James R | On 17, Jan 2017

Hap and Leonard returns for Season 2 this spring, and the programme is gearing up for a March premiere.

The “swamp noir” stars James Purefoy (The Following) and Michael Kenneth Williams (Boardwalk Empire) and is based on the novels by Joe Lansdale. Created by Jim Mickle and Nick Damici, who previously adapted Lansdale’s Cold in July for the screen, the story takes place in the late 1980s and follows the titular two best friends, alongside a whole bunch of eccentric characters, from washed-up revolutionaries and serial killers to the cops.

Purefoy plays Hap Collins, an East Texas white boy with a weakness for Southern women, while Williams plays Leonard Pine, a gay, black Vietnam vet with a hot temper. Season 1, which premiered last year, saw the duo cross paths with Hap’s ex-wife, Trudy (Christina Hendricks in femme fatale mode), who offers them a get-rich-quick deal they can’t refuse.

Season 2 will see Mickle step down as showrunner, replaced by Hell on Wheels’ John Wirth, with Mickle and Damici staying on as Exec Producers, alongside Jeremy Platt, Linda Moran and Lansdale. The new run is based on the second book in Hap and Leonard series, Mucho Mojo, which sees the pair stumble into a murder mystery, after they come across a skeleton. Also on the cards are “a literal pissing match with a neighborhood drug dealer”, reports TV Line. This time around, Purefoy and Williams will be joined by Brian Dennehy (First Blood), Irma P. Hall (Soul Food), Dohn Norwood (Hell on Wheels), Tiffany Mack (iZombie) and Cranston Johnson (Atlanta).

“That subtle leaning on tropes but using them as springboards for substance as well as style is what gives Hap and Leonard its intriguing, engaging appeal,” we wrote in our review of the first season. “Purefoy’s East Texas charm and Kenneth Williams’ hot-tempered intensity fit together like old friends really do, with each one enjoying the chance to deliver the pulpy dialogue. Behind the camera, creators Jim Mickle and Nick Damici nail that vibe like it’s second nature to them – a quick viewing of their previous adaptation of Lansdale’s Cold in July for the screen confirms it really is. Like Penny Dreadful’s ability to mix high art with genre trash, the result is classy and cheap to intoxicating degrees.”

HAP AND LEONARD. Second helpings. MUCHO MOJO Comin' atcha March 15th. pic.twitter.com/C8BciSgOrq

— Jim Mickle (@Mickle_Jim) January 13, 2017

Jim Mickle took to Twitter to announce the second season’s premiere date: it will begin on 15th March on SundanceTV in the US. With Season 1 arriving on Amazon Prime Video in the UK 48 hours after its American broadcast, courtesy of Amazon’s long-standing deal with AMC, Season 2 will premiere in the UK on Friday 17th March 2017, with new episodes added weekly. Until then, here’s the trailer for Season 2 – or, to avoid spoilers for Season 1, hit the button below to catch up on the first six episodes.

 

Photo: Sundance.tv

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