Tom Hardy & Zazie Beetz in Talks to Star in AppleTV+ Series 'Lazarus'

by Darian Scalamoni

    Other than his role as Eddie Brock/Venom, Tom Hardy (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises) has stayed out of the spotlight for the most part since 2018. Other than his terrific role as Alfie Solomons in Peaky Blinders, he's largely done almost nothing other than the Sony comic book franchise. Having said that, he has some bigger projects upcoming and now a new television series he'll star in alongside Zazie Beetz (Atlanta, Joker) via a report from Deadline.

    Hardy and Beetz will star in Lazarus for AppleTV+ which is based on the series of books written by Lars Kepler that has sold over 17 million copies. Lazarus tells a story that is similar to the relationship between Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling made famous in The Silence of the Lambs. Hardy will play serial killer Jurek Walter who is the presumed murderer of a young man and woman who are siblings. Once the man is found dead on train tracks, Inspector Saga Bauer, played by Beetz, must go undercover in a maximum-security psychiatric hospital to try and get Walter to give the whereabouts of where the sister is and whether or not she is still alive. 

    This series sounds akin to Black Bird mixed with the aforementioned The Silence of the Lambs. Hardy has a history of playing psychotic parts before and this is one that I think would serve him well to potentially earn him an Emmy if done correctly. Lazarus will also give Beetz the platform to serve a major starring role in an AppleTV+ series opposite Hardy which should benefit her given her talent. She's shown that she can do just about anything on screen with her role in Atlanta, showcasing action in films like Deadpool 2 and Bullet Train as well as dramatic chops in The Harder They Fall.

    Hardy will next star in the action thriller Havoc alongside Forest Whitaker and Timothy Olyphant for The Raid director Gareth Evans, which will hit Netflix later this year. He just wrapped filming on The Bikeriders which follows a motorcycle club and their origins in the Midwest. That film also stars Jodie Comer, Norman Reedus and recent Oscar-nominee Austin Butler. He's also signed on to reprise his role as Venom in the third installment of the comic book franchise, this time directed by Kelly Marcel.

    Beetz will next appear in Steven Soderbergh's upcoming HBO Max series Full Circle which boasts a huge cast that includes Claire Danes, Timothy Olyphant, Dennis Quaid and Emmy-winner Jharrel Jerome. She'll also reprise her role as Sophie Dumond in the sequel to Joker titled Joker: Folie a Deux which will introduce Lady Gaga as a new Elseworlds version of Harley Quinn for DC.