Mike Colter is jumping head first into the horror genre after getting into the genre with his successful CBS series Evil. A new report reveals that the actor has signed on to appear in Hulu‘s Monsterland, a horror anthology from the streaming service and Annapurna TV. The series will feature encounters across America with “Gothic beasts” like fallen angels, werewolves, and mermaids, which results in people “driven to desperate acts in an attempt to repair their lives.” The series is based on the short story collection “North American Lake Monsters” by Nathan Ballingrud.
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In the episode titled “Newark, New Jersey,” Colter will take on the role of Brian, described as “a grief-stricken husband (Colter) who blames himself after his daughter disappears under his supervision.” As Brian further descends into his emotions and guilt, he ultimately believes that is daughter isn’t dead, a decision that will likely haunt him. It’s unclear what mythic beast Colter will encounter, but given the title there will seemingly be one.
Mary Laws (Succession, Preacher) created the series and serves as writer and executive producer. Joining her on the series is Under the Shadow’s Lucan Toh and Babak Anvari, and Annapurna’s Megan Ellison and Sue Naegle.
Since the abrupt cancellation of Luke Cage on Netflix, something that we now know was being done because of Marvel and not Netflix’s own thoughts or feelings, Colter has been steadily finding more and more work both on television and the big screen. Speaking last year at the TCA, Colter revealed that the cancellation of the series wasn’t actually a surprise to him.
“I think I probably had a little more intel about it because I felt like the delays and the postponement of our starting was starting to become a little bit habitual and I had a feeling,” Colter said. “So while that was happening, I was doing some different little projects and just working, and I’m always the kind of person, I never count my chickens, as they say, before they hatch. Everyone thought it was a guaranteed success so it was going to just be picked up.”
Work was already underway on new episodes when the series was cancelled, and showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker was already developing scripts in the writers room. And while Colter anticipated Netflix cancelling Luke Cage, most everyone else involved were stunned by the news.
“We were internally picked up,” Colter said. “We were greenlit. Everyone at Netflix, everyone at Marvel, so it was a foregone conclusion that we start. But again, I’m one of those people, I don’t know if it’s pragmatic or pessimistic, however you want to describe it, until I’m on set and we’re filming, I don’t believe anything. That’s how I am so it didn’t catch me completely off guard and I was completely focused on family. My daughter was born. I was completely doing something else when it happened.”
Colter will return to Evil for a second season later this year. Deadline first reported the news of Colter’s casting in Monsterland.
