeback just makes me equally anxious to see the always exceptional Walton Goggins returning to this universe as the southern-fried Boyd Crowder. He was all locked up the last time we saw him, but hey, I'm sure someone will be in jail in this new project, too, so it's possible we'll see him again in the future. At least whenever Goggins isn't busy with CBS' The Unicorn.
Justified ran for six seasons from 2010-2015, earning much acclaim and awards love along the way. It's a shame that neither Timothy Olyphant nor Walton Goggins took home any Emmys, though Margo Martindale and Jeremy Davies justifiably both won for their guest-starring stints during respective seasons. Since that show ended, Olyphant made his first big TV reprisal for HBO's Deadwood: The Movie, and also starred in the stellar Netflix zombie comedy Santa Clarita Diet and the fourth season of FX's Fargo. He also made some very noteworthy appearances in The Mandalorian as a non-U.S. Marshal, and on Curb Your Enthusiasm for its tenth season as a non-Marshal altogether.
