Joss Whedon’s The Nevers HBO Victorian sci-fi drama adds a full cast

Joss Whedon’s next TV project is shaping up to sounds pretty damn interesting: his upcoming HBO series The Nevers has just added a massive main cast.

Making up the new cast are Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense), James Norton (Happy Valley) , Tom Riley (Kill Your Friends), Ann Skelly (Little Women), Ben Chaplin (The Children Act), Pip Torrens (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Zackary Momoh (A United Kingdom), Amy Manson (Torchwood), Nick Frost (Shaun Of The Dead), Rochelle Neil (Episodes), Eleanor Tomlinson (The White Queen) and Denis O’Hare (American Horror Story).

The already-cast Laura Donnelly will lead the show as Amalia True.

The Nevers was given a straight-to-series order by HBO in July 2018, and is being described as “an epic science fiction drama about a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world.”

Whedon (Firefly, Buffy The Vampire Slayer) will serve as the show’s writer, director, executive producer and showrunner. Jane Espenson and Dough Petrie will write and EP alongside him, while Bernie Caulfield will also EP.

Here’s a full breakdown of the characters:

Olivia Williams as Lavinia Bidlow, “a wealthy spinster and champion of the ‘Touched.’ Lavinia funds the Orphanage (where Amalia and many of the Touched live) through her vast family fortune. She is stern and old-fashioned, but as strong-willed and clever as anyone she confronts.”

James Norton as Hugo Swann, “a pansexual posh boy whose charm has about five years left on its lease. He runs a secret club and a side trade in blackmail. He’s devoted to fulfilling everyone’s worst impression of him and is fascinated by the Touched.”

Tom Riley as Augustus ‘Augie’ Bidlow, “a sweet, disarming nerd and Lavinia’s younger brother. A keen ornithologist, Augie is happy to let his older sister take the reins of the family fortune. He finds the Touched unnerving, but is drawn to them by his increasing infatuation with Miss Adair, and by the schemes of his nefarious best friend, Hugo.”

Ann Skelly as Penance Adair, “Amalia’s dearest friend and one of the first women to join her cause. A devout – yet heretically progressive – Irish girl, Penance has genius for invention. She is delighted by her power, and her default is love and acceptance. But she’s firm in her moral sense, and will be guided by what’s right over what’s expedient every time.”

Ben Chaplin as Detective Frank Mundi, “as big, gruff, and deeply moral. Detective Mundi trusts no one, least of all himself. His reputation for sudden violence and excessive drink is not unwarranted. Frank finds himself caught between the powerful, who ignore the the laws of the land, and newly empowered, who ignore the laws of physics.”

Pip Torrens as Lord Massen, “a staunch, unflappable and merciless in his defence of the British Empire. This former General, now Peer, may be the only man who sees clearly what havoc these few strange people can wreak upon the established order. Which he will protect, one way or another.”

Zackary Momoh as Doctor Horatio Cousens: “One of the few successful West Indian physicians in London and married with a young son, Horatio’s fortunes took a dark turn when he met Amalia and discovered his own ability. Now he works with her, and with the Beggar King, those who don’t care who is or isn’t ‘different.’”

Amy Manson as Maladie: “Committed by her husband and genuinely unstable, she’s been warped by a power she can’t understand, and tortured by doctors intent on finding its source. She now lives underground, runs a gang and is on an infamous murder spree. She affects a theatrical parody of a bedlam waif, but mad as she is, she’s a woman with a purpose.”

Nick Frost as Declan Orrun, AKA The Beggar King: “Charismatic and brutal, Declan runs or has a piece of most of the low-level criminal activity in the city. He’s perfectly happy to help Amalia and her cause and equally happy to sell them out. He backs winners, and the Touched are long odds.”

Rochelle Neil as Annie Carbey, a.k.a Bonfire: “Annie is a career criminal who landed the ability to control fire and is happy to hire it out. Came up rough, stayed that way, but she’s neither impulsive nor cruel – just looking out for herself. No matter who she works with or for, Annie trusts only Annie, and the fire.”

Eleanor Tomlinson as Mary Brighton: “Gentle but surprisingly resilient, Mary pursued her dream of singing on stage. A disappointing career and a broken engagement haven’t diminished her spirit. She’s going to be great. She’s going to be very surprised how.”

Denis O’Hare as Dr Edmund Hague: “A gifted American surgeon, he uses his skills in the coldest, most brutal way possible. But it’s all in the name of progress.”