ARROW's Manu Bennett Joins MTV's Upcoming SHANNARA Series

ARROW's Manu Bennett Joins MTV's Upcoming SHANNARA Series

The beast of a man who's set to return to Arrow as Slade Wilson soon has landed the role of Allanon the druid in MTV's small screen take on the series of beloved fantasy novels by Terry Brooks.

By MarkCassidy - Dec 17, 2014 09:12 PM EST
Filed Under: MTV
Source: THR
According to THR, Manu Bennett (Arrow, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies) has booked a series regular role on MTV's Shannara TV series. The 45 year-old Kiwi actor will play a character named Allanon, who will serve as a mentor of sorts to the hero of the tale, Wil Ohmsford (Austin Butler). The site describe Allanon as "a wise, perceptive and serious man, who knows something incredibly important has begun when the wise tree Ellcrys starts to die." Poppy Drayton (Downton Abbey, When Calls The Heart) will play Amberle, an Elf princess. 



Jon Favreau and Smallville duo Al Gough and Miles Millar will produce the show, which is based on the 20-strong series of novels (there has been one graphic novel also - The Dark Wraith Of Shannara - published back in 2008) in Terry Brooks' Shannara saga. The story is set after the destruction of our civilization in the "great wars", with the world reverting to a medieval state and magic re-emerging. Many of the protagonists in the story are descended from the Eleven noble family of Shannara. Apparently the TV show will begin by adapting the second novel in the series, The Elfstones Of Shannara. The first two episodes will be directed by TMNT's Jonathan Liebesman.
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Prime8
Prime8 - 12/17/2014, 9:48 PM
Sweet. Loved the books. Hope it's good.
Ranger14
Ranger14 - 12/17/2014, 10:15 PM
Not a bad way to start casting for this series. Keeping optimistic about this one.
MCUsDarkKnight
MCUsDarkKnight - 12/17/2014, 10:24 PM
Enjoy guys

BlackIceJoe
BlackIceJoe - 12/17/2014, 10:37 PM
I wonder if this is a sign that Deathstroke won't be coming back on Arrow. If it is I hope Deathstroke gets an awesome send off. As for this news, great choice in Manu. The cast for this show so far is looking good, hopefully it will be a good show then.
ComicsDoneRight
ComicsDoneRight - 12/17/2014, 11:16 PM
YESSSSSSSS!!!!! *Tears of Joy*
Tiger73
Tiger73 - 12/17/2014, 11:36 PM
Sweet! I read the first 3 books and they were quite good fantasy literature.
DetectiveMarvel
DetectiveMarvel - 12/18/2014, 12:50 AM
If MTV keeps going the way of shows like this, the channel might actually regain some credibility. It gets me all teary eyed thinking of the glory days of MTV. =,)
GoldenBoy02
GoldenBoy02 - 12/18/2014, 3:17 AM
Cool. I love Manu. By the way:
I think he`d make a great Wolverine.
Minty
Minty - 12/18/2014, 4:02 AM
Dude's gotta be my favourite actor on TV right now
grif
grif - 12/18/2014, 4:47 AM
feel bad for this guy. hopefully they get him for the expendables or something. cause this is the bottom of the barrel.
SpideyQuad
SpideyQuad - 12/18/2014, 6:04 AM
I for one am looking forward to this. I've read most of his books. To me this is right up there with the Marvel movies, a dream come true!
Asmodeus
Asmodeus - 12/18/2014, 6:27 AM
@Prime8 I loved the books too but I have no hope in hell that MTV is going to make this good.
Asmodeus
Asmodeus - 12/18/2014, 6:31 AM
What I want out of this show:


What we are going to get:
Argetlam22
Argetlam22 - 12/18/2014, 7:08 AM
@Asmodeus that was my first thought seeing this article. "Great, they're gonna reboot The Seeker under the cover of a new fantasy series."

I loved this book series but I'm afraid they'll just make the same mistakes.
jonnytheshirt
jonnytheshirt - 12/18/2014, 7:19 AM
Quite the dude, however weird casting for what is basically Gandalf. Good metaphor Asmodeus, however the source material is no where near GOT.
Tevii
Tevii - 12/18/2014, 9:24 AM
Thats cool and all and Im happy he landed a series regular role... but damn it, itll suck if he cant be deathstroke anymore... they shouldve hurried up and done a Deathstroke spinoff show...
Ranger14
Ranger14 - 12/18/2014, 12:00 PM
i read the Shannara series a couple times and I think he will be great for the role as written, outside of his height, but it would be difficult to find a 7 foot tall guy who can act well and play such a role. Being it is a translation from a book, I don't think the height is a big deal. Allanon was dark haired with a muddy complexion. Pictures of Manu with a beard, he looks the part, in my opinion.
Slade123
Slade123 - 12/18/2014, 7:58 PM
Yes, Allanon was an analogue of Gandalf. But Gandalf was an analogue of Merlin (the wizard from the Knights of the Round Table). They are very few things that are original.
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