Prime Video just announced aTaylor Kitschprequel series along with a second season of the Navy SEAL thriller,The Terminal List, which is based on the 2018 novel of the same name byJack Carr. Kitsch plays Ben Edwards, ex SEAL teammate of ride or die pal, Lt. Cmdr. James Reece (Chris Pratt), who sticks with his buddy as he goes on a mission of revenge.
Edwards has become a CIA ground branch operative who provides both recon intelligence and an extra sharpshooter for Reece as he hunts down the individuals that killed his wife, Lauren (Riley Keough) and young daughter, Lucy (Arlo Mertz). His family becomes collateral damage after some higher ups attempt to frame him and cover up some shady business dealings concerning a drug that has caused cancer in Reece and the thirteen Navy frogmen under his command. Pratt is solid in the lead, but the fact that Kitsch is being offered his own prequel is quite a testament to the actor’s on-screen presence (and some outspoken audience feedback). As just a supporting player inThe Terminal List, Kitsch maximizes his impact on both his grieving, terminally ill former SEAL teammate and the story as a whole. But if you’ve followed the talented actor’s career, you really shouldn’t be surprised that the 41-year-old Canadian-born actor parlayed his limited part into his own gig.
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What We Know About the Prequel
As of now, we know that the Kitsch prequel will be co-produced by Jack Carr and also returning showrunner,David DiGilo.The show’s premise will follow the character of Ben Edwards as a younger Navy SEAL and the transition into his role with the CIA. Per a piece fromDeadline, It will feature some of the same SEALs that we are introduced to inThe Terminal List, including Chris Pratt andJared Shaw, who was a real life SEAL and served as a producer while also playing Vickers in the show. Kitsch will also be credited alongside Chris Pratt as an executive producer on the project.
The theme of the show will capitalize on Kitsch’s ability to play it cool one second, and then flip a switch and turn into a savvy and efficient killing machine the next to protect his fellow soldiers and get the operation done. It’s the same Edwards, just a few years younger and perhaps a little more wet behind the ears. Pratt, who will be focusing on Season 2 of his own showcommented on the potential of the prequel, saying it “will be just as thrilling and engaging asThe Terminal List.” Now, let’s get into why Prime has made, in our opinion, a very commendable decision to offer Kitsch a prequel.
Kitsch Has the “It” Factor
If you’ve seen some of Kitsch’s films likeOnly the Brave,Lone Survivor,Waco, or his television roles on shows likeFriday Night Lightsand the second season of the acclaimed HBO series,True Detective, you already know what Kitsch brings to the table. It’s more than the brooding and cool Edwards character that knows exactly what needs to be said and only needs a few words to say it. He has a certain gravitas that is easy to latch onto whether it’s a no-nonsense CIA operative like inThe Terminal List, or the suicidal but charismatic cult leader of the Branch Davidians, David Koresh inWaco, when he takes center frame on the screen, you are drawn in to what he has to say.
Not every actor has that kind of ownership of the screen in the way that Kitsch demands. There’s a quiet intensity about him that you can’t really teach, and always know when an actor without “it” is trying to capture “it.” At the same time, he has no problem convincing you that he is nothing more than a beach bum who would like nothing more than to leave all the death and loss behind him and retire to a quiet beach in Peru with his buddy Reece. The bottom line is that Kitsch is a versatile actor who doesn’t have to try very hard to be a cool cat, and there’s an allure to talented, suave guys who are also loyal friends and self-effacing. Even in the commercial flop,John Carter, a then relatively unknown Kitsch is a likable character who did his best to save a horrendous script and nightmarish production. It certainly wasn’t his performance that was the problem. There was a reason he was chosen to shouldersuch an enormousprojectso early in his career, in 2012.
There’s a Track Record of Kitsch Playing Tough Guys
This isn’t Kitsch’s first rodeo, so to speak, when it comes to shouldering an AR-15 and making life-or-death tactical maneuvers as a member of the military on-screen. InLone Survivor, he plays another Navy SEAL and real-life badass, Michael Murphy, who is part of a team that is deployed in Afghanistan in 2005 on a surveillance and neutralization mission of a high ranking Taliban leader. Murphy and his teammates are spotted and are met by an enormous band of Taliban fighters, and though they are far outnumbered and compromised by their cliffside location, they still put up one hell of a fight trying to shoot their way out of the precarious situation.
In Season 2 ofNik Pizzalato’sTrue Detective, Kitsch holsters a firearm again as California Highway Patrol officer and veteran of the War in Afghanistan, Paul Woodrugh alongsideColin FerrellandRachel McAdams. So he’s no stranger to playing gritty, gun-toting tough guys. Maybe the real question isn’t “why should Taylor Kitsch have his own prequel?”, but more along the lines of, “why has it taken so long for somebody to give the veteran actor the keys to his own drama?” Thank you, Prime, for seeing what was always there, and having the instincts to offer him the opportunity. Apparently, we’re not the only ones who think it isn’t really a risk at all. The wing man just slides over a spot and becomes the point man.
Support from Amazon Prime Brass
The streamer is obviously quite happy with whatThe Terminal Listwas able to deliver as a summer release and looks forward to bigger and better things from both the prequel and the second season of the original. Studio head of Amazon and MGM,Jennifer Sailkepraised the efforts ofPratt and Kitsch saying,“With the second season ofThe Terminal Listand Prime Video’s new prequel series staring the amazing Taylor Kitsch, we are expanding on the storytelling and characters beloved by so many all over the world.” We like to hear that unlike some other streamers, Prime isn’t hogtied to certain ratings metrics when making a decision on renewing and even expanding the universe of a fan favorite. If some is good then more must be better, and Edwards has got Reece’s back until the unfortunate end.
