Four new major stars have been cast in AMC’s upcoming animated series Pantheon, Variety has confirmed. The four actors joining the show are Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight), Taylor Schilling (Mercy), Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood), and Rosemarie DeWitt (Mad Men).
The four actors are industry veterans from a variety of experience in films, plays, and television shows. Eckhart is best known for his film work, but was notably one of the leads in Amazon‘s 2018 limited series The Romanoffs. Schilling is famous for her starring role as Piper Chapman in Orange is the New Black. Dano has mostly acted in film (including his upcoming appearance in The Batman), though he was nominated for an Emmy for his work on Showtime’s limited series Escape at Dannemora. Finally, DeWitt appeared as main character in Hulu‘s 2020 drama series Little Fires Everywhere.
Pantheon breaks new ground for AMC as its first ever original animated series. As Variety reported back in March, AMC has great confidence in the new show, ordering two eight-episode seasons as an hour-long prime time drama. The series is based off author Ken Liu’s series of short stories collected under the name Pantheon. The original stories are centered around the concept of “Uploaded Intelligence,” or “UI,” in which humans upload their consciousness to the Cloud.
The first season of the new series will follow an outcast teenager named Maddie, and the mystery surrounding a UI program offering her help and advice. It is revealed that the UI is actually her father David, who died due to an experimental brain scan gone wrong. David teaches Maddie not only what happened to him, but how the people who killed him plan to forcibly upload others’ minds into the Cloud and launch a new world war.
Animation studio Titmouse, known for shows such as The Venture Bros., Metalocalypse, and Megas XLR will animate the project. Variety stated that their style for Pantheon is “a fresh take on graphic realism done in a traditional 2D way, using modern tools.” Craig Silverstein, who executive produced and developed AMC’s Turn: Washington’s Spies, will act as the executive producer and showrunner for Pantheon. Liu will serve as a consulting producer.
It is unknown when the series will start filming or air. Despite the premise and cast being known, it has not been confirmed what roles the four actors have been cast in.