ABC’s Stumptown appears to have recruited yet another Marvel veteran. According to a new report from TVLine, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse‘s Jake Johnson has been cast alongside Avengers star Cobie Smulders in the upcoming drama series, which is based on the Oni Press comic of the same name. Johnson will reportedly be replacing SMILF‘s Mark Webber in the series-regular role of Grey McConnell.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Grey is described as the operator of a local bar and the best friend of Dex Parios (Smulders) — although the pair aren’t entirely platonic as they have unresolved feelings that run deeper. Grey is also hiding a questionable past that comes back to bite him.
Johnson memorably played Peter B. Parker in last year’s Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. His filmography also includes New Girl, Jurassic World, Easy, and Drunk History.
Stumptown is based on the comic series created by Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth. It follows Dex, a strong, assertive and sharp-witted Army veteran with a complicated love life, gambling debt and a brother to take care of in Portland, Oregon. Her military intelligence skills make her a great P.I., but her unapologetic style puts her in the firing line of hardcore criminals and not quite in alliance with the police.
“She’s a hot mess. I adore her,” Rucka reflected in a 2017 interview. “There’s a great [Raymond] Chandler line where he says, ‘The detective in the story must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world.’ This is the ‘down these mean streets a man must go, who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid.’”
“They’re characters who, in one way or another, have to remove themselves from mainstream,” Rucka continued. “They don’t get what we get. They stand on this border, in this liminal space where they can enter any situation.”
The cast of Stumptown also includes Michael Ealy (Secrets and Lies, Almost Human), Camryn Manheim (The Practice), Adrian Martinez (No Activity), Cole Sibus and Tantoo Cardinal.
Are you excited to see Johnson join Stumptown? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
