Walker Independence: Matt Barr Teases His New Iteration of Hoyt Rawlins

Fans of The CW's Walker were intrigued when it was announced that Matt Barr had been cast as a character named — you guessed it — Hoyt Rawlins — in Walker Independence, a prequel series set more than a century earlier. But while the two iterations of the character are similar, something that makes sense as one is the ancestor of the other, they are also very different — and according to Barr, the ancestor is a bit more dangerous.

"You know, I always thought of the modern-day Hoyt as like a golden retriever with an unloaded gun," Barr said during a recent press conference attended by ComicBook.com. "And 1800s Hoyt is maybe like a German Shepherd. You know, he's nice until you cross him, and then he's gonna bite."

"1800s Hoyt's more dangerous, I think. In the Wild West, you kind of had to be to survive. So, I wanted to see that sort of DNA in him, but I also like the idea that you can't really outrun your fate," Barr continued. "And so, there was that consistent kind of recklessness in the Rawlins DNA that just, as we meet Hoyt 150 years later, he's still trying to figure things out in his own way. And they're equally charming, aren't they? They. have to be, right?"

Who stars in Walker Independence?

Walker Independence stars Arrow alum Katherine McNamara as Abby Walker, Walker's Matt Barr as Hoyt Rawlins — albeit a different Hoyt Rawlins than he played on Walker, Greg Hovanessian as Sheriff Tom Davidson, Lawrence Kao as Kai, Justin Johnson Cortez at Calian, Philemon Chambers as Deputy Sheriff Augustus, Katie Findlay as Kate, and Gabriela Quezada as Lucia Reyes

How is Abby related to Cordell in Walker Independence?

McNamara previously explained that Abby Walker is Cordell's "great-great-great-great grandmother — so I've gone from playing Stephen Amell's daughter in the future [on Arrow] to Jared Padalecki's grandmother, several times removed!"

When does Walker Independence debut?

As was noted previously, Walker Independence debuts on Thursday, August 6th at 9/8c after the season premiere of Walker. You can check out the trailer for Walker Independence here.