Spartacus: House of Ashur – First Look Photos with the history and details of the character

Twelve years after the original Spartacus The series signed in a blaze of rebellion and carnage, Spartacus has officially returned – and this time it is the story of Ashur.

Spartacus: House of Ashur He reinvents a world in which the former slave did not meet his brutal end at the hands of Naevia. Instead, he survived, prosperous and he is now master of his gladiator school. Starz has just dropped the first look via Entertainment Weekly e Nick Tarabay He is back.

The series, created by a return showrunner Steven S. DeknightIt is a sequel to alternative history that collects six months later War of the damned. The rebellion is over, Spartacus is still dead and Ashur has been well rewarded by the Roman Republic for his betrayal. He is now responsible for Ludus once managed by Batitus, but holding power, especially as a former slave, proves to be much more dangerous than earning it.

“The only difference is that Ashur is not dead,” explained Deknight. “All the others who are dead, I hate to tell the fans, they are still dead. I don’t want no one you think we are digging Liam McIntyre, as far as I would like. But the war is over. The rebellion has been crushed.”

That dark tone should not surprise fans. The original Spartacus series was brutal, operating and immersed in betrayal, and this follow-up does not seem interested in softening things, for less than its advantage.

Ashur is not getting an arc of redemption. He is still “intriguing, murderer Ashur”, confirms Deknight. But this time, it is a “hero of the Republic” who walks in a wire in a society that challenges him as much as he celebrates it.

“On the one hand, he is a hero of the Republic for helping to repress the rebellion, but on the other he is a former slave, who does not matter to them,” said Deknight.

“He is a former gladiator, who cares less to them. And he has turned on his brothers. Nobody trusts him because, of course, he cannot be trusted. So he is in this strange position in which he has everything he has ever dreamed of and is discovering that it is really difficult to hang it.”

Don’t expect Ashur to suddenly grow a conscience. This is always the same poisonous opportunist, right in a more fatal game. “It’s Ashur,” said Deknight. “He is the same boy, but in this position he is now, he must maneuver in a different way. Is he a good guy now?

“No, it’s Ashur. He is planning, Ashur murder, but the best way to bring an audience behind such a character is launching people who are worse. The Romans, the elites are much worse than him.”

The new cast members include Dan Hamill As Calado, Evander Brown Like Ephesio, Jordi Webber Like Tarchon, Graham mctish like Korris, e Tenika Davis Like Achillia, the first gladorial of the show. Ashur introduces women’s gladiators to Rome.

“We wanted to bring female gladiators, but historically they did not appear in ancient Rome until about 100 years later,” said Deknight. “This time, Ashur upsets the story and introduces the female gladiator 100 years in advance.

“It is equally guided, equally dangerous as men … one of the things we wanted to do in this show is, of course, to have all those great bases of the original – sex, intrigue, violence, complicated twists and turns – but which also offers something new. One of those main pillars were the prawns.”

Deknight also faced the reason why he waited so much time to return to this world. “The reason why I continued to say any year after year is that the show was incredibly difficult to do,” he said. “And then, of course, we lost our star because of cancer, Andy Whitfield, who really removed the wind from everyone’s sails … I think I needed a decade to recover from the original experience, which was wonderful, but only exhausting and emotionally shocking.”

Spartacus: House of Ashur In preview this autumn on Starz.